Aboriginal Community in Australia and Its Future
The State of the Aboriginal Community in Australia and it’s Future. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is currently at 3% of Australia’s total population, according to a report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This marks a population increase of 2.2% amongst Australia’s first inhabitants, whose population has been showing a progressive increase for the past decade. A majority of Aborigines, contrary to popular belief, currently live in major cities. Things, however, are not as rosy as they seem for the Aborigine communities, who still have a long way to go before they can fully participate in a variety of activities all over Australia.
With a dark past marred by generations of killings, trauma and discrimination, it is not a surprise to find many Aborigines today suffering from mental health issues. With a population age median of 25, the aboriginal community currently has a majority of its population comprising of the youth. This, compared to the national age median of 37 shows just how much work the community has to put in before they can reach national standards regarding work input and overall participation. Mental health has been a major setback in the community’s progress. With this issue also adversely affecting the youth nationally and the youth-majority composition of the Aboriginal community, it becomes quite clear that they have been hit the hardest by this recent pandemic.
Hire Incarceration Rates
During a recent survey, interviewed Aborigines reported a decreased sense of well-being due to discrimination. This has led to the stigma which reduces their employment and housing opportunities, thereby denying them the means they require to earn a living and economically uplift their living standards to reach those of the average Australian today. Increased imprisonment of Aborigines has also added onto the stigma. The exclusion of aborigine prisoners and those participating in remand programs from receiving therapy due to historical and intergenerational traumas, grief and loss further pose a threat to this community’s progress, as those who need rehabilitation and professional help the most are not able to get it.
The government-funded communities in which some Aborigines have been living have in the past considered by Australian authorities as areas of extensive alcohol and drug abuse, child sex abuse and low school attendance rates. This led to the closure of some of these communities, forcing Aborigines who were accustomed to living together and sharing their culture into going their separate ways. Following public outcry over the preservation of these communities, the federal government offered to continue its financial support, albeit temporarily. Southern Australia received A$15million while the Northern Territory received A$206 million for the next ten years. This happened in 2015. Although the closure of communities ceased to be as large as the Prime Minister’s original plan, we are unsure of what the future holds for these communities once the ten years are up.
Hope for the Future
It is quite clear that the government needs to work with the aboriginal people for the progress of Australia’s first inhabitants. The inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures as one of three cross-curriculum priority areas is one of the ways it has made an effort to do so. In this way, students all over Australia can deepen their learning experience and understand the struggles that the Aborigine people have been through. It also provides an excellent avenue for corroboration between teaching staff and Aboriginal historians as well as Aborigines in local communities, fostering co-operation between schools and their respective local communities.
This is just one step in the improvement of the relations between Aborigines and the people of Australia. Further steps will need to be made, with the Aborigine community needing to take matters into their hands by searching for employment and increasing their literacy levels by increasing turnout for schools in communities everywhere.
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