Introduction
The Aborigines refer to a group of indigenous people found in Australia and believed to have originated in Asia. According to statistics obtained in 2001, they make up approximately 1.9% of the total population of Australia. This is equivalent to some 400,000 people. However, it should be noted that during the 18th century, this population had been estimated at around 800000 people composed of more than 500 groups. These groups incorporated various languages within them and were characterized by poor political and economic organization. Aborigines typically lived on hunting and gathering and engaged in various cultural practices. In the late 18th century, their autonomy and cultural practices were interfered with by the British colonialists that saw their numbers reduce significantly.
In addition, the forced assimilation of the aborigines saw their numbers being reduced to a very large extent. As a result of this assimilation, they became marginalized and began depending on their masters for their basic needs such as food, shelter and health care. (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Due to the marginalization, they were subjected to very harsh conditions that led to exposure to various diseases that tremendous reduced their numbers. As time passed by, the Aborigines were continuously being discriminated upon and neglected by both the government and other Australian communities. This essay will therefore discuss on the injustices that have been face by the Aborigines people since the end of their autonomy in the late 18th century. To discuss these issues effectively, there would be need to discuss on the contemporary issues of injustices on the indigenous Australian community which is composed mainly of Aborigines.
The indigenous Australian population
The indigenous people in Australia constitute approximately 1.9% of the total population. Most of them live in the urban centers however; an estimated 27% is believed to reside in the rural areas. This group has been facing a lot of challenges especially on the social front where over the years they have been receiving poor health care attention, poor education, unhygienic condition of living and discrimination by other Australian communities. There have been various government efforts in restoring the autonomy of the aborigines though full benefits have not been achieved (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
The Stolen generation
The stolen generations indicate one of the many injustices faced by the Aborigines community. This term was employed to imply the people especially children that were annexed from Aborigines community by either the government, the church or by the Acts of Parliament. This exercise was carried out forcefully in the period 1869-1969. This was an injustice done to the Aborigines community by denying the parents the rights to raise their own children. The exercise was being done with the excuse that it was a means of securing the future of the children who were deemed vulnerable due to the inadequate care that was being offered to them by their parents.
The child removal policy which precipitated the injustice on the Aborigines community was enhanced by the Aboriginal Protection Act which gave powers to the State to remove all children perceived to be vulnerable from their parents in the Aborigine community. As a result, there was forceful removal of children perceived to vulnerable from their parents from the period 1869 to 1960’s by policemen who were granted powers by the Cat. Consequently, children were transferred to institutions such as Moore River Native Settlement, Ebenezer mission and Wellington Valley Mission. Worse still is that the removal involved even the born little kids who are less than a month and requires the nutritious milk of the mother to grow up in a healthy condition. Once in the institutions, the children would be mistreated in a number of ways. First, they were prohibited from speaking and exercising their Aborigine culture. Secondly, the male children they were trained to be laborers while the female children were trained to offer domestic work. Worse still, the sexual assault experienced by the female children while in these institutions caused them a lot of trauma and loss of dignity in the society. The institutions failed to posses’ clear records of all the children absorbed in the institutions and as a result, failed to account for all the deaths that took place in the institutions. This led to many deaths being unaccounted for thereby significantly reducing the number of Aborigines people (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
Although the original aim of collecting vulnerable children from the parents who were unable to maintain them was to protect the interests of the children, this aim was misused to fully eradicate the Aborigine community from the rest of Australian community. They became segregated from the rest of the community and lost all education, health care and employment opportunities provided by the government. According to various commentators, the stolen generation was like an attempted genocide aimed at totally eliminating the Aborigines.
Education
While in the institutions, the Aborigines were allowed to attain basic education although under very harsh conditions. They worked as agricultural workers and domestic workers as well as studying and as a result, made them to lack the required concentration needed in class. Consequently, the performance of the Aborigines became poor and until now, their education levels have not really improved compared to the rest of the Australian population. According to statistics by National report on schooling in Australia, only 4% of the Aborigines have a degree qualification in various fields.
Employment
In the employment field, the Aborigines have remained sidelined for quite a long period of time. This is partly due to their poor educational background but particularly due to their early segregation by the rest of the Australian communities. It should be noted that this segregation is what contributed to their poor performance in school and as a result lacked the necessary qualifications to gain any employment opportunities offered by the government. Therefore, the Aborigines who compose the majority of the indigenous Australian population constitute the majority of the unemployed persons’ in Australia. According to ABC news of 2001, the average income of the indigenous is way back below the average income of the rest of Australian community. This has basically been attributed to the racial discrimination against them by in the employment sector. As a result, the lives of the Aborigines have been miserable suffering under absolute poverty and a lack of enough income to attend medical care (Reidlinger, www.ebgymhollabrunn.ac.at)
Health
The spillover effects of the discrimination have come down to the heath sector where the Aborigines obtain inadequate medical services due to their inferior nature. Access to medical facilities has proved hard especially due to the insufficient income owned by this indigenous community. Let’s take some of the example of diseases that have severely affected the Aborigines. First is the Circulatory system related diseases which account for 24% deaths, diabetes which accounts to approximately 18% deaths, respiratory which accounts for 8% and other communicable diseases. The deaths caused by health related diseases have increased significantly among the Aborigines and thus causing injustice to this community people (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
It should be noted that due to the injustices directed at the Aborigines community, many have lost hope with life and have resorted to substance abuse such as sniffing petrol, smoking marijuana and other drugs abuse. This further messed up their lives and contributed to the spread of various diseases and consequently leading to death. As these injustices continued, the government saw it better to restore the autonomy of the Aborigine community by restoring their rights as genuine Australians. Overtime since 1969, the Aborigines have been slowly accepted in the Australian community for example, they are now allowed access to education, health and political representation although these changes have not fully changed the way Aborigines live today.
The Apology
After several years of consideration into the Aborigines issues of discrimination, it reached an inevitable period where the government had no option but to apologize to the Aborigine community for the injustices the government had subjected them to especially the separation of the children from their parents. The apology was made by the Australian labor Minister on behalf of the government and was received with varied reactions among the political parties. However, it helped restore some sense of humanity among the Aborigines (Grubel 02)
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be seen that the Aborigines people have suffered from a lot of mistreatment since the colonial era. This has led to their personal rights being abused from both the public and the government in the name of civilizing them. In the process of civilization which incorporated forced separation of the child from the parents, the parents were denial their legal obligation to look after their children while the children denied the parental love they deserved. This was a great injustice to the Aborigines community which deserved an apology from government. The death caused due to the separations of the children and due to the racial discrimination was a great injustice to the Aborigines which declined from a population of approximately 800,000 to a mere 200000. Nobody has the authority to discriminate or limit the life of the other person according to most religions and in the sociological context, therefore the efforts by the Australian government to try to eliminate the Aborigines in the name of civilization was a great injustice to the community.
Work Cited
Australian Bureau of Statistics. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population.
Web.
Grubel, James. Australia apologizes for mistreating Aborigines.Reuter. 2008. Web.
Reidlinger, Josef. Aborigines in Australia. 2009. Web.