Health Inequities Experienced By Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People In Australia

The health of Aboriginal people in Canada is both a tragedy and a crisis (Aboriginal Affairs and North Development Canada, 2010). Aboriginals have a higher rate of death among aboriginal babies, twice the national average, higher rate of Infectious diseases example gastrointestinal infections to tuberculosis, and chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease are affecting more aboriginal people than they once did (AANDC, 2010). Availability of important medical facility is not enough to accommodate the growing medical needs of Aboriginals. A socioeconomic and cultural issue also hinders the access of aboriginals to access health care in the community.

As a people, our rate of chronic disease is still 2.5 times higher than that of other Australians, and Indigenous people in this country die 15 to 20 years younger than those in mainstream Australia. More than half of

It is well studied by health authorities that the current health statistics of the Indigenous population today are clearly reflected on their health status, due to the impacts of the colonisation process. The relating problems associated with this have resulted in destructive families and communities. It is unquestionable that Indigenous Australians were adapted to the environment in which people lived and had control on every feature of their life during the colonisation period. According to ‘The Deplorable State of Aboriginal Ill Health, Chapter 1’ (2014), studies that show that numerous infectious diseases; such as, smallpox and the flu, were not present in the pre-invasion period. It is also shown that lifestyle diseases such as high BP, diabetes and heart diseases were not known to exist.

“Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people have a greater amount of disadvantage and significantly more health problems than the non-Aboriginal & Torres strait Islander population in Australia”

Aboriginal health standards are so low today that all most half aboriginal men and a third of the women die before they are 45. Aboriginal people can expect to live 20 years less than non-indigenous Australians. Aboriginals generally suffer from more health problem and are more likely to suffer from diabetes, liver disease and glaucoma. The causes of their poor health and low life expectancy are poverty, poor nutrition, poor housing, dispossession of their traditional land, low education level, high unemployment, drug and substance use, unsafe sex, limited health care and diseases.

The majority of health issues that the Aboriginal community faces are related directly and indirectly to social, economic, cultural and political areas. Infrastructure, housing, employment, income, environmental and education are connected to the individual and community based effects of health.

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social

The introduction to the western/European way of living, loss of ancestral land, intolerance and the economic disadvantages that Indigenous Australians suffer fuels socially related conditions within their communities such as substance abuse, violence, increased degrees of infectious diseases and chronic diseases etc. culminating in higher mortality rates than non-Indigenous Australians (Duckett & Willcox, 2011, p. 34-35). Stephens, Porter, Nettleton and Willis (2006) state that “infectious disease burden persists for Indigenous communities with high rates of diseases such as tuberculosis, and inequality also exists in the prevalence of chronic disease, including diabetes and heart disease” (p.2022). Statistics show mortality for most age groups of the

“The status of Indigenous health in contemporary Australia is a result of historic factors as well as contemporary socio-economic issues” (Hampton & Toombs, 2013, p. 1).

Australia is considered one of the safest and best countries to live (OECD, 2016). For instance, Australia exhibits higher life expectancies (80.3 years for males and 84.5 years for females), lower mortality rates (5.4 per 1000 live births), high-quality education and health practices and many employment opportunities (ABS, 2015). However, there are wide disparities in life expectancy, mortality rates, heath outcomes, education and employment for indigenous people (Holland, 2014).For example, life expectancy at birth for indigenous population is 10.6 years lower than that of the non-indigenous male population and 9.5 years for females (ABS, 2015). The mortality rate for the indigenous

This paper will examine the healthcare of Indigenous Australian peoples compared to non-indigenous Australians. The life expectancy gaps between the two are a cause for alarm when statistics show Indigenous Australian peoples die on average 17 years earlier than non-indigenous Australians (Dick 2017). This paper will examine the social determinants of health to explore these factors and what interventions are in place to improve health status and life expectancy gaps for equality. The Federal Government has seen the implementation of the Northern Territory Intervention and the Closing the Gap Initiative. This essay will examine these two strategies and discuss the effectiveness of both policies. It will explain the differences, similarities and look at the success so far to

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social

The racism that goes on around Australia has a very serious impact on Indigenous Australians; this impact is the gap in the life expectancy between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Life expectancy for native Australians is in comparison with third world countries with the probability of death being around 20 years lower than other Australians, which has increased since 1997 (Kim 2007). The life of Indigenous Australian 's is short-lived compared to other Australians as 66% of the deaths of native Australians were before the age of 65 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011). The life expectancy for non-indigenous Australian 's is 75 for males and 81 for females. The life expectancy for Indigenous Australian 's has been the same since the 1900’s with the life expectancy of males being 56 and females 61 (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2001). The gap in life probability between

What might explain these statistics, or at least serve as correlations, are the determinants of health. If the reader is not familiar with the determinants of health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) provides an explanation of them. In essence, these health determinants are factors that have significant impact upon one’s health. The main determinants for health are: socioeconomic status, where the rich and upper classes tend to be healthier; education, where low education is linked to stress, lower self-esteem and poorer health choices; environment, where purer air, cleaner water, healthier workplaces and better housing contribute to being healthier; health services, where access to services and proper equipment all contribute to health; as well as gender, genetics, culture and social behaviour (WHO, 2016). As there are so health determinants, where essays can be written on one alone, it is not within the scope of this essay to critically analyse each determinant for Indigenous Australians. With this in mind, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014) documents an extensive list of data for Indigenous health, most of which discusses issues which are out-of-scope for this analysis. What is relevant, however, is outlined next. Across the board, in 2011, the Indigenous population was younger than the non-Indigenous population due to high fertility and mortality rates with those

     Many of the inequalities in the health of the Aboriginal people can be attributed to the