Minority Rights Issues

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

After that, this essay will discuss different impacts that are caused by this legislation. Firstly, the children removal issue is stilling happening among indigenous community, a large percentage of

Over the past decades, Aboriginal people (the original people or indigenous occupants of a particular country), have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism resulting in gender/ class oppression. The history of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aborignal people are treated and viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more than three centuries are still grim realities today. The failures of Canada's racist policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels of unemployment and poor education.

Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native culture, teachings, and pride. Policies towards the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians has decreased their opportunities and standard of living because of policies specified previously (Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reservation systems).

For the last 200 years Indigenous people have been victims of discrimination, prejudice and disadvantage. Poor education, poor living conditions and general poverty are still overwhelming issues for a large percentage of our people and we remain ‘as a group, the most poverty stricken sector of the working class’ in Australia (Cuthoys 1983).

Ever since the first contact settlers had with indigenous or Aboriginal people, there has always been discrimination against these groups since they are seen at the bottom of the social class scale. This was the first time in Canadian history where a certain social group were marginalized; the white people who first settled in Canada looked at indigenous people and didn’t believe that they belonged to there society. However, in todays society we have laws that prevent decriminalization, but that does not resolve the problem since many indigenous people are constantly being murdered, assaulted, raped and treated as second class citizens. The underlying problem that help’s illustrate why there so many missing and murdered indigenous woman is due to the lack of support from the government. Many first nations people live in poverty, also Canadians are not properly informed about the deaths and missing rates of indigenous woman in Canada.

The National Inquiry into the separation of the children concluded that 'between one-in-three and one-in-ten Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities in the period from approximately 1910 until 1970' (Wilkie, 1997). It was the 1960s, at the earliest, when the various 'protection' Acts were either abolished or discontinued.

Further, low income, unemployment, racism, lack of education further deteriorate their quality-of-life and well-being (Carson, Dunbar, Chenhall, & Bailie, 2007). Therefore “closing the gap” on indigenous disadvantage is crucial for archive equality in life expectancy, health status, education and employment between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Black & Richards, 2009).

“Structural inequities produces suffering and death as often as direct violence does, though the damage is slower, more subtle, more common and more difficult to repair” (Indigenous politics, 2005). The overt difference in health between aboriginal and non-aboriginal

Aboriginal peoples of Canada have suffered exponentially throughout the entirety of history and proceed to do so in modern society. Much of the continued suffrage of aboriginal peoples is as a result of the Sixties Scoop and the Residential School System, as well as the lack of resources available to them. This has wreaked extensive havoc on the mental health of Aboriginal peoples, and has left excessive amounts of stigma and racism attached to Aboriginal Peoples, explicitly seen in the cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Human rights are the rights of humans, regardless of nationality, gender, race, or religion. We should all have this in common as we are all part of humanity. However, Indigenous people did not always have these rights (Ag.gov.au, 2015). Aside from basic human rights, Indigenous people also have their own rights specific to their culture. Before 1967, Indigenous people had different rights in different states and the Australian federal government did not have any jurisdiction over Aboriginal affairs until Australia’s constitution was amended for this purpose in 1967 (Moadoph.gov.au, 2015). Between 1900 and the present time, there have been significant changes to the rights of Indigenous Australians. The effects of the European Settlement on the Indigenous people of Australia have been devastating. When white people began arriving in Australia, the Aboriginal people believed them to be ghosts of ancestor spirits. However, once they realised the settlers were invading their land, the Aborigines became, understandably, hostile (Slater & Parish, 1999, pp.8-11). In 1788, the total Indigenous population was believed to be between 750,000 and one million. By 1888, the Indigenous population was reduced to around 80,000 Australia wide (Korff, 2014). The three main reasons for this dramatic decline were the introduction of new diseases, violent conflicts with the colonisers, and settlers acquiring Indigenous land (Digital, 2015). In 1848, the Board of National Education stated that it

The predominately Anglo-Saxon values present in the welfare system have resulted in a lack of understanding of Indigenous disadvantage as well as cultural values and traditions (Chenoweth & McAuliffe 2008). Chenoweth and McAuliffe (2008, p. 28) state that Indigenous populations have handed down by word of mouth, rather than writing down, their own ways of addressing these notions of “helping”, and this has resulted in a lack of understanding or an reluctance by human services organisations to attempt to understand them.

The founding fathers feared that setting up a democracy where the power is all in the hands of the majority would allow the majority to take control over everyone else in the country. This would directly cause a denial of rights of minorities. Thomas Jefferson said in his inaugural address, “All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression”(1). Although defying majority rule may anger the people the government 's most important duty is to protect minority rights rather than following majority rule. The worst result that could occur would be to deny minority rights because of a lack of government protection.

Major structural factors at the root of inequity across indigenous populations Multiple and overlapping factors spark health inequity between the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples globally. The risk factors that contribute to health disparities otherwise called the “determinants of health” are interrelated elements with a combining power that affect individuals across their lifespan, from the inception to the end of life. These factors cannot be far fetched, they include: social, behavioural, economic, environmental, historical, biological and genetic, political to mention but a few are at the root of health inequity globally. The interaction of the above-mentioned factors influences the health and well being of individuals and communities for good or ill. The determinants of health can be grouped under four broadly acceptable categories: •

The impact of prejudice and discrimination in the Indigenous community is multifaceted. Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is negative and usually not based on reason or actual experiences; it can involve prejudging a group as inferior without facts. Prejudice can shape what the targets of prejudice, think about themselves, the world around them and subsequently affects their life chances. Some can be prejudice about a certain group (like gender or race) but they do not discriminate against them. In contrast, discrimination refers to the actual actions of treating a person or particula¬r group differently, for example; racial segregation and age discrimination. Discrimination is treating someone differently because of a feature that is protected by law. Discrimination in some cases is a manifestation of prejudice at the individual and the