1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney
Cultural Diversity and Challenges in the Provision of Health and Welfare Services
Towards Social Justice:
Employment and Community Services in Culturally-Diverse Australia
Continued, from part one
4. Social Justice in Policies for Indigenous People
The National Council for the International Year for the Family undertook consultations in rural and remote areas across Australia, and heard consistent and strong representations by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations on the connections between families, land rights, cultural maintenance and transmission, education and supports for children, young people and older people. Consultations affirmed the value of the familial structures and caring networks of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
It is important that government policy and community attitudes in relation to families are inclusive and responsive to these family structures and caring networks, particularly in regard to child placement and fostering arrangements, and in recognition of extended definitions of "family" in a range of policy arenas.
Indigenous people were recognised in most consultations as a group who have suffered as a result of profound socio-economic disadvantage and racially discriminatory policies, and whose needs are not usually well-met by traditional, mainstream health and community services. Many types of services are based on urban models, which are inappropriate for rural/remote regions and inappropriate for different cultural circumstances. There was overall acceptance by participants that self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is imperative in the future development of family and children's services, other community services and education, training and employment policies which need to be developed in full consultation with indigenous people.
There was strong concern expressed about the lack of educational and employment opportunities for young people and family breadwinners. Increased levels of employment, education and training programs; much better community and health services, including maternal, infant and child health services; better provision of appropriate housing, recreation and amenities; and culturally appropriate drug and alcohol programs are all seen as essential in enhancing the economic and social welfare of indigenous communities. Participants also stated that indigenous children and young people should have improved access to education which includes traditional cultural information and language, thereby nurturing and continuing a sense of cultural heritage.
A major issue pertinent to indigenous communities and the welfare of children is the development of social and physical infrastructure, including basic facilities: power, appropriate housing, clean water and sanitation, as the necessary basis for improving indigenous children's and adults' health, welfare and life-chances. The consultations and submissions identified the importance of implementing community-developed and managed programs in respect of employment, education and training, housing, health and human services.
The submission to the National Council of the Secretariat for National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC)) advocated the development of a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family policy incorporating health, aged care, children's services, housing, education, training and employment into an overall plan. It also advocated recognition of the special status and rights of Aboriginal people in all these areas, and noted the need to ensure facilitation of Aboriginal people to communicate with each other, "to ensure the present regeneration of Aboriginal cultural practices continues and accelerates."
Social Justice and Indigenous Communities
"There is particular significance for indigenous Australians in social justice being understood to be a question of entitlements and rights. This understanding is critical to setting a proper basis for the exercise of self-determination" (Dodson, 1994).
The rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are discussed in terms of "citizenship rights", those shared with all other Australians, and "inherent indigenous rights", those accorded to the first peoples of Australia. The call from the communities is to ensure that indigenous people are able to exercise and access these rights, and that recognition and protection of indigenous rights are accorded within the national legal and constitutional framework.
The policy rationale regarding indigenous Australians must move beyond basic concepts of welfare and needs. Policies and programs which rest primarily on a perception of need and powerlessness reinforce the powerlessness of the recipients who are seen as being given justice rather than as exercising their rights. This position is articulated by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Michael Dodson in his 1993 Report:
"The historical origins and the present existence of disadvantage motivate for special measures to redress past injustices. But the fundamental rationale for current policies of social justice should not rest on the past absence of rights or plain citizenship entitlements. It should rest on the special identity and entitlements of indigenous Australians by virtue of our status as indigenous peoples" (Dodson, 1993).
There was strong support by participants at the Council's community consultations for the principle that self-determination and native title legislation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is imperative to ensure future development of appropriate family and children's services, other community services and education, training and employment programs.
Family Re-unification
One of the first matters to be considered is the removal of children, as part of official policies of assimilation, in some parts of Australia until the 1970s. The removal of children has had a profound and devastating effect on Aboriginal families. There are no clear data on the numbers of children that were removed during this period, although it has been estimated that one in six Aboriginal children, compared with one in three hundred non-Aboriginal children, were removed from their families.
Adoption and fostering of Aboriginal children to non-Aboriginal families did not slow down until the late 1970s when the first Aboriginal legal services and child care agencies intervened. Contrary to the belief of policy-makers and administrators at the time, the safety and well-being of the children were not enhanced, and the denial of the rights of those children and their families often left them even more vulnerable in the surroundings in which they were placed (McKendrick, 1993).
In consultations and submissions to the IYF National Council, indigenous organisations called for an inquiry into the removal of indigenous children from their families. The Commonwealth Government subsequently indicated in its Agenda For Families (1995), released with the 1995/96 Budget, that an inquiry would be conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, to examine the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and also to examine present policies and practices concerning indigenous children and their families. This is a timely and important initiative.
Family and Children's Services
There were strong calls from indigenous organisations for an examination and review of the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, and their impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, children and young people. The SNAICC IYF Discussion Paper highlighted the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in government and non-government "care", and in contact with the juvenile justice system. The majority of Aboriginal children "in care" are there primarily because of their impoverished circumstances. Similarly, young people are 20-30 times over-represented in youth detention facilities compared with young people overall (Dodson, 1994).
It is of great concern that children and young people continue to enter "alternative care" and institutions at disproportionate rates and effectively remain removed from their families for extended periods of time. The significant outcry from indigenous communities concerning the placement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children outside their communities and with non-indigenous families has led to an increased awareness of the importance of retaining links between indigenous children and their culture.
The Australian Law Reform Commission's Report on the Recognition of Customary Laws states:
"In the Commission's view, legislation should deal expressly with the placement of Aboriginal children. It is not sufficient to rely on the sensitivity of particular welfare officers, authorities or magistrates in ensuring that appropriate principles be applied...in deciding the future of children. Legislation providing a statutory basis for an Aboriginal child placement principle would help to ensure that those involved in making decisions on Aboriginal child placement make every effort to ensure that, wherever possible, Aboriginal children are placed within the care of their own families and communities" (ALRC, 1986).
This would be a crucial initiative to ensure the maintenance of cultural heritage and identity for indigenous children and young people. However, to see a reduction in the proportion of children and young people in care and institutions requires a comprehensive program to address the causes of their over-representation and enable their families and communities to develop appropriate responses of support and care.
In order to improve the circumstances and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, policy needs to be focused on the participation of parents in education, training and employment programs. This would also require the development of culturally appropriate children's services, which function for indigenous families as community development centres, providing a site for many services and for community activity, in addition to child care.
There were consistent calls from communities and organisations for the development of a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy in family and children's services, and also for increased investment in the full range of children's services (including long day care, family day care, outside school hours care and occasional care), increased training and education for workers in indigenous children's services, and increased resources for mobile children's services.
Employment, Education and Training for Indigenous Australians
Increased provision of culturally appropriate education, training and employment programs requires attention by all levels of government, and the involvement of indigenous communities in the development of employment programs and education of children and young people. Indigenous communities also stressed the importance of education about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures being extended to mainstream education systems, so that all Australian children and young people might develop a better appreciation and understanding of indigenous cultures, and their contributions to Australian life.
There is a range of ways in which employment, education and training programs can be expanded for indigenous people: through expansion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-controlled Community Development Employment programs; through a concerted strategy in the private sector for the growth of traineeships for indigenous people; and through rapid implementation of the labour market programs outlined in the White Paper, Working Nation (1994).
The White Paper recommends increases in funding for the expansion and better resourced management of Community Development Employment projects, which provide one-third of indigenous peoples' employment (Altman and Daley, 1994). This initiative will be particularly important in continuing to counter the paucity of employment opportunities for indigenous people in rural communities.
Such programs may also be used to improve infrastructure, housing and health services in communities. It has been pointed out, however, that the reliance of a significant proportion of indigenous Australians on government-supported enterprises leaves Aboriginal communities vulnerable to policy shifts. It therefore remains imperative that Working Nation proposals for substantially increased investment in appropriate education and training and subsidised private sector employment proceed as planned to enable more indigenous Australians to find secure mainstream employment, especially in urban areas (Altman and Daley, 1994).
Housing and Regional Development for Indigenous Families
The availability of appropriate, secure and affordable housing is a central determinant of living standards. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families who live in sub-standard housing or have no housing at all, the ability to ensure adequate living standards, to ensure good health, particularly for children and young people, and a secure base for education, training and entry into the labour force is significantly diminished.
The development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing policy requires that the provision and management of housing stock is integrated into broader social, cultural and economic goals. Fundamental to these goals are self-determination, self-sufficiency, maintenance of social and cultural cohesion, and improved living standards through employment and training, appropriate and secure housing, essential services and amenities, and good health care (Kickett, 1994).
Communities described the following as essential for the development of housing policies and programs for Aboriginal and Islander people in rural and remote regions:
- facilitation and promotion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination by ensuring that close involvement and much of the decision-making in the process of community planning is undertaken by the communities, with support and advice on options. A further dimension is to encourage indigenous ownership and management of housing, while ensuring adequate resources to achieve this;
- planning, design and provision of housing integrated with the design and provision of essential services, recreational and other amenities;
- community infrastructure (including transport, power, water and communication services), housing design, health care and education services closely coordinated to ensure equitable access and appropriateness of services, together with sustainable maintenance systems;
- housing provision and development of community infrastructure and amenities to provide opportunities for employment and training of indigenous people.
Health Issues for Indigenous People
The health status of indigenous Australians has been well-documented and widely recognised as the worst in this country, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people having significantly lower life expectancy (15-20 years lower) than non-indigenous Australians (National Health Strategy, 1992; ABS, 1995). The health status of indigenous people exemplifies the association between low income, unemployment, poor housing and other basic amenities, on the one hand, and higher rates of mortality and chronic illness, on the other hand, reflected particularly in the poor health of children. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are in need of primary health care, preventive health services, ante and post-natal care for pregnant women, and particularly, infant and child health services.
There were strong calls from the communities for the implementation of the National Aboriginal Health Strategy, the Torres Strait Health Strategy, and the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. These Reports recommended participation by indigenous communities in the planning, delivery and management of health services; self-determination and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; adequate community infrastructure and housing; and access to employment, education and training. These are fundamental to improving the health status of indigenous people.
Conclusions
The linkages between the 1993 International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples, the 1994 International Year of the Family and the 1995 International Year of Tolerance provide an excellent opportunity to focus the Australian community and governments at every level on the ways in which the reconciliation process between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians must incorporate strong and sustained policies for families, children and young people. This requires the development of a national policy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, children and young people, underpinned by culturally relevant legislation, and developed by indigenous communities, in dialogue with community agencies and governments. These linkages also require that priority be given to implementing Working Nation's commitment to increased investment in employment, education and training programs and extending the Community Development Employment Program for Indigenous Australians.
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