Pearl Gibbs on Discrimination Agaisnt Indigenous People in New South Wales

Respect for Aboriginal culture and traditions which is part of the Aboriginal reconciliation and integration movement in Australia is highlighted many times throughout Crow Country and illustrates the best and worst of Australians. The way different characters show respect towards aboriginal culture and feelings contrasts two different attitudes. Today, opinions about aboriginal life and culture are shared through politics, social media and protests. Kate Constable’s book portrays extreme behaviour with racism and provides the reader with a perspective on just how cruel people can be. We have a very superficial understanding about aboriginal culture and this novel encourages readers to explore aboriginal culture and beliefs.

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?

It is without denial that aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people are treated differently in our society especially by the media. They are often represented as, trouble makers, violent and drunks. These remarks used by the media are giving bad impressions on Aboriginal people. Tonight, on Media Matters we will unmask the truth on the media’s treatment of the famous Sydney Swans footballer Adam Goodes. The media has heavily criticized this athlete making unfair statements causing them to break the journalist’s code of ethics, the very rule book they should be following. The code of ethics applies to all journalists and is designed to keep their reports fair, non-judgemental.

Neville Bonner and Mandawuy Yunupingu are known for being resilient Indigenous Australian leaders, paving the way for the improvement in quality of life for generations of Indigenous Australians, and becoming ‘firsts’ in their respective fields (National Portrait Gallery, 2016). Bonner was the first Indigenous member of Australian Federal Parliament, representing Queensland as the Liberal Party Senator in the 1972, 1974, 1975, and 1980 elections (National Film and Sound Archive, 2015). While Yunupingu was the first Indigenous Australian to become a school principal, and shed light internationally on the mistreatment of Australian Indigenous people through his band ‘Yothu Yindi,’ (National Library of Australia, n.d.). Both men were strong Indigenous rights activists, and inspired a nation to bridge the gaps between Indigenous Australians, and contemporary Australian society.

Faith Bandler was one of the most prominent figures promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders civil rights in Australia, and played a significant role in the success of the 1967 referendum. Bandler’s background and early life significantly influenced her later activism, causing her to question injustices against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Bandler spent most of her adult life promoting the cause of ATSI civil rights and racial equality, and was involved in a number of key events, one of the most significant being the 1967 referendum. Bandler’s legacy is extremely important in Indigenous Australia’s and Australia’s history, and her life will continue to impact millions.

In 1965 a group of students from Sydney University formed a group, called Student Action for Aborigines, that’s purpose was to draw attention to the inequality between white and indigenous Australia based in New South Wales. It also hoped to decrease the social discrimination between white Australia and indigenous Australia as well as give support to aboriginals to withstand the discrimination they face daily.

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

I would like to begin this speech by recognising the owners of this land, the true ancestors of the country we call ‘ours’. To the Indigenous peoples of Australia, I acknowledge you, I thank you and most of all I apologise to you for the deep suffering and remorse you are put through. I am ashamed of this country’s treatment towards you. Past and Present.

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.

If you are not a white man in the 20th century there are forms of oppression. Aboriginal women and children are minorities that have been oppressed and controlled by the provincial government during the 1960s. Aboriginal people believed the government and eugenics board used sterilization and the sixties scoop to oppress them. The sixties scoop is the movement of Aboriginal children being taken from their homes. Aboriginal people saw the sixties scoop movement as a way to oppress them and their culture once the children were adopted by non-aboriginal people. The provincial government created different acts, such as the Family Services Act to support the movement of the sixties scoop. These acts were followed out by social workers entering their

A courageous promoter and supporter of her Aboriginal background and culture, Cathy Freeman frequently proves and demonstrates to the human race worldwide, with her outrageous determination and willpower, and her extreme talent that natural skill and affection tied with personal cleverness will, and certainly can astound and overcome any amount of prejudgment and preconception towards Australian Aboriginals. Facts and realities like these positively play and carries a big part and fragment, on why Cathy has been chosen and selected to be written in detail about. In this factual essay, features and concepts such as her background information and why she is an inspiring individual will be identified, analyzed and evaluated in this thesis and composition.

My name is Mary Doe and it is an honour to represent the Queensland Youth Parliament during reconciliation week. This presentation will focus on Fred Hollows significance in promoting change for Indigenous Australia. As you may well know Fred Hollows was an able advocate for Indigenous health and focused much of his life on ending curable blindness among numerous Indigenous communities.

“The land is my mother. Like a human mother, the land gives us protection, enjoyment and provides our needs – economic, social and religious. We have a human relationship with the land: Mother, daughter, son. When the land is taken from us or destroyed, we feel hurt because we belong to the land and we are part of it.” This quote was written by Djinyini Gondarra, an Aboriginal that is working to towards enhancing the health and well-being of his fellow aboriginal people. Over the years, aboriginal people have been mistreated and have experienced a large magnitude of discriminations that range from health to social inequalities, which have led to many health-related issues that have made it very difficult for Aboriginal people to break the stigma and prejudice they continue to experience.

The following case studies have been compiled from existing reports and other sources including the ‘Thundering Hooves’ report prepared by AEA consulting for Edinburgh City Council in 2006. Figures and references have been updated where possible.

“Reconciliation is about unity and respect between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians. It is about respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and valuing justice and equity for all Australians”.(Australian Government, 2017) From the late 1950s both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal activists came together to fight for the civil rights of Aboriginal Australians and change the laws which disadvantaged Aboriginal Australians of civil liberties. There were indisputably hundreds of Australians both Aboriginal and white all working together to help create a more just society for Indigenous Australians in the after World War II period. This consists of Aboriginal people who are trying to speaking out for their tribes and as well as all Indigenous Australians. It includes church people, doctors, scientists, politicians and public servants. Civil rights was a big focus in the 1950s and 1960s because in that time people realised that changed needed to happen.