Question

1. Explain, in your own words, why two of the following issues may have an effect on the engagement of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people with community services and health systems.

Your answer should be no more than 500 words.

• The European settlement
• The loss of land and culture
• Racism and discrimination
• Power relations both past and present

Answer 1

In Australia there is a wide gap both in health service as well as community services between indegenous and non indigenous peoples.

Indigenous peoples do not have an equal opportunity to be as healthy as non-Indigenous Australians. ‘The relative socioeconomic disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to non-Indigenous people places them at greater risk of exposure to behavioural and environmental health risk factors also the higher proportion of Indigenous households live in conditions that do not support good health.Indigenous peoples also do not enjoy equal access to primary health care and health infrastructure (including safe drinking water, effective sewerage systems, rubbish collection services and healthy housing).

There have been some improvements in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health status, they have not matched the rapid health gains made in the general population in Australia. For example, death rates from cardiovascular disease in the general population have fallen 30% since 1991, and 70% in the last 35-years. Whereas Indigenous people do not appear to have made any reduction in death rates from cardiovascular disease over this period.

The inequality in health status experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is linked to systemic discrimination. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have not had the same opportunity to be as healthy as non-Indigenous people. This occurs through the inaccessibility of mainstream services and lower access to health services, including primary health care, and inadequate provision of health infrastructure in some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians describes these health inequities as ‘both avoidable and systematic’.This legacy remains to be fully addressed and is a significant barrier to the full enjoyment of the right to health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.