INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY 1
INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY
Name : Sreeji Sreelakshmi
ASSIGNMENT 3
DECONSTRUCTION ESSAY
Why Do Aboriginal People Get Given Everything but Us Australians Work for Everything?
INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY 2
Aboriginal people are individuals of the “Aboriginal descent” or race of Australia who
are Indigenous to country’s mainland. They make up 2.8% of the total population of Australia
and are believed to have been the first inhabitants of Australia. The phrase “get given
everything” means that the Aboriginal people are given more help in sectors like employment,
health, education and others by the government of the country. The words “us Australians”
maybe implying that the Indigenous Aboriginal people are not viewed as Australians and that the
non-indigenous citizens of the country are the ones who are considered to be Australians.
According to the question, “us Australians work for everything” means that unlike the
Indigenous members of the country, the non-indigenous inhabitants of Australia have to put in
effort to make a living and receive less help from the government. The question reveals that the
one asking is a non-indigenous member of the country who believes that the indigenous group
eceives special treatment and more public benefits from the government. According to the
Australian Human Rights Commission, the phrase Aboriginal people is a “collective name”
given to the original members of Australia and all their descendants. Therefore, the question does
not put emphasis on the diversity of spiritual beliefs, cultural practices and language- this is
ought about when an‘s’ is added on people to make Aboriginal Peoples. The question also
eveals the stereotypic nature of the one asking who seems to believe that the Indigenous people
get a “free ride”. It also implies that the one asking maybe discriminating against the Indigenous
group because he/she does not seem to recognize that Aboriginal people are also Australians.
Do Aboriginal people get given everything? This is an assumption by most non-
indigenous Australians. Research and studies have shown that most non-indigenous Australians
elieve that Aborigines are given “everything”. The idea is further enhanced by the
discrimination and stereotypic thoughts that non-indigenous have. Bronwyn XXXXXXXXXXrealized that
Comment [S1]: Capitals - check
espectful usage of terminology.
INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY 3
most of the non-indigenous students in his class believe that Indigenous Australians are
ecipients of a variety of privileges and benefits that are not given the non-indigenous people.
They believe that Indigenous people receive financial compensation, services and goods because
they are Indigenous. When asked to give more privileges and benefits received by the Indigenous
people, the students mentioned that they receive government funds to attend the university and
therefore do not have to pay for an education (tertiary). Moreover, the students have a notion that
Indigenous students do not have to do their assignments to pass and/or receive their degrees.
BeyondBlue commissioned a survey on more than a thousand non-indigenous citizens of
Australia. The survey found that approximately half of them believed that Aborigines and other
Indigenous people are recipients of “unfair” advantages from the government. A third of them
elieved that the Indigenous people were at times simply lazy wile many believed that it was
discrimination was allowed (Cindy XXXXXXXXXXBronwyn XXXXXXXXXXand (Cindy 2014) indicate that most
of the non-indigenous Australians believe or have the idea that Indigenous people like the
Aborigines are given “free payments”, advantages and benefits by the government. This survey
had proved that impression of Aboriginal people is pertained to special treatment and /or
negative attitudes such as tax
eaks, other privileges and rights and that Indigenous Australians
elied on government handouts and welfare and that Aborigines do not work and therefore not
contributing to the society.
Why do the non-indigenous Australians think that Aborigines get given everything while
the have to work for everything? Natalie XXXXXXXXXXstates that the mainstream media has aided in
painting Indigenous people as having no ability to productively participate in building the
society, hopeless, incapable of managing their affairs and therefore need a “helping hand” i.e.
that of the government, in order to survive. Non-indigenous Australians assume that the
Comment [S2]: WELL-LINKED HERE
INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY 4
Aborigines have cultural and societal inferiority and that is why they are “given everything”. In
addition some films and television programs portray Aboriginal characters as people who live
areas that are remote in Australia. As a result, they build a stereotype that Aborigines are
uncivilized- which supports their notion that these group of people do not work as they do not
know about modern day employment. This assumption comes about due people’s lack of
understanding about the government programs that have been set aside for the Indigenous
people. The non-indigenous Australians do not understand that these programs are not an
additional income for the Aboriginals. They also do not have thorough knowledge about the
easons as to why these programs are set aside for the Aborigines. The mostly assume that
Aborigines basically get these types of funding that are specific to them because they are
Indigenous. Therefore, the question, “Why Do Aboriginal People Get Given Everything but Us
Australians Work for Everything?” is another way of asking why the government has designated
specific programs for the Aborigines and those who are not indigenous do not have such
programs.
The question puts across the fact that most or all non-indigenous Australians lack
knowledge as to why the Aborigines are in need of the specific programs designated to fulfill
some of their need. This lack of knowledge and understanding is supported by the impressions
y the non-indigenous that Aboriginal people are lazy and have no contribution toward the
growth of the society because they do not work. The non-indigenous Australians thoughts on
Aborigines being lazy is also supported by their misconceptions that Aborigines can not fend nor
look after themselves despite the great handouts and advantages given to them by the
government. They are also not aware of whether the programs set aside for Aborigines do
anything to deal with the disadvantages they face. This proves that little/nothing is done to
INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY 5
educate non-indigenous people on the challenges the Aborigines face and/or in what ways these
people are disadvantaged. The question also
ings out the fact that racial discrimination against
Aborigines exists (Surveillance International XXXXXXXXXXMoreover, ethnocentrism is contributing to
the misconceptions and myths about Aborigines (Natalie 2017).
Due to the misconceptions and myth the non-indigenous Australians have about the
Aborigines, they do not understand that these Indigenous people do not receive any extra income
or “free payment” on the basis of being indigenous. They are also unaware that Aborigines
eceive public benefits equal to that of the non-indigenous citizens as they assume the specific
programs are a means of extra income for the Aborigines. It reveals the level of ignorance
depicted by non-indigenous Australians. The question might also imply that the non-indigenous
Australians are unhappy with the specific funding and programs aimed at helping the Aboriginal
people. In addition, they feel that they are the ones who are striving harder to earn a living and
contribute to the economy of the country. They are hardly aware that these programs designated
for Aborigines have been allocated for sensible and actual reason. Aboriginal people have are the
most socially as well economically challenged group in the country (Australia) and are thus
allocated these specific programs to help the overcome these disadvantages. The programs are
there only to act as supplements those that are already publicly available because the Aborigines
generally do not utilize the public services at a rate similar to that of the non-indigenous
Australians. It is evident that non-indigenous Australians assume that since Aborigines are
physically, socially and culturally different from them, they are therefore socially and culturally
inferior.
None-indigenous Australians therefore need to be educated about the problems
Aborigines face. They need to understand that difference in the rate of utilization of public
INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY 6
services such as health by Aborigines is due to the difference things like the status of health care
they receive, the ba
iers that are present when Aborigines try to access such services and/or
ecause the levels of provision of such services differs from theirs. They also need to understand
that in some areas where Aboriginals live, there might not be any access to such services and
where they are available, obstacles such as lack of means of transport, long distances as well the
cost of getting these services is overwhelming. For instance, the XXXXXXXXXXIndigenous people
survey (NATSHIS) of 10,400 people indicated that 1 in every 7 people (15%) had not gone to
the physician in the previous 12 months even though they had needed to. Another 8% had not
gone to an Aboriginal health professional or nurse but had not, 7% had not gone to the hospital
even though they needed to and 21% had needed to see a dentist but had not. They gave reasons
of language and cultural ba
iers, distance to healthcare facilities, unavailability of the
appropriate health workers, facilities and services as well as cost of getting these services being
the key reasons as to why they had accessed services (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008).
It is therefore very important for non-indigenous people living in Australia to understand that
Aboriginals are not given everything. There is also a need to understand that this group of people
have not been allocated programs to fund them just because they are indigenous i.e. the first
inhabitant of the Australia but because they are statistically faced with more challenges than non-
indigenous Australians. They should also acknowledge the fact that racism still exists and that
they may be doing it consciously or unconsciously. Non-indigenous Australians need to be
mobilized on the importance of not discriminating the Aboriginals as it affects them in one way
or another. Therefore, the question “why do Aboriginal people get given everything but us
Australians work for everything?’ cannot be affirmed or proposed as it is not factually supported
and is based on misconceptions and myths.
Comment [S3]: Main generic feedback for the
Assignment 3: Deconstruction Essay Weighting 35% is in this
section. Please check grade book for mark.
Well done on your effort with unpacking your chosen
question. Your deconstruction essay has some flow in ideas
and academic writing style is developing nicely