Rural Areas Of Rural And Remote Communities

Lower incomes, lower levels of education and employment, and poorer access to health services are among the social ...good health and wellbeing in rural and remote Australia determinants of poor health for people in rural and remote areas, who are also disadvantaged by a higher prevalence of common risk factors for health, such as higher rates of smoking, greater rates of disability and lower rates of physical activity.

Imagine growing up in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business and the nearest Wal-Mart is almost an hour away; then imagine attending a school where the amount of student attending is the same number of people who occupy a small town. The size difference is substantial and plays an important role. When I was younger, I had attended both a small town school and a school in the city. I have had the chance to experience the different lifestyles of these two variations of living. The development of who I am today was because of my surroundings. In the city, I noticed there was different opportunities. The opportunities seemed more readily available depending on funding and sources; which are dependant on the location. Education, development, and opportunities are widely known to be affected by environmental factors; thus, people who live in the city have a different experience than those who reside in small towns.

Australian government today recognises that educational policies regarding Aboriginal people cannot be made without considering social and economic policies aimed at improving outcomes for Aboriginal communities in general (TICHR, 2006). Main contemporary issues facing Aboriginal communities are proving land ownership, remoteness, health status, education and employment status and social attitude of Non-Aboriginal population towards the Aboriginal communities (Challenges facing the Indigenous communities today, n.d.). Tackling this issue is not a simple task: the document “National Indigenous Reform Agreement” (2010) which aims to improve outcomes for all Indigenous Australians recognizes that this process needs approach from different aspects, taking into account “seven key building blocks: Early Childhood, Schooling, Health, Economic Participation, Healthy Homes, Safe Communities, and Governance and Leadership” (as cited in DET Queensland,

Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) is one of the six primary key learning areas (KLAS) connecting the study of people, cultures, societies and environments. Because of this, I feel that this key learning area is important in early childhood and primary education as children begin to learn about themselves, their environment as well as their country in a way that is interesting and inspiring to them. Closely looking at the Geography syllabus, I have begun to think about why children should explore the relationships they have between people, places and environments including that of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their culture that has greatly impacted the way Australia is now. Geography is a subject that I find an interest in as I enjoy

Residents of rural and remote communities tend to experience poorer health outcomes than those in the metropolitan area (Humphreys & Walkerman, 2008). The fact that the high proportion of Indigenous Australians, which increases with remoteness, reflects the lag in Indigenous health outcomes (Humphreys & Walkerman, 2008).

This issue highlights the distinction between services on offer within the rural districts and major cities of Australia.

Opioid abuse, cardiometabolic diseases, and diseases of lifestyle and social fabric are few of the health problems that are predominant in the southeast region of the country. Tennessee is in the lowest 25th quartile in the overall health performance among the low-income population in the southeast region. Hence, there is a need to address specifically, socioeconomic determinants in tackling these problems. These socioeconomic determinants are usually referred to as the causes of the causes of the diseases.

Living in a remote area has always been thought to have negative influences on the individual. There are 35 % of the total population in Australia living in rural area(Phillips, 2009).Rural areas in Australia and all over the world are not geographically isolated and disadvantaged only but also culturally and economically deprived which has great consequences on the health status of the population. The main two factors that have a major effect on rural health are socioeconomic status and cultural issues(Beard, Tomaska, Earnest, Summerhayes, & Morgan, 2009).

Rural schools find it hard to recruit and retain -quality teachers and principals. The struggle that goes with the finding and hiring of employees who are okay with moving to geographic seclusion in impoverished towns are only multiplied by deficiencies in the infrastructure. For example, significant portions of rural America lack access to broadband internet. The FCC published a Broadcast Progress Report in 2016 that stated that rural areas have indignantly slower internet access, with 39% of people lacking access to broadband of 25/4 Mbps. There were only 4% of urban areas with the comparable slow speed. The result of lack of working, efficient, internet options has severely restricted rural populations from taking advantage of critical facets of modern-day life. It has also significantly limited rural students access to vital learning resources (Hudley, 2013). Transportation is another common hurdle for many students attending rural schools. The day-after-day commute, is so. lengthy, that it cuts a significant time out that would have been spent learning in the classrooms on homework. This makes teaching the material (Stroud,

Analysis on lack of infrastructure showed that for every dollar spent by the government on education of a child in the Northern Territory, just 47 cents was spent for educating a child in remote communities. And if all children of that community were to attend school, there wouldn’t be enough teachers and classrooms to accommodate for them all (CreativeSpirits) In some communities, there are many children who are keen and eager to learn but cannot achieve there ambitions due to the lack of full time teachers that are skilled and trained in teaching the subjects needed. Many regions in Australia, especially the remote areas, suffer from teacher shortages that are expected to worsen as older teachers retire. Propose a project to reduce one or more of

The Department of Health (2011, p17) states that “as the distance from major cities and regional centres increases, disease risk factors and levels of illness increase.” The health of Australians in rural and remote locations is generally poorer in comparison to people who live in major Australian cities and towns. There are a number of health concerns for remote communities including the following (Department of Health, 2011, p17):

Many distinct groups of people make up the remote community of Australia. This includes farmers, miners, tourists, and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities (Humphreys & Wakerman, 2008) However, it is important to understand that these exclusive groups of people who choose to live away from the majority of urban society unfortunately, are especially vulnerable to various health risks to a greater degree whether be social, physical or mental. Among those affected, none are more susceptible to disease than the Indigenous and adult population in isolated areas (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2005) [AIHW].

Remote indigenous communities are often some distance away from any mainstream schooling. Communities can be isolated by the rains and flooded rivers for up to 5 months, this geographical aspect affects the quality and consistency of educational services available. Remoteness also increases the cost involved in getting educational infrastructure to these communities, making education and training low priority for communities without high levels of community ownership and control. “In remote and isolated communities where indigenous cultural activities are historically informed and remain strong, outside priorities driven by people from Australian English speaking, Western society may be given a low priority or may not be well understood.” (Pat Torres & Allan Arnott 1999 pp, 225-234) Isolated and remote communities have few economic opportunities for uneducated indigenous Australians. “The government in remote communities generally supplements the local economy with basic infrastructure such as power, water, and the provision of

The idea for this project is to bring opportunity to the residents of RuralEdge through education, while developing leaders, supporting resident groups and building community, within the selected RuralEdge properties. Some educational classes will include financial security, avoiding lease violations, economic opportunities, and adult learning courses either credited or certificate. This project can result an opportunity for the local resident group; Neighbors Helping Neighbors to offer their resources to other residents. The free or reduced classes facilitated by RuralEdge staff members, residents, and outside facilitators. A great opportunity for creating an intergenerational community will begin with the after school youth program. Providing

Buckle uses the “Australian Council of Education Research” to provide evidence from a new report that shows that “many of our school syllabuses” lack “consistency” across the country. Buckle criticises the standards of education set by individual State Governments which advocates that “what students learn is determined by where they live”. The writer appeals to a sense of patriotism that “Australians are one people” and therefore should all be treated equally under the same standards, regardless of where they live. Drawing on the statistics that “less than half the topics taught in Australian History are common across the country” heightens the sense of unfairness because of the discrepancy between differing syllabuses across each state. In contrast, the anonymous writer highlights the importance of nurturing of the varying individual needs of students as “diversity provides choice”. The author puts emphasis on the juxtaposition of the needs of rural students compared to urban students, as their “lives are not the same” and therefore their education should not be either. The writer refers to the relevance of the education materiel used according to environment and opportunities relevant to the students such as listing “wool-classing, land management, and stock handling” for rural schools and “urban studies and freeway pollution” for urban