Indigenous Australian Perspectives in Teaching at The University of Queensland

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Lampert
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Native Title ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Equity In Access ◽  
The University ◽  
Deaths In Custody ◽  
Considerable Pressure

The goals of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP), the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the broader implications of the High Court's Native Title decision place considerable pressure on the higher education system to move rapidly to achieve equity in access, participation and outcomes for Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians.

Another Country: Non-Aboriginal Tertiary Students' Perceptions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
English Language ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Bachelor Of Arts ◽  
Indigenous Perspectives ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The University

Even though Aboriginal people are from Australia it does not mean they speak the English language (non-Aboriginal tertiary student).Jo Lampert's (1996) research discussed in her articleIndigenous Australian perspectives in teaching at the University of Queenslandspeaks volumes about the challenges of attempting to make university curricula inclusive of Indigenous Australian perspectives. She documents the often ambivalent attitudes of academics towards opening up the curriculum to Indigenous Australians. The research discussed here seeks to add to our understanding of this process, focussing this time on the response of students to the introduction of Australian Indigenous perspectives into a single unit within a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching program. The impetus to reflect on the process came with the shock of reading student papers, written at the end of the unit, and finding that effective communication about the educational needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples did not seem to have taken place, making a closer analysis of the teaching/learning process imperative. This investigation will address questions abouthowuniversities can communicate effectively about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander utilisation of the Quitline service for smoking cessation in South Australia

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Cosh ◽  
Lauren Maksimovic ◽  
Kerry Ettridge ◽  
David Copley ◽  
Jacqueline A. Bowden
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Smoking Prevalence ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Australian Population ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Smoking Addiction

Smoking prevalence among Indigenous Australians far exceeds that of non-Indigenous Australians and is considered the greatest contributor to burden of disease for Indigenous Australians. The Quitline is a primary intervention for facilitating smoking cessation and, given the health implications of tobacco use, maximising its effectiveness for Indigenous Australians is imperative. However, the utilisation and effectiveness of this service within the Indigenous Australian population has not been examined. This study explores the utilisation of the South Australian Quitline by smokers identifying as Indigenous Australian. Quitline counsellors collected data regarding demographic characteristics, and smoking and quitting behaviour from Quitline callers in 2010. Results indicated that the proportion of Indigenous and non-Indigenous smokers who registered for the service was comparable. Demographic variables and smoking addiction at time of registration with the Quitline were similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous callers. However, results indicated that Indigenous callers received significantly fewer callbacks than non-Indigenous callers and were significantly less likely to set a quit date. Significantly fewer Indigenous callers reported that they were still successfully quit at 3 months. Thus, Indigenous Australian callers may be less engaged with the Quitline and further research is required exploring whether the service could be tailored to make it more engaging for Indigenous Australians who smoke.

scholarly journals Listening to and learning from the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to facilitate success

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katelyn Barney
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Indigenous Students ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The University ◽  
Tertiary Study

Drawing on interviews with current and past Indigenous undergraduate students at the University of Queensland (UQ), this paper reports on findings from a project that explored the experiences of Indigenous Australian students and identified inhibitors and success factors for students. It also discusses one of the outcomes of the project and planned future developments that aim to provide better support for Indigenous Australian students at UQ. By knowing and acting upon the kinds of mechanisms that can assist Indigenous students, their experiences of tertiary study can be enhanced, leading to more students enrolling in and completing university study.

Aboriginal Student Empowerment through the Oorala Aboriginal Centre at the University of New England

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann le Roux ◽  
Myra J. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Social Indicator ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Student Empowerment ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Popular Imagination ◽  
Cultural Image ◽  
The University

Our position still seems to me to be a somewhat uncertain one. There is a national ambivalence towards us. Numerically we are not very strong — just 1.6 per cent of the population; 265,000 people as counted at the 1991 Census. It could be said, however, that we get more than our share of this nation's attention. There are good and bad aspects to this. In the popular imagination, there are two basic images of Indigenous Australians: one I would term a ‘cultural’ image, that accepts us for our uniqueness, our ‘Australianness’; the other image is the ramshackle world of poverty, deprivation and hopelessness. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the most disadvantaged group in the country. Whatever social indicator you use — health status, education, employment, contact with the law — we are at the bottom of the heap. This is such a commonplace statement of fact that it is in danger of becoming a piece of empty rhetoric.These are the views on the current position of Aboriginal disempowerment in Australian society, expressed by Lois O'Donoghue (1995: 5).

scholarly journals Introduction

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Mackinlay ◽  
Katelyn Barney
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Indigenous Students ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

Indigenous Australian studies, also called Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies, is an expanding discipline in universities across Australia (Nakata, 2004). As a discipline in its own right, Indigenous Australian studies plays an important role in teaching students about Australia's colonial history and benefits both non-Indigenous and Indigenous students by teaching them about Australia's rich and shared cultural heritage (Craven, 1999, pp. 23–25). Such teaching and learning seeks to actively discuss and deconstruct historical and contemporary entanglements between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and, in doing so, help build better working relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. As educators in this discipline, it is important for us to find pedagogical approaches which make space for these topics to be accessed, understood, discussed and engaged with in meaningful ways.

Understanding Social and Legal Justice Issues for Aboriginal Women within the Context of an Indigenous Australian Studies Classroom: a Problem-based Learning Approach

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Mackinlay ◽  
Kristy Thatcher ◽  
Camille Seldon
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Active Process ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Aboriginal Women ◽  
Contemporary Perspective ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The University

AbstractProblem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach in which students encounter a problem and systematically set about finding ways to understand the problem through dialogue and research. PBL is an active process where students take responsibility for their learning by asking their own questions about the problem and in this paper we explore the potential of PBL as a “location of possibility” (hooks, 1994, p. 207) for an engaged, dialogic, reflective and critical classroom. Our discussion centres on a course called ABTS2010 Aboriginal Women, taught by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland where PBL is used frequently, and a specific PBL package entitled Kina v R aimed at exploring social and legal justice issues for Indigenous Australian women. From both a historical and contemporary perspective, we consider the types of understandings made possible about justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women for students in the course through the use of a PBL approach.

scholarly journals Interventions to improve health literacy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Nash ◽  
Amit Arora
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Improve Health

Abstract Background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to experience poorer health outcomes than other population groups. While data specific to Indigenous Australians are scarce, a known social health literacy gradient exists linking low health literacy and poor health outcomes within many minority populations. Improving health literacy among Indigenous Australians is an important way to support self-determination and autonomy in both individuals and communities, by enhancing knowledge and improving health outcomes. This review aims to rigorously examine the effectiveness of health literacy interventions targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Methods A systematic review across six databases (The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, ProQuest Dissertation and Thesis and Web of Science) was performed for publications evaluating interventions to improve health literacy among Indigenous Australian adults using search terms identifying a range of related outcomes. Results Of 824 articles retrieved, a total of five studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. The included studies evaluated the implementation of workshops, structured exercise classes and the provision of discounted fruit and vegetables to improve nutrition, modify risk factors for chronic diseases, and improve oral health literacy. All interventions reported statistically significant improvement in at least one measured outcome. However, there was limited involvement of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members in the research process and participant retention rates were sub-optimal. Conclusion There is limited evidence on interventions to improve health literacy in Indigenous Australian adults. Participation in interventions was often suboptimal and loss to follow-up was high. Future studies co-designed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members are needed to improve health literacy in this population.

scholarly journals Decolonise This Space

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzi Hutchings
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Deaths In Custody

The 15 th April 2016 marked the 25-year anniversary since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) in Australia handed down its Final Report. The report signified a landmark in the relationships between Indigenous Australians and the post-colonial State and Federal governments. Established by the Hawke Labor Government in 1987, the Commission examined 99 Indigenous deaths. Most significant was the finding that the deaths were due to the combination of police and prisons failing their duty of care, and the high numbers of Indigenous people being arrested and incarcerated. In the wake of the RCIADIC, cross-cultural sessions and cultural competency workshops have become ubiquitous for public servants, therapists, and legal and welfare employees, in attempts to bridge gaps in cultural knowledge between agents of the welfare state and Indigenous clients. Using Indigenous Knowledges theory, this chapter assesses how cultural misalignments between Indigenous clients and those who work with them in the name of therapies designed to improve Indigenous lives, dominate cross-cultural interactions. In so doing the questions are posed: how do good intentions become part of the discourses and practices of on-going colonialism for Indigenous Australians, and what can be done to change the balance of power in favour of therapies of relevance to Indigenous people?

scholarly journals Problems in diagnosing sexually transmitted infections in remote Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Gary David Lum
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Sexually Transmitted Infections ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Population ◽  
Chlamydia Infection ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Torres Strait

Times are changing. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Strategy 2005-2008 provides current commentary on the problems facing Australia?s Indigenous population. While the rates of sexually transmitted infections have always been higher in Indigenous Australians, there is some evidence of increasing rates of HIV infection. The rate of Chlamydia infection in non-Indigenous Australians has doubled between 1999 and 2003, while the rate of infection in some populations of Indigenous Australians has moved from 658 per 100 000 to 1140 per 100 000 population. Indigenous Australians are forty-times more likely to be infected with the gonococcus than non-Indigenous Australian men and women. It should not be surprising that Indigenous Australian rates of syphilis are unacceptably high at ~250 per 100 000 population and almost non-existent in the non-Indigenous population.

scholarly journals Representing 'Australian Land'

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36
Author(s):  
Clemence Due ◽  
Damien W Riggs
Keyword(s):  
Business Development ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Native Title ◽  
Title System ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ownership Of Land ◽  
Indigenous Land

This article examines how Indigenous Australians' claims to their land are represented in the mainstream, non-Indigenous Australian media. In so doing, the article explores the common tropes available to non-Indigenous Australians in relation to Indigenous ownership of land, and in particular the native title system. It is argued that whilst initial land claims are discussed in detail within the media from a variety of perspectives, subsequent Indigenous land use agreements are most commonly reported upon in terms of business and economic concerns, with 'failed' agreements represented as impediments to 'development'. Thus, whilst the claims of Indigenous Australians to their land are sometimes reported positively by the media, this is only insofar as native title does not impede business development, which is frequently represented as the way in which land ultimately ought to be used. Thus non-Indigenous readers are left with an image of native title whereby initial land claims are considered not to be threatening, but only to the extent that subsequent use of the land still fits a white Australian image of 'development'.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document