Introduction
It is known that in Australia, the gap between the general health, living arrangements and services for aboriginal and non aboriginal peoples is beyond extreme. Hence why in 2006, the Australian Government implemented the “Close the gap” policy in which funding and support services would be implemented to improve the lives of the Australian Aboriginal community. Liquor holds a critical place in Australian culture and is consumed in an extensive variety of social situations. Almost as a rule, liquor is consumed in Australia at levels of low impending danger. In any case, many people drink at levels that increase their danger of developing life long medical issues, and additionally expanding their danger of alcohol related injury. So it’s not a surprise that alcohol dependency is the most common substance use disorder in Australia. Currently, one of the target areas of the close the gap policy, is the life expectancy of aboriginal peoples, and alcohol abuse is a key factor contributing to the lower life expectancy of these peoples. This report will analyse the alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory, more specifically the aboriginal community of Katherine, and also the Wurli Wurlijang program in the Katherine area, evaluate its effectiveness and provide recommendations upon what the program can improve upon to more effectively produce better health outcomes for the aboriginal community surrounding alcohol.
ANALYSIS
Alcohol abuse in Aboriginal communities is at pandemic rates, which are sustained in an endless loop of destitution, causing an absence of access to health facilities and equity. In Australia, indigenous peoples are six times more likely to drink at harmful levels than non-indigenous people. Alcohol is associated with 40 % of male and 30 % of female indigenous suicides, becoming the main culprit of high death rates among 35-54 year old indigenous people.
In 2010, the Northern Territory topped the country in reference to proportion of deaths attributable to alcohol. With 11.9% of all deaths in the NT being caused by alcohol related diseases, violence and This can prove problematic for Territorian aboriginal communities attempting to improve health outcomes for this demographic. Furthermore, alcohol consumption by aboriginal and non aboriginal persons aged 15 and over in the Northern Territory is equivalent to 14.5 litres of absolute alcohol, nearly 50% above the national level of 9.95 litres of absolute alcohol (d’Abbs, 2010). This influence upon aboriginal youth in the Northern Territory to drink to harmful levels, further decreases their already low levels of health outcomes. In addition to this a recent study shows there were 3,952 alcohol-related assaults over a three month period following the introduction of the BDR (banned drinker register), an increase of 17.3 per cent following the snuffed implementation on the previous year. The burden of alcohol-related harm in Indigenous communities is now widely appreciated and contributes significantly to premature mortality and excess morbidity across the lifespan (Hunter, Brown & McCulloch, 2003). 71.3% of Indigenous homicides between 1999 and 2003 occurred in situations where both perpetrator and victim were drinking compared with 19.5 of non-Indigenous homicides (SCRGSP 2005).
In the last 24 months the police involvement at the community of Katherine has risen by 245%, with the majority of offending behaviour occurring during evening hours. Alcohol was also a major contributing factor in reports of domestic violence and general disturbances.
Barriers
Between 2004–05 and 2014–15 (for NSW, Vic, Qld, WA, SA and NT), rates for mental health related conditions significantly increased for Indigenous Australians—by 56% for females, 36% for males and 46% overall, the two highest causes being depression and anxiety. This acts as a major barrier toward indigenous communities achieving optimal health and closing the gap completely as these people resort to alcohol abuse in order to escape their problems (ref. Doctor). For example, a recent study found that of the 4% of females and 9% of males with an alcohol use disorder in the indigenous Australian population, 48% and 34%, respectively, also met the criteria for an anxiety, depressive, or substance abuse related diseases. This can be caused by various things such as racism, inter generational trauma, and domestic violence/abuse in younger years and also acts as a barrier to improving health outcomes of aboriginal peoples.
Facilitators
In contrast to this, a facilitator to decrease alcohol abuse in the community of Katherine is the plethora of support services available. Within a 4 kilometre radius there are 4 support services ready to assist those afflicted with problems of alcohol abuse.
PROGRAM ANALYSIS
Wurli-Wurlinjang is an Aboriginal community controlled organisation who are governed by a Board of Directors elected by members who live in Katherine and the surrounding community living areas serviced. This rehabilitation centre not only cares for those affected by alcohol abuse, but services many individuals within the indigenous community in the Northern Territory such as domestic violence, drug abuse, sexual harassment and many more. To specifically address the alcohol abuse problem suffered by those in the Northern Territory the AOD program provides both case management and counselling plus community based group support, activities and health promotion.
Evaluation
The Wurli Wurlijang rehab facility provides many resources to effectively improve health outcomes in the area of Katherine, specifically regarding alcohol. This is determined by their pre existing Alcohol and Other Drugs Program which provides each client with both case management and counselling plus community based group support, activities and health promotion. This, along with being an Aboriginal community controlled organisation, allows them to have a further impact upon alcohol abuse within Katherine and strengthen community action accordingly.
Recommendation
To further increase positive health outcomes, it is recommended that Wurli Wurlijang further improve upon their current Drug and alcohol specific program to provide support for those affected by drug and alcohol abuse. This can be achieved by providing one on one services with each of their clients, taking a preventative and curative approach to all patients and not just a curative approach. By providing individual counselling sessions alongside group counselling sessions, this would effectively broaden the positive outcomes as certain people find individual sessions more beneficial than group sessions and vice versa. In addition to this, widening their target by providing an education program to all schools in the Katherine area would also prove beneficial as rates of alcohol abuse in younger teens would drop dramatically. This would in turn develop the personal skills of the wider aboriginal community in the community of Katherine, further lessening the impact alcoholism has on the lives of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
In conclusion, the Wurli Wurlijang rehabilitation centre is meeting the specific health needs of the aboriginal peoples within Katherine but can improve upon their current efforts to reduce alcohol abuse by making their programs more specific to the clients need and providing an education program in order to effectively strengthen community action within Katherine.