Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders

The Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people are Australia’s first people. They’re the Indigenous and traditional owners of our beautiful land. However, until the last few decades, this hasn’t always been recognised. The Indigenous people of Australia have faced colonization, oppression, the Stolen Generation, and all kinds of disrespect to their cultural heritage.

It is a commonly known issue in Australia that as a minority group, the people of Indigenous Australian ethnicity have always been treated, or at least perceived, differently to those of non-Indigenous disposition. This can be applied to different contexts such as social, economic, education, or in relation to this essay – legal contexts. Generally, Indigenous Australians face issues such as less opportunity for formal education, less access to sufficient income, more health issues, and higher rates of imprisonment (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

In Kevin Rudd’s 17th of February 2008 speech, the Australian Prime Minister apologises to the Indigenous Australians for the stolen generations. With this speech, Rudd attempted to ease the disadvantage that affects most Indigenous Australians by pledging that the government would improve their health, education, living conditions and their lifestyle overall. Rudd claims that he is apologetic and remorseful for the treatment the past Indigenous Australians received. He strengthens his speech by using several language techniques to convince the audience that Australia is remorseful for the past events and wishes to amend. the techniques he used include such as his choice of vocabulary and references to time to mention the historical struggle

Stan Grant’s speech ‘Racism and the Australian Dream’ (2015) effectively reminds the Australian population of the racism and harsh inequalities indigenous Australians have faced in the past and still face today. In reminding us of this reality, Grant engages us to discover issues of civic participation in Aboriginal people and in doing so perpetuates a need for social change. More?

Kevin Rudd’s apology was to the Aboriginals; but in particular, to the Stolen Generations. From 1909-1969, the Australian Government forced a policy know as assimilation upon the Aboriginals. Assimilation is the forced integration of minority groups onto the dominant society. Inhumane acts were inflicted upon these proud people because of the ‘Aborigines Protection Board’ which entailed that the Australian Government had full rights to forcibly remove half-caste children from Aboriginal care without parental consent nor a court order.

On the 13th February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, offered an Apology to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People by way of a speech that he presented to the 42nd parliament of the Commonwealth. His speech outlined the past oppression of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who had to endure pain and suffering. Children were forcibly removed from their families.

This article gives the reader an inequitable view of Indigenous Australians, defending Tony Abbot’s point of view and the audience is encouraged to agree with mainstream media in regards to whether or not Tony Abbott is racist. Article B from the Koori Mail condemns Tony Abbott’s viewpoint as not only racist but he is insulting the very culture that he is representing. Article B states that Tony Abbott does not understand Indigenous culture and how important land is to them “Connection to country is everything to Aboriginal people – defines Aboriginal people and sustains us in a cultural and spiritual sense and can play a vital role in building economic independence, self-determination and healing” (Greg Cromelin, Article B). With Article B the audience is encouraged to get angry at Tony Abbott’s comments and make him out to be racist.

Reconciliation is the process of building respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the wider Australian community. It is about understanding and respecting their culture and heritage and signifies ‘coming together’ to become one nation without racism and with equality for all. There are still vast differences in health, education, employment, and standards of living of the Indigenous peoples as compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Even today Indigenous peoples have a significantly lower life expectancy, up to 11.5 years for men and 9.7 years for women . The infant mortality rate for the Indigenous peoples is double the rate for non-Aboriginal Australians. Understanding these inequalities is the first step to reconciling the differences. Policies such as the stolen generation and assimilation policy destroyed Indigenous identity and culture and justified the dispossession of Indigenous people and the removal of Indigenous children from their parents. We can’t change the past but we can make a better future by understanding and learning from the mistakes of the past, reconciliation is about that. Many practical and symbolic strategies have been implemented over the last 50 years to achieve reconciliation such as ATSIC, Northern Territory Intervention and the Mabo decision. However, the most significant ones are the 1967 Referendum, Closing the Gap framework in 2008 and the ‘Sorry speech’. The aim is to improve the five dimensions of reconciliation: race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity, unity, and historical acceptance.

During the early 1900s, the Australian Government’s produced policies to create a divide and segregate Aboriginal families, attempting to breed out their culture, replacing them with the white settlers. It was the procedure of natural elimination, assimilation on the expectation of white superiority and black inferiority. The policies focused on the removal of children from their families and placing them into white homes to learn their ways and to separate them from what they knew. The Australian Government’s justified these policies for they thought it was best for the wellbeing of the Aboriginal children, so they would learn and adapt to white society, rather than the Aboriginal adults. The half-caste (a term that is now considered degrading for Aboriginal and white parentage) children were believed to be more compliant with the change for their skin was lighter, making it easier for them to adapt and fit in.

64, Commonwealth of Australia 2011). Policy then moved towards more assimilationist strategies in which attempts were made to convert Aboriginal Australians into ‘responsible citizens’ (Gilbert 2005, Haebich 2000). The protectionist and assimilationist policies share the core values that Aboriginal culture is inferior and on its way to an ‘evolutionary end’ (Gilbert 2005, p. 64).

It was only during this time that the Indigenous population were able to gain some of the human rights that they were deprived of after simply removing the words “other than the aboriginal race in any State” were taken out of section 51, making the Indigenous equal to whites by law (Source 4). The right to own land was given back to the Aboriginals in 1975 after the Prime Minster at the time Mr E.G. Whitlam formally gave land back to an Indigenous tribe after giving a speech acknowledging their pain and hardships (Source 6). It wasn’t until 2008 that the Aboriginal population received a formal apology, at the time Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, apologised for their mistreatment, the stolen generation and the unfair polices that lead to them losing their human rights (Source 8). Source 7 is in response to this speech, it is a cartoon saying we can’t just close the gaps they need to heal, it is showing the Indigenous population on one side and European cities on the other with a pit separating the two, it contains the words schooling, employment and so on this represents the difference in the two cultures that has been created. It was only in 1965 that Aboriginals started to become equal to everyone else, became entitled to human rights and were allowed to raise a

An indigenous person is someone who is native to the land, and naturally belongs to the land, originating from there. In regards to the Australian land, the indigenous people are the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders.

Aboriginals were the first kind to be in Australia. They had ownership of their land and they embraced their culture. This did not last long as the Europeans came to Australia. Things started to change from there such as many different tribal groups in Australia were wiped out, losing their language and culture. Hudson (2006) argues “Law and justice can only provide redress for those who appear the same as white men”. This essay will explain different aspects of issues that aboriginals are dealing with from which it then can be seen whether or not; white men are the only ones who deserve redressing from the law and justice.

“Solutions will not be found while indigenous people are treated as victims for whom someone else must find solutions”- Malcom Fraser, former Prime Minister of Australia. In the ideal Australia – the society is accepting of other cultures, specifically the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their culture and their beliefs. While and equal society within Australia is completely possible, given our history and the currant stance of the non-indigenous population, this will be difficult. Currently, this country is, to a certain degree, exclusive to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Laws and history, education and the health of the indigenous peoples will make it difficult for the whole of Australia to become and inclusive society. Many changes will have to occur in order for people to be accepting in their hearts. But overall, there are many advantages to a society that includes its indigenous population, including a deeper country history among other things and I believe that it is possible. A change, no matter how hard we try, will not be an instant occurrence. It will be a major societal change which will happen over a number of years.