Politicians are quick to propose 'solutions' or spend money, but to solve social and political issues they have to get out to Aboriginal communities and listen to the affected people. Released 28/04/2016 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4714.0/, accessed 16 December 2016. Professor Sharon Friel From the way it covers social issues to the way it sources funding, Croakey is an innovator in combining journalism, academia, medicine and education. Article  In less than six months, following the politically motivated “Intervention” that was introduced just prior to an election, the Australian parliament introduced a complex legislative package consisting of five Bills, all 450 pages long and passed in parliament on the same day. So happy to be creating and coding for such a dedicated, professional and good-humored team. no. living on or near traditional lands. From colonization of Australia until the present day, the policy decisions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made by National, State and Territory governments, churches and other institutions have had dire effects on Indigenous peoples’ health and well-being. Research Fellow, The University of Newcastle. The collaboration between Croakey and #IHMayDay has been fantastic for disseminating information and connecting up, so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can have their voices heard. Croakey - Australia's healthiest news-site! These political determinants of health breech human rights conventions, lack an evidence base, and are profoundly damaging across generations. Croakey is the platform where health issues are dissected from every angle – from the complex impact on health arising from social, economic and environmental policies, to the influence of vested interests on public health, and insightful analysis of health care policies. CWS 57. Question: Stion 3 In The Table Below: Yet Wered Give Two Examples Of Social, Economic And Cultural Barriers That Aboriginal And/or Torres Strait Islanders May Experience (100 - 150 Words For The Whole Table) Ked Out Of 0 Flag Question 1 A B 1 % C? 14(12), 109–121. Congrats Dr Joyce Siette (@jsiette). Yorta Yorta woman, public health practitioner, PhD candidate, #Just Justice team member, Croakey contributor. The challenges we experienced in creating Aboriginal CHW-type positions within two mainstream health promotion programmes caused us to question whether the focus on AHW roles had created unintended barriers to involving Aboriginal people in other opportunities to address health. (Eds.). about aboriginal political issues and stolen generation. Australia: Churchill Livingston Elsevier. The impact of policies which fail to take a holistic view on Indigenous population health reflects a political failure of the system with regard to the basic human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their good health and well-being. International Research Collaborative, Oral Health and Equity, The University of Western Australia. Without a change in leadership attitudes, governance and administration, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women will continue to be disadvantaged, and their health will continue to suffer. Social factors are those societal factors that influence health throughout life and include housing, education, access to healthcare and family support.4, Diagram 1 highlights an example of the circular relationship between the causes of the social factors and the social factors themselves across a person’s life stages. Whether or not an equitable or non-equitable health outcome was the aim of those people guiding decision-making processes for social and economic policies, inequality has been the end result.12 The impact of these policies on Indigenous population health reflects a political failure of the system with regard to the basic human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their good health and well-being. Rather, a long history of paternalistic government decisions created barriers towards Indigenous women achieving equivalent health and wellbeing measures when compared to non-Indigenous women. The higher levels of education reduce societal disadvantage. Many policies developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders over a long period of time have contributed to the shameful inequity in Australian society between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. A team of 13 academics from several universities across Australia uncovered a range of issues around literacy, numeracy, racism, school leadership, remote education, and school-community partnerships. Fact Sheet 1: What we know about suicide prevention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Mackenbach, J. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women take a holistic world view that intrinsically … President, Australian Health Promotion Association. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development” (Article 1 Section 1). Croakey is one of the few places where public health "activists" can vent their spleen...It's also a useful place for journalists/media to find contacts who can speak intelligently on public health issues. These outcomes demonstrate the political failure of Australian governments at national, state, territory and local government’s levels to work with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the lack of integrity surrounding equitable policy administration, leadership and governance. Sophie Benjamin Dr Lynore Geia Design, setting and participants: Qualitative study involving indepth interviews between 1 March 2006 and 30 September 2007 with 30 Aboriginal people affected by cancer from across WA. Alternatively, the child born into this situation may commit suicide.6. (N/D) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Croakey editor and health policy analyst, Croakey's backing of writers from diverse backgrounds is a fantastic addition to Australian media, El Gibbs Jennifer Doggett European Journal of Public Health, In 2008, a national emergency response by the Australian government took effect and was administered across all of the Northern Territory using the political rationale ‘to protect Aboriginal children’. Such settings are associated with higherlevels of poor nutrition, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and lack of physical activity(Thomson et al., 2004). Marmott, M. (2007). (2015) The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2015. Productivity Commission. http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous-observatory/reports/health-and-welfare-2015/indigenous-population/, accessed 16 December 2016. In a national study, the Australian Institute of Family Studies conducted interviews with professionals from government, non-government and Indigenous agencies, as well as carers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and Indigenous young people in care (the participants). 28, 30,35,37 Prior studies suggest that Aboriginal populations are more likely to experience difficulty accessing addiction treatment and other health services, including HIV treatment. Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney. Article 2, http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html, accessed 24 February 2017. 63. Australia will never be a whole, functioning society until institutionalised oppression ceases. Thought provoking, well researched information….and easy to read. Your contribution will help make Croakey sustainable. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders live in situations of socio-economic disadvantage,including homelessness, poverty or unemployment. Senior Lecturer, Brain and Mind Centre, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney. A woman’s ability to move up and down the class system is directly impacted by socioeconomic position or status – including education, employment and income. Without understanding their cultural ways of doing and knowing and without working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in making policy decisions, there will be no progress in achieving health equality for this population group. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Abstract. Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have not had the same opportunity to be as healthy as non-Indigenous people. The participants were asked to talk about what they thought were barriers and incentives to recruiting Indigenous carers and the strategies that worked well for recruiting Indigenous carers. Professor
Addiction Medicine, The University of Sydney. [11] We’re proud to support projects like Croakey that are an innovative platform driven by independent, ethical journalism for the public benefit. In this paper, we present participants’ view… The Australian government is disregarding its own stated ideals when it disregards the rights of Indigenous Australians. Australian women accounted for 56 per cent of visits to General Practitioners (GPs) in 2006­07, 178 but the groups of women outlined above face significant barriers to accessing health care services and information. Paternalistic policies are those that restrict choices to individuals, ostensibly in their ‘best interest’ and without their consent. When the British colonized Australia, they did so under a paternalistic ideology that remains evident today as Australian federal, state, territory and local governments continue to implement paternalistic policies.1. Croakey provides a platform for robust, respectful and inclusive debate on the health issues that really matter. Clare Fletcher Health Editor, The Conversation. Respect and reciprocity issues Expectation that Aboriginal communities can and will keep pace with changes in medical systems health care models and styles of engagement Fear of hospitals or other health care institutions Table 1. Australian Human Rights Commission. Until a referendum allowed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to become citizens, there was scant regard to Article 2: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. Calma, T. (2007) Social Justice Report 2007, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney. In the past three years, VMIAC have happily engaged the services of Marie McInerney and her team at Croakey to, Maggie Toko It delivers views and information on a wide range of issues of relevance to rural and remote health and wellbeing. Social class structures are characterized by factors including race, sex/gender, ethnicity, Indigeneity and religion. 24(1), 2. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckt183. Canberra: AIHW. The argument is not to suggest that Australia had deliberately created inequitable policies targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders including women—but the outcome is the same even when the action was by omission or was not deliberate. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Croakey is a must read for anyone who craves the public health stories that no one else reports. Google Scholar. Croakey has also taken a leadership role in developing a strong presence in social media, an important development for primary care in stimulating community-based approaches to health. National Rural Health Alliance. Website Producer, Crikey. Fron Jackson-Webb Fundamentally, it is structural issues of class and political disadvantage that place Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women close to the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. Cat. Croakey is health media rather than medical media. Award-winning writer; Leading #CripCroakey investigations of disability and health issues, Senior Lecturer, Brain and Mind Centre, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Health adviser, Senator Richard Di Natale, Australian Greens, CEO of the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), Guidelines and advice for Croakey contributors, Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Project, continue to implement paternalistic policies, societal factors that influence health throughout life, 27 to 34% of the female prison population, within a neoliberal framework the individual is blamed, socio-structural causes of illness and health, constantly subjected to unnecessary inequalities, mitigate against making positive lifestyle choices, directly impacted by socioeconomic position or status, structural issues of class and political disadvantage, dire effects on Indigenous peoples’ health and well-being, Inequitable policies contributed to inequalities in health, unequal distribution of power and resources, basic human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, The Northern Territory National Emergency Response, further erode Indigenous self-determination, removed from families at 9.8 times more often, discriminative policies are now being exposed, constantly in conflict with the cultural identity and knowledge, http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/population-groups/women/reviews/our-review, Talking the walk: watch the action & insights from #CroakeyGO #NavigatingHealth, The big barriers to global vaccination: patent rights, national self-interest and the wealth gap, CATSINaM National Professional Development Conference, Webinar series: Better Care, Everywhere: Healthcare variation in practice conference, First Peoples Public Administration Virtual Conference, Review of the My Health Records legislation, Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Banning Dirty Donations) Bill 2020, Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Select Committee on COVID-19 to inquire into the Australian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis and support for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, An evaluation of the Australian Government’s Investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care through the Indigenous Australians’ Health Programme, Adequacy of Newstart and related payments and alternative mechanisms to determine the level of income support payments in Australia, Interim Report: Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Public Consultation on Australia’s Next Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2020 and Beyond, #CroakeyGO – our innovative walking journalism initiative, The Gavin Mooney Memorial Essay Competition, Videos: recommended public health viewing. Child welfare series no. Lesley Russell https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/australia-and-universal-declaration-human-rights, accessed 24 February 2017. From colonization of Australia until the present day, the policy decisions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made by National, State and Territory governments, churches and other institutions have had dire effects on Indigenous peoples’ health and well-being.10 Inequitable policies contributed to inequalities in health resulting from unequal distribution of power and resources between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.11, 12 Governments have consistently failed to take a holistic view to addressing social determinants of health. Croakey gives me the best independent and most relevant public health news and views. Fifty per cent of the Indigenous Australian population is under the age of 22and their health, as that of their elders, remains dire. While barriers to accessing services can be experienced anywhere, people living in remote areas can be particularly affected. You should be reading it every day if you're interested in health services or population health. Denial of a human right directly violates a person’s right to self-determination. Croakey is a space that invites us to to challenge and interrogate our practice and our policy. These outcomes demonstrate the political failure of Australian governments at national, state, territory and local government’s levels to work with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the lack of integrity surrounding equitable policy administration, leadership and governance. The level of Australia’s commitment to this covenant became questionable with the implementation of The Northern Territory National Emergency Response (the Intervention) in 2007. When governments invest long-term resources and time into understanding the socio-structural causes of illness and health, they will recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are constantly subjected to unnecessary inequalities that mitigate against making positive lifestyle choices for future generations. Dr Melissa Stoneham Gordon Gregory Paternalistic policies are those that restrict choices to individuals, ostensibly in their ‘best interest’ and without their consent.1 The goals of such policies are to change individuals’ behaviours in areas such as gambling, smoking, consumption of drugs and alcohol, or the reliance on welfare payments. (2007). United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. ww.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/publications/social-justice-report-2, accessed 15 February 2017. Professor Virginia Barbour Award-winning writer; Leading #CripCroakey investigations of disability and health issues. Founder, #IHMayDay, and Senior Lecturer, CNMR Indigenous Futures Research Lead, James Cook University, Townsville. Social determinants of health are about “the cause of the cause.” Poorer health outcomes are not narrowed to individual lifestyle choice or risky behaviour. Recently, scholarly literature in Australia has focused on the issue of ensuring equitable access to healthcare for aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, who are regarded as economically, socially, politically and culturally disadvantaged.1, 2 The goal of universal health coverage is to ensure that everyone attains his or her full health potential and has equitable, barrier-free access … Sebastian Rosenberg In other words, you call BS on those with self interest. Croakey has, over some years, provided a platform for debate about health policy, planning, funding and services. 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