INDIGENOUS DISADVANTAGE

Indigenous Disadvantage

Indigenous Disadvantage

Introduction

The aboriginals of Australia have long being ignored and disadvantaged made since the 18th and 19th century, where the indigenous people of Australia were completely silenced and taken for granted. During the last 35 to 40 years, the Australian government has acted on the poor quality of aboriginal life by improving their rights and equality as Australians. Despite the enormous amount of government initiatives to endeavour to further the indigenous life, it is correct to say that the Aboriginals are still the most disadvantaged group in Australia. It will be looking at a number of government proposals that have contributed to improving the quality of aboriginal life, and the way in which indigenous Australians are nevertheless still extremely disadvantaged compared to their fellow Australian citizens. (http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/)

Discussion

Even though Aboriginal people were still very disadvantaged in Australian society, the referendum saw a chance for indigenous Australians to possess civil and political rights and they were less accustomed to marginilisation and oppression. The 1970's and 1980's witnessed a time of incredible revival of pride and assertiveness in indigenous cultural and social life. The disagreement over land has been a large part of Australian history since 1788. Aborigines have continued to fight for their land and resist dispossession. Much of the violence and racial views during the 19th century was a lot because of the Aborigines fight for land (Hollinsworth 1998). Chesterman (2005) says there are two reasons why the indigenous community has continued to fight for land rights; one view is that until the 1960's Indigenous people sought land rights principally for reasons of economic security, and another view is that the fight for land rights has always been driven by Aboriginal beliefs about spiritual connectedness to the land. The government has provided the indigenous communities with official land rights acts to grant them ownership of certain land. (http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/)

A common understanding, however, is that all Australians deserve to have equal life opportunities, and that genuine reconciliation will only exist when indigenous disadvantage has been eliminated. The government of Australia has come up with many policies and schemes to work towards reconciliation. There have been several mile stones on the path to reconciliation since the 1967 referendum. These have included the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, the 1989 legislation establishing ATSIC, establishment of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1991 (Http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/90130/). On 26 August 1999 the Australian Parliament passed a motion of reconciliation, complying a 'whole-hearted commitment with reconciliation as an important national priority for all Australians (Http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/90130/). Despite these Government initiatives to work towards reconciliation, indigenous Australia is still very much disadvantaged and hurt by the stolen generation and their stolen land. Healey (2006) describes the Australian approach to reconciliation, "The cornerstone of reconciliation is the provision of practical and effective measures that address the legacy of profound economic and social disadvantage experienced by many Indigenous Australians, particularly in the areas of housing, health, education and employment." There have been a number of examples that convey a nation not willing to ...