59,383 research outputs found
Enhancing the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: policy and practice considerations
No full textOverview
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle ("the Principle") was developed in recognition of the devastating effects of forced separation of Indigenous children from families, communities and culture. The Principle exists in legislation and policy in all Australian jurisdictions, and while its importance is recognised in many boards of inquiry and reviews into child protection and justice systems, there are significant concerns about the implementation of the Principle. Recent estimates suggest the Principle has been fully applied in as few as 13% of child protection cases involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contemporary understanding of the Principle, and review the multiple and complex barriers at the policy and practice levels which are impeding its implementation. Promising approaches that might address these barriers are also examined.
Key messages
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle was developed in response to the trauma experienced by individuals, families and communities from government policies that involved the widespread removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
The fundamental goal of the Principle is to enhance and preserve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s connection to family and community, and sense of identity and culture.
The Principle is often conceptualised as the “placement hierarchy”, in which placement choices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children start with family and kin networks, then Indigenous non-related carers in the child’s community, then carers in another Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community. If no other suitable placement with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander carers can be sought, children are placed with non-Indigenous carers as a last resort, provided they are able to maintain the child’s connections to their family, community and cultural identity
Lyle and Strait Family Histories - Accession 715 no. 108
No full textThe Lyle and Strait Family History Collection consists of a history of the Lyle and Strait Families of Chester, S.C titled The Lyle And Strait Families written by Frances Lyle Sample and Willie McElwee Lyle in 1980. The history covers the families from 1758 through 1980.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/1558/thumbnail.jp
Strengths of Australian Aboriginal cultural practices in family life and child rearing
No full textThis paper explores some of the characteristics of traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural practices that contribute to effective family functioning, and how these practices can have positive effects on children and communities. The approach is to gather the views of Aboriginal families and compare these perspectives with supporting evidence drawn from the literature. The findings suggest that, provided the necessary social conditions are in place, culture can be a protective force for children, families and communities.
Key Messages
Aboriginal kinship relations reflect a complex and dynamic system that is not captured by existing non- Indigenous definitions of family.
Emerging evidence supports some of the strengths of traditional Aboriginal culture in family functioning and raising children, yet conventional academic wisdom can be incompatible with traditional Aboriginal knowledge systems.
The strengths of Aboriginal cultural traditions, as they apply to family life and raising children, revolve around four interrelated themes, including:
– Theme 1: A collective community focus on child rearing helps children—The values of interdependence, group cohesion and community loyalty are key features of Aboriginal family and community life, where raising children is considered to be a shared responsibility of all community members.
– Theme 2: Children need the freedom to explore and experience the world—Aboriginal communities offer their children every opportunity to explore the world around them, to help them develop the necessary skills to successfully negotiate their pathways to adulthood.
– Theme 3: Elderly family members are important to family functioning—The elderly are highly respected for their contributions to family life in Aboriginal communities, particularly in helping children to understand the practical aspects of life and society.
– Theme 4: Spirituality helps families cope with challenges—Families and communities who engage in spiritual practices benefit from a greater sense of identity, and individuals are more likely to connect with, support and help protect one another
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report: Australian Capital Territory
No full textThis report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants or health and health system performance.Executive summaryThe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report for the Australian Capital Territory finds areas of improvement in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the territory, including:a significant increase in health assessments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 55 years and over recorded through Medicare since the introduction of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes in July 2009corresponding increases in allied health-care services claimed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through Medicare since 1 July 2009. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have higher rates of general practitioner management plans and team care arrangements than non-Indigenous Australiansimmunisation coverage rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are close to those for other Australian children by age 5some improvements in literacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Year 3 and 5 between 2009 and 2011apparent retention rates from Year 7 to Year 10 and from Year 11 to Year 12 are higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Capital Territory than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally.Areas of concern include:high rates of smoking during pregnancy (51% total)around half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18 and over reported drinking alcohol at short-term risky/high-risk levels in the past 12 months, which was higher than the proportion for non-Indigenous people and for Indigenous people nationallyalmost two-thirds (63%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18 and over in the Australian Capital Territory have a disability or long-term health condition, which is higher than the proportion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally (41%)breast cancer screening rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are lower than for other women
Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: final report
No full textOn 28 November 2012, the Parliament agreed that a Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples be appointed to inquire into and report on steps that can be taken to progress towards a successful referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition.
Chair\u27s foreword
For the last 114 years, Australia\u27s founding document, the Constitution, has been silent on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Excluded from voting, and from participating in the convention debates which led to the drafting of the Constitution, the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were silenced by the framers of the Constitution.
While there is no constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, that silence will continue. The absence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from the Constitution makes silent and renders invisible the world\u27s oldest continuing culture.
European contact began in the 1600s when ships from Europe first explored the coastlines of the lands and waters that would become known as Australia.
In 1770, Captain James Cook made landfall at Botany Bay. On 26 January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip established a settlement at Sydney Cove made up of those who travelled as part of the First Fleet.
Over the next century, new colonies were founded and borders were drawn up across a continent that had been home to hundreds of Aboriginal nations for tens of thousands of years.
When the Constitution was drafted, the exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was unremarkable for the time, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not considered citizens and had minimal rights and protections.
However, the continued constitutional silence maintained by this exclusion is remarkable.
That our Constitution allows a state to ban a race from voting is remarkable.
That in our Constitution there are more references to lighthouses than to the first
peoples of this nation is remarkable.
That constitutional recognition has not occurred already is remarkable.
The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples has engaged the Australian community on constitutional recognition by conducting fifteen public hearings, speaking with constitutional law experts and holding community forums. At all times, the committee has sought to hear the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The committee strongly believes that in order to achieve constitutional recognition, the support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is of critical importance. Without this support, the imposed silence of the past will continue into the future.
The committee has heard that it is time to remedy the injustice of exclusion and recognise in our founding document the significant contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to a modern Australia.
The committee heard that in order to achieve this, the mere removal of racist sections of the Constitution would not be enough and that much more is needed. The committee heard that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will accept nothing less than a protection from racial discrimination in the Constitution.
Since the time of Captain Cook\u27s first landfall, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have suffered from continuous dislocation, discrimination and disadvantage.
The committee heard of the serious and pressing issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in everyday life and heard of the endemic racial discrimination faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The committee acknowledges that recognition in the Constitution will not end racism in Australia, nor will it be a solution to the serious problems faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, constitutional recognition will be a vital step towards reconciliation and give a voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a Constitution better aligned with a modern Australia.
By protecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from discrimination on the basis of race, Australia will be better placed to offer its first peoples a future in which their historical mistreatment is not repeated.
This final report of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples recommends that a referendum be held on the matter of recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution.
I commend this report of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to the Prime Minister and the Australian Parliament.
Committee members
Mr Ken Wyatt AM MP, Chair
Senator Nova Peris OAM, Deputy Chair
The Hon Shayne Neumann MP
The Hon Christian Porter MP (until 11 February 2015)
Ms Sarah Henderson MP (from 11 February 2015)
Mr Stephen Jones MP
Senator Bridget McKenzie
Senator James McGrath (from 1 July 2014 – 23 June 2015)
Senator Anne Ruston (until 1 July 2014, from 23 June 2015)
Senator Rachel Siewer
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health plan 2013-2023
No full textIn 2008 Australian Governments committed to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on an incredibly important task - to achieve equality in health status and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians by the year 2031. The commitment – in the form of the Close the Gap Statement of Intent – creates the platform for this National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan, which has been developed in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their representatives.
This Health Plan provides a long-term, evidence-based policy framework as part of the overarching Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) approach to Closing the Gap in Indigenous disadvantage, which has been set out in the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) signed in 2008. The NIRA has established a framework of national targets and policy building blocks. Two of the Closing the Gap targets, to halve the gap in child mortality by 2018 and close the life expectancy gap by 2031, go directly to health outcomes, while others address social determinants of health such as education and employment.
The Health Plan builds on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It adopts a strengths-based approach to ensure policies and programs improve health, social and emotional wellbeing, and resilience and promote positive health behaviours. It emphasises the centrality of culture in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the rights of individuals to a safe, healthy and empowered life. The Health Plan also builds on existing strategies and planning approaches to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health,
Review of higher education access and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: final report
No full textThis report proposes a collaborative approach be developed involving universities, governments, professional bodies, the business sector and communities working together to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through higher education.
The Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People follows on from the 2008 Review of Higher Education (the Bradley Review) by proposing measures that address what is a significant gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians’ higher education outcomes.
The Bradley Review recognised, in light of Australia’s growing economic and social policy challenges, the need for specific strategies to increase the participation in higher education of groups currently underrepresented within the system, particularly those from a low socio-economic status (SES) background. The Bradley Review specifically identified the need to address access and outcomes in higher education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The terms of reference for the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (the Review) asked the Review Panel (the Panel) to provide advice and make recommendations in relation to:
achieving parity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, researchers, and academic and non-academic staff
best practice and opportunities for change inside universities and other higher education providers (spanning both Indigenous-specific units and whole-of-university culture, policies, activities and programs)
the effectiveness of existing Commonwealth Government programs that aim to encourage better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in higher education
the recognition and equivalence of Indigenous knowledge in the higher education sector.
The Panel proposes a collaborative approach be developed involving universities, governments, professional bodies, the business sector and communities working together to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through higher education. Strategies outlined in the report include attracting and retaining more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff, improving academic achievement, simplifying and better focusing university and government support programs and ensuring that graduates are better equipped to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through embedding Indigenous perspectives in teaching, learning and research.
The expert panel consisted of Professor Larissa Behrendt (Chair), Professor Steven Larkin, Mr Robert Griew and Ms Patricia Kelly
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and dementia: a review of the research
No full textThis report outlines the prevalence of dementia and modifiable risk factors in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Executive summary
The high rate of dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities requires urgent attention. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience dementia at an earlier age then the general population and this, combined with the steadily growing number of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, will result in the number of people effected by dementia growing significantly in the coming years.
Although higher rates of dementia have been reported in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the disease is often overlooked by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, health workers and service providers. Geographical constraints in the provision of services, a lack of education and awareness in communities and by health workers and the prevalence of other chronic diseases have all posed considerable barriers to the recognition of dementia as an emerging health issue.
This paper includes the following recommendations to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, family members and communities have access to awareness, information, and appropriate support services for people with dementia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report: New South Wales
No full textThis report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in New South Wales are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases have declined since 2001, but almost half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and unemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non-Indigenous people.The report finds areas of improvement in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in New South Wales, including: a 20% decline in avoidable mortality from 2001 to 2010a 35% decline in deaths due to circulatory disease, the leading cause of death for Indigenous Australians from 2001-2010a significant increase in health assessments recorded through Medicare since the introduction of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes in July 2009corresponding increases in allied health care services claimed by Indigenous Australians through Medicare since 1 July 2009. Indigenous Australians have higher rates of general practitioner management plans and team care arrangements than non-Indigenous Australiansimmunisation coverage for Indigenous children is similar to non-Indigenous children by age 2an increase in the proportion of pregnant women attending antenatal carea 15% decline in the rate of low birthweight between 2001 and 2009. Areas of concern include: high rates of smoking during pregnancy (47%)lower rates of access to antenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancymore than half of those aged 18 and over in non-remote areas have a disability or long- term health conditionmortality rates for chronic diseases are much higher for Indigenous Australians (8 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians for diabetes and almost twice the rate for circulatory diseases)a 286% increase in Indigenous Australians commencing end stage renal disease therapy since 1991 (currently 3 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians)high rates of hospitalisations and deaths due to injury (particularly assault, suicide and transport accidents)barriers to accessing appropriate health care, such as cultural competency, continue to remain a problemlower access to procedures in hospitalsa large unmet need for dental care for Indigenous childrenunemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non- Indigenous people (21% compared with 4% in 2008)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report: Queensland
No full textThis report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, while death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases have declined since 2001, just over half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and there has been no improvement in incidence rates of treated end-stage renal disease in recent years.The report finds areas of improvement in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Queensland, including: a 32% decline in avoidable mortality from 2001 to 2010 and significant narrowing of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoplea 30% decline in deaths due to circulatory disease, the leading cause of death for Indigenous Australians 2001 to 2010a 41% decline in infant mortality rates from 2001 to 2010a significant increase in health assessments recorded through Medicare since the introduction of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes in July 2009corresponding increases in allied health-care services claimed by Indigenous Australians through Medicare since 1 July 2009. Indigenous Australians have higher rates of general practitioner management plans and team care arrangements than non-Indigenous Australiansimmunisation coverage for Indigenous children is similar to non-Indigenous children by the age of 2an increase in the proportion of pregnant women attending antenatal care some improvements in literacy and numeracy for Indigenous students in Year 3 and 5 between 2008 and 2011. Areas of concern include: high rates of smoking during pregnancy (52%)lower rates of antenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancyhalf of Indigenous people aged 18 and over in non-remote areas have a disability or long-term health conditionmortality rates for chronic diseases are much higher for Indigenous Australians (8 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians for diabetes and almost twice the rate for circulatory diseases)no improvement in incidence rates of treated end stage renal disease in recent years (currently 7 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians)high rates of hospitalisations and deaths due to injury (particularly assault, suicide and transport accidents)one-quarter of Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over in Queensland live in overcrowded housingbarriers to accessing appropriate health care, such as cultural competency, continue to remain a problemlower access to procedures in hospitals
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