The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia (Indigenous Australians) make up 3.1% of the nation. Within this, only 35% of the population live beyond the age of 65. Non-Indigenous Australians have a much higher percentage of living after the age of 65 years (81%) (Healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au, 2017). The Government are trying to “close the gap” between the health, sanitation, disease, education, accessibility to health facilities, and preventable death rates, between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. However, there are still many factors that need to be reconsidered to improve the education of the Indigenous people’s health and wellbeing habits. Education plays a large role in the health gap of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, as non-Indigenous Australians have easier access to information about disease prevention and healthier lifestyle choices; Indigenous Australians have limited access to this information due to their proximity from larger cities and towns.
School can be discouraging towards students, as the lessons can be confusing and irrelevant. Amelia Kunoth-Monks (a teenager from the Utopia homelands north of Alice Springs) says that “More kids would go, and parents would be encouraging them to go to school, if the lessons were more relevant, taught in both languages with a strong focus on our culture.” Only 55% of Indigenous children in Year 10 attend school regularly in the Northern Territory (Jens Korff, C. 2018). Created Spirits is an organisation that has created a Clontarf program that aims to increase and engage Indigenous students, in attending school. The organisation entices Indigenous students in remote communities to attend school more often by: picking up the students before school starts, using positive reinforcement if they attend school for the whole week (they can win shopping vouchers or sport supplies), increase the Aboriginal staff, lowering the school fees and the offering students night classes. 75% of Clontarf graduates have gone on to work or training. The Clontarf program has grown exponentially from 25 boys in the year 2000 to 2230 boy students in 2010. Indigenous people who have completed year 12 are significantly less likely to smoke, less likely to be associated with risky alcohol consumptions and sedentary lifestyles, and they’re more likely to be employed than those who have not completed year 12. The program is doing great things for the Indigenous education system, by improving attendance rates and ensuring safe, clean and happy work environments (Jens Korff, C. 2018).
Majority of the Indigenous Australian population is raised in remote communities, largely populated by their ancestries descendants. Most of these communities are denied immediate health care and access. For most of these communities, the quickest way to get to a health care facility/ hospital is by aeroplane, which can take up to 8 hours. Waiting up to 8 hours with a serious illness can be excruciating and in a worst-case scenario, the patient may die before the plane arrives. The Government is making the access of health facilities inequitable towards the remote communities compared to the urbanised communities. As the mal-distribution of health care facilities are affecting the remoter areas of Australia, the Rural Health Commissioner agency are trying to justifiably authorise and allow easier access to health care facilities to the remote communities and families. As communities are restricted of health clinics and education, individuals are then more likely to obtain a chronic disease or infection that could be prevented if the patient was facilitated and educated about self-care and healthier choices.
66% of Indigenous Australians aged 15 years and above had a body mass index (BMI) score that rated in the overweight or obese range, 29% being overweight and 37% being obese, in a 2012-2013 health survey (pmc.gov.a, 2014). Being overweight or obese increases the risk of a range of health conditions, including coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, some cancers, respiratory, joint problems, sleep disorders and social problems (pmc.gov.a, 2014). In rural communities there is a problem with the educational benefits towards healthy and non-healthy foods. This occurs when people have don’t have access to affordable, healthy and nutritious food to be well and active. On average the income of families in rural and remote areas is some 15-20% lower than that middle-class families located in urban areas (National Rural Health Alliance, 2017). Families with particularly low incomes aren’t always capable to be able to afford a healthy diet and life-style. This may be due to the fact that energy-dense foods are cheaper, resulting in higher rates of chronic disease, poorer health and overall a lower wellbeing.
Indigenous Australians experience chronic diseases at a much younger age compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Researchers say that about two- thirds of the health gap is attributed to chronic diseases, including: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental disorders and chronic lung disease (AIHW, 2014). According to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Measures Survey (2015), Indigenous descendants are more than four times likely to have advanced stages of chronic kidney disease and twice as likely to have any signs of chronic kidney disease. In 2010-2014 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), was nearly seven times more common in Indigenous Australians, it also affects the Indigenous population at a much younger age (younger than 55 years), compared to non-Indigenous Australians (ABC News, 2016). In the Northern Territory it’s 20 times more common than any other state in Australia. To help reduce kidney failure, patients must have a regular Dialysis (filters the blood through a machine) or have a kidney transplant. In rural areas and communities, hospitals are inaccessible or morally unsafe towards their beliefs. The government has funded The Western Desert Dialysis service (a mobile clinic for Dialysis treatments) this mobile service travels from the western boarders of Australia, visiting remote communities (ABC News, 2016). The company has grown vastly and want to become Australia wide.
Sexually transmitted infections (STI) are spread through sexual contact and are caused by viruses, bacteria or parasites. The most common STI’s include: human papillomavirus infection, genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au, 2017). The Indigenous population have significantly higher rates of obtaining and transmitting each of these STI’s from 2 to 10 times the amount of non-Indigenous Australians. Cases of gonorrhoea in Australia have increased 63% in the past five years, and within this increased percentage, majority of the cases are people aged between 15-24, although the ages 25-40 is vastly increasing (Sahealth.sa.gov.au, 2017). As gonorrhoea is a curable infection in its early stages, if its left untreated for a long period of time it can cause other infections throughout the body, pelvic inflammatory disease and disseminated gonococcal infection, administering antibiotics to the patient will simply cure gonorrhoea in its early stages. Statistics have shown that the gap between HIV has expanded to an increasingly 33% for Indigenous communities and a decreasingly 22% for the non-Indigenous population (Sahealth.sa.gov.au, 2017).
The Indigenous Australians have thrived throughout centuries on Australian soil, believing in the spiritual and natural ways of life and death. Hospitals are not a natural environment for the Indigenous culture; instead they believe it’s a place where people go to die. Regularly visiting the hospital can result in expensive fees that many Indigenous patients cannot afford. As many indigenous people do not purposely jeopardise them selves or their families, by consuming unhealthy substances and food, they’re just incredibly uneducated within the health domains of living a healthy lifestyle and choosing the right options. Due to these social justice issues, it has resulted in the Indigenous population in NSW, QLD, WA, SA and the NT being almost three times as likely to die from a form of kidney disease. The Indigenous population is more susceptible to transmitting and obtaining STI’s from substantially 2 to 10 times more than non-Indigenous Australians.
Although the government funds particular groups and organisations, to help ‘ close the gap’, there is much more that can be done to guarantee the Indigenous Australians equal ethical rights. The government-funded service (The Western Desert Dialysis service) is a portable clinic for Dialysis treatments. The portable service travels from the western boarders of Australia, visiting remote communities to give out their amenity service to those in need of the dialysis treatment (ABC News, 2016). The younger population of the Indigenous people would substantially benefit from teachers and educational resources to help provide information about the effects on drugs and unhealthy foods, and what harm they can cause to your body when they’re consumed in large quantities. Another way they can be educated is through community based groups. Community based groups can be effective as the groups are based in their towns, not needing to travel far, and many vulnerable individuals are involved (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). If there were more community based discussion groups, it would to work to ‘close the gap’ and decrease the amount of Indigenous people dying each year from preventable diseases.
Danila Dilba is an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation providing health services through culturally appropriate acts. As the association states that their vision is to create a society with equal health rights between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. Improving the Indigenous peoples: physical, mental, spiritual, cultural and social well-being. The association only improves the health of the Indigenous people by offering: counselling and educational programs for youth and adults about: alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, sexual health, domestic violence, intergenerational trauma, mental illness, grief and loss, anger management, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), self-harming and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), based in the Biluru community of the Yilli Rreung Region (Daniladilbaexperience.org.au, 2018). Health care programs, community services and advocacy based principles of equity, access, community self-determination and collaboration are all offered through the organisations program. Danila Dilba creates a helpful service towards the health care of Indigenous Australians, but only offer their services towards the Indigenous people of certain communities such as the Biluru community (Daniladilbaexperience.org.au, 2018). Expanding the organisation to other Indigenous communities will improve more Indigenous Australians health and well-being, as the communities can be educated, and advised on what steps should be taken to keep the population better cared for.
The mortality and disease rates of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are liable for the social justice issues that are not looked upon seriously by the government. Indigenous communities around Australia have been deprived of resources, which are needed to maintain a healthy life. The government doesn’t take their cultural beliefs earnestly, leaving the Indigenous population with little to no health care access, that compromise with their cultural beliefs. Educational activities and community-based groups would decrease the percentage of Indigenous mortality and disease rates, educating them into knowing the correct choices to live a sustainable healthy life.