Impact of Colonization on the First People

The early year of European colonization is undoubtedly a remarkable historical event for the people of Australian. The European colonization began at 1788, the first people of the Australia have been the aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders. According to authors, these first people of Australia have lived there for more than 40000 years before the European settlement began to taken place in the country (O’Gorman, Beattie & Henry, 2016). The colonization had been associated with a number of hardships including loss of land, forced removal of children and fall from the social status. The essay will attempt to discover the impact of colonization on the first people and their health outcomes taking the assistance of two policy areas.

The impact of the colonization of the Australian continent has been a delimiting factors on not just the lifestyle of the first people, rather the trauma of loss of land, social position and even the forced removal of the children has had a severe psychological impact on the people as well. Along with that, racial discrimination and bullying faced by the aboriginals and Torres Strait islander has also had a significant detrimental impact on health status, life expectancy and most of all, the access to the health care services (Berkes & Ross, 2013). There have been many policies that have designed with the idea of redefining the health status and lifestyle outcomes for the contemporary first people of the Australia, however, the impact of these policies have been differential. The first policy that has made a profound influence on the lives of the contemporary first people of Australia is the self-determination policy of 1972-1975 (alrc.gov.au, 2018). The right to self- determination has been outlined in the article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and in article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Exploring further, it has to be mentioned that in the post colonization era, the impact of the settlement has been associated with not just the loss of lands and trauma for the indigenous individuals, but the subtle but substantial control exerted by the White Australian policy also have forced the indigenous individuals to resort to the nonindigenous way of living (humanrights.gov.au, 2018). According to the policy document, the right to self-determination in the Australia allows all individuals of the society to liberally determine personal political status and be able to freely follow their socio-economic and cultural development. As mentioned by McDermott and Edwards (2012), the process of self-determination has been an ongoing process of choice that acknowledges the Australian indigenous people to be the first people of Australia and allowing the indigenous individuals so that they can easily address their socio-economic and cultural needs of life.

The second policy that is needed to be discussed in this context is a very recent addition to the Australian legislations, the indigenous advancement strategy of 2004 to 2014. Exploring this policy area further, it has to be mentioned that this particular policy addition is a conspicuous proof of the fact that the Australian government has made the needs and demands of the aboriginal individuals as one of the national priorities (Pmc.gov.au, 2018). As per the policy document, the indigenous advancement strategy or IAS allows the Australian government to fund and deliver a varied range of different programs for the benefit of the indigenous people of Australia. This particular policy focuses on Jobs, economic condition, land security, child support including education and schooling, culture and capability, along with safety and wellbeing. This policy area manages the total government expenditure of $8.6 billion invested in improvement of life of the ATSI community residing in Australia.

Policies for Indigenous Health Outcomes

Self-determination is not just a basic human right or requirement for justice, rather, the right to self-determination is a fundamental component of the wellbeing. Human beings, above all, are social creatures and they cannot flourish in any context without given the opportunity to participate in political and social affairs (Hannum, 2011). The inability of the members of the society to participate in the joint decision making procedure can have a detrimental impact of the sense of belonging which in turn can impact the wellbeing as well. Self-determination is a right that can allow the members of a society or a lawful community to work with each other within shared political institutions and be able to determine the laws and policies that will eventually shape the collective as well as individual futures. In the post colonization era, the indigenous populations have been subjected to face a drastic loss of self-determination which has eventually led to frustration, resentment, insecurity and despair which has also affected their health significantly (Mickler, 2010). As a result of their lack of self-determination, the community of first people have lacked control over administration and delivery of their own health services. With the implementation of the self-determination policy, the first people have been provided the opportunity to have an equal say to the decision making regarding health policies and directives helping them attain better health outcomes. Similarly, indigenous advancement strategy is focused on improving five related factors of aboriginal living including safety and wellbeing (pmc.gov.au, 2018). This policy has been capable of bridging the gap of the disparities and inequities present in the health service delivery. The enhanced systematic funding has helped in implementation of better and culturally safe mental health care delivery, better addressing of the social and cultural determinants of health for first people, and national partnership agreement for health infrastructure improvement for the remote indigenous populations.

Both of the policies have been a boon for the improvements in the health status for the aboriginals or the first people of Australia. The government policy acknowledging the right to self-determination for the first people have provided them with the rights to adhere to their personal identity, language and cultural norms. Where the self-determination has allowed them to have an equal say in the policy decision making including health and wellbeing, the indigenous advancement strategy has provided the adequate funding for specified health improvement strategies dedicated to first people to be implemented (Jolley et al., 2014). This has been a drastic change in the health service delivery and health outcomes for the indigenous populations, and has allowed for the implementation of culturally safe care aspects for the first people. The mandatory consideration of the dignity and cultural identity of each patient and providing an impartial patient centred care is one of the integral elements of present health care delivery of Australia (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 2018). The emphasis of safeguarding and acknowledging the cultural identity of the first people is undoubtedly a cumulative effect of the policy changes towards indigenous advancement and self-determination rights which has allowed the first people not only gain the deserved equal access to health services and be able to participate in the decision making of the policy making, but also be able to receive the respect and acknowledgement as an individual cultural identity. Hence, the present therapeutic relationship based on trust and respect for each other and their cultural identity is one of basic aspects of care delivery scenario of the Australian heath care system which has helped improve their help seeking behaviour and hospitalization rates as well. This in turn has improved the health status of the first people as they can build a trustful and mutually respectful relationship with their health service provided instead of being discriminated against (Berkes & Ross, 2013).

Conclusion:

On a concluding note, European colonization has a had a significant impact on introducing modernized European influence on the culture and lifestyle of the Australia, the impact of the colonization and the aftermath of the same had a significant impact on all aspects of life for the first people of Australia. However, the policy shift from assimilation to self-determination and indigenous advancement has helped improve the health care for the first people and has helped them attain a respectable position in the society which is reflected in the health care services focused on cultural safety and mutually respectful relationship between indigenous patient and service providers.

References: 

About Constitutional Recognition | Australian Human Rights Commission. (2018). Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution. Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/about-constitutional-recognition

Berkes, F., & Ross, H. (2013). Community resilience: toward an integrated approach. Society & Natural Resources, 26(1), 5-20. Doi: 10.1080/08941920.2012.736605

Changing Policies Towards Aboriginal People | ALRC. (2018). Changing Policies Towards Aboriginal People. Retrieved from https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/3.%20Aboriginal%20Societies%3A%20The%20Experience%20of%20Contact/changing-policies-towards-aboriginal

Hannum, H. (2011). Autonomy, sovereignty, and self-determination: the accommodation of conflicting rights. University of Pennsylvania Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=28PEGfCDiZEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=self+determination+in+australia&ots=LONJbv2S3E&sig=a1lApreiJKZ1nFNLkiy0Cmrpavc#v=onepage&q=self%20determination%20in%20australia&f=false

Indigenous Advancement Strategy. (2018). Indigenous Advancement Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.indigenous.gov.au/indigenous-advancement-strategy
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Mickler, S. (2010). Illiberal and unmodern: Conservative columnists on Indigenous self-determination in Australia and Canada. Borderlands, 9(1). Retrieved from https://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA233047270&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=14470810&p=AONE&sw=w

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O’Gorman, E., Beattie, J., & Henry, M. (2016). Histories of climate, science, and colonization in Australia and New Zealand, 1800–1945. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 7(6), 893-909. Doi: 10.1002/wcc.426

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