Backgrounder

by Graeme Mundine,
Acting Executive Secretary, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission

Back in 1997, Pat Dodson, said there are twin threads to reconciliation - making sure Indigenous people get land and native title rights and a practical side, improving housing, health and education.

"The two are woven together," he said then.

There have been times in the seven years since, when politicians have used the excuse that we need to manage the practical side better as a way of wriggling out of addressing the broader issue of rights.

Today we have a situation where there still hasn't been enough done on either front. It
would be reasonable to ask "what's all the talk been for?"

The practical agenda, the one that you'd think would be easier to tackle, since it shouldn't make white fellas afraid, has well and truly stalled.

In February this year Dodson spoke out again and said the federal government should "stem the crisis in Indigenous health and inequality".

"Governments need to find the political will to break the cyclical relationship between poor social conditions and the third-world health standards found wherever Aboriginal people are living in cities and remote and regional centres," he argued.

It might seem hard to believe, but a number of Aboriginal communities still do not have access to clean water.

Today, Aboriginal people still lag way behind other Australians in health and well-being. The latest statistics on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health show Aboriginal people live about 20 years less than whites. Many Indigenous men do not reach the age of 50.

Diabetes is more of a serious disease for us than ever before. A third of all Indigenous hospital stays are for 'care involving dialysis'. That's people spending endless wasted hours hooked up to machines because their kidneys don't work any more.

We still don't have the education that whites do and that means we earn less money and we've got bigger problems with crime. Fewer of us own houses, so we spend a lot of money on rent. By white standards our houses are overcrowded. We have greater levels of domestic violence. We are over-represented in gaols and more of our children are in child protection programs.

43% of the residents of all Australian juvenile detention centres are 10 -17 year old Indigenous Australians and yet officially we make up only 2.4 per cent of the Australian population. This damages not just our young people incarcerated but the whole of our society.

We'd be forgiven for thinking that walks across the Harbour Bridge and national sorry days are just talk.

The problems we have are not inevitable and they can be solved. But they are linked to a broader denial of our rights.

We need an acknowledgement of our rights, not suppression because of the fear of where this might lead. We need a formal agreement that recognises and guarantees these rights and it needs to be made part of the Australian constitution.

And we need reconciliation - that is, for all Australian people to come to terms with our past, so we can say what was fair and what wasn't, fix it in our hearts and make peace with each other as equals, with both sides empowered and dignified. Then we can move on and do some good planning together for the future.

This can lead to meaningful opportunities to work as equal partners in solving our social problems - and not just for us to be treated as charity cases who need some fancy program to be run for a couple of months or until the next election.

We need people involved in the guts of reconciliation, not just leaving it to the politicians. We need more acknowledgement of our spiritual contribution to this land - more reflection on the dignity of our celebrations and our symbols.

In the words of Vincent Lingiari, a famous Aboriginal leader who stood up to whites who wanted to exploit him and his community - it's time for us to go forward as mates. And it's time for us to work as real partners in making a practical improvement to the way it is for Aboriginal people today.

We seem to take one step forward and two steps back. Bilingual education programs are introduced and then stopped. We've got more Aboriginal doctors, pilots, businessmen and professionals but so many of our young people are still caught up in problems with white man's law.

We've been acknowledged as the Custodians of the land, in the High Court of this country, but this has still not led to greater security. Instead, it has led to talk of extinguishing our Native Title - and so another chance for us to negotiate as equals for what we need to look after ourselves has slipped away.

It needs to be acknowledged that we have the right to determine the priorities and strategies for our social and economic development. We need the right to determine health, housing and infrastructure and other economic and social programs and the capacity to deliver these through our own organisations.

Yes, practical problems, rights and reconciliation are interwoven.

Teaching and Learning Activities

Activities across the curriculum

1. 2004 is the final year in 'The Decade for World's Indigenous People'. Using the google search engine www.google.com find 20 initiatives in the global community that have occurred in the past decade to raise awareness about Indigenous issues. Make sure you find at least one example from the following countries: Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Fiji.

2. The health of Indigenous Australian's is the worst in the Developed world and the situation is getting worse not better. In February this year Patrick Dodson started 'Healing Hands - Indigenous Health Rights Campaign'. Find out about this initiative by going to the following site: www.antar.org.au/health/

a. Prepare a 500 word information bulletin for your school newsletter which aims to introduce this initiative to the school community. In your bulletin address the following topics: why is Indigenous health so bad? How is the problem being addressed? What has worked in improving Indigenous health?

b. Click on the icon 'you' in the right hand column to sign the Indigenous health rights statement and to write a letter to Prime Minister John Howard.

3. Caritas Australia produced a statement about reconciliation in February 2003. Go to the following site to read the statement:
www.caritas.org.au/newsroom/advocacy_statements/reconciliation.htm What are the five recommendations from Caritas?

4. National reconciliation Week goes from Thursday 27th May to Thursday June 3rd. It is an important time where all Australians have the opportunity to stand together to promote and support reconciliation. Use the following site www.reconciliationaustralia.org/reconaction/nrw.html to find the following information:

a. What is National Reconciliation Week?
b. How did it come about?
c. What two significant dates in Australian history coincide with the week?

5. Wednesday 26th May is National Sorry Day or Journey of Healing. Visit the following site to find out how you can be practically involved: www.alphalink.com.au/~rez/Journey/

Science

1. Diabetes is an extremely serious disease that has increased by 33% in some Indigenous communities since 1991. Prepare a report with the title 'Diabetes in Indigenous Australian Communities'. Include the following subheadings in your report:

• What is diabetes?
• The current prevalence of diabetes in Indigenous communities.
• Causes of diabetes
• Associated health problems
• Managing diabetes in Indigenous communities

To complete the report use the following sites:

• www.aihw.gov.au/Indigenous/health/diabetes.html
• www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Aboriginal_health_issues_diabetes?OpenDocument

Art

1. Brainstorm ideas for visual symbols and images to raise awareness for the theme 'twin threads to reconciliation'. Make sure you design symbols and images for both sides; the land and native title side and the practical side - improving housing, health and education.

2. Complete the same as question 1 for the theme 'Pathways to Reconciliation: together we're doing it'.

3. Using the images you created in question 1 and 2 design a poster to display around the school in National Reconciliation Week. Include the slogans, symbols, images and dates.

Religious Education

1. NATSIEC is an important organisation working towards reconciliation. Visit the following site www.ncca.org.au/departments/Indigenous/about_natseic to complete the following:

a. What does the acronym NATSIEC stand for?

b. Find a definition for ecumenism by going to dictionary.reference.com/

c. Draw the icon for NATSIEC. Write a paragraph under the icon to explain what the symbol means. Make sure you refer to the symbols and colours.

d. Click on the 'projects' icon and find out three different projects that NATSIEC is involved in. Choose one and explain it in detail.

e. May 8th is the anniversary of the death of Truganini. Click on the icon 'important dates' and scroll down to May 8th. Find out who Truganini was. Complete the reflection 'Listen through your feet'.

2. Go to the following site to find ideas for class and school liturgies to hold in National Reconciliation Week: www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/Australia_liturgy.htm .

Community And Parish Groups

1. Patrick Dodson is quoted in the backgrounder. To hear him speak attend the Inaugural Reconciliation Lecture on May 25th, 6pm, Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra. The lecture will be delivered by Patrick Dodson, hosted by Prof Peter Baume, Chancellor ANU and Jackie Huggins, Co-chair Reconciliation Australia. For more information contact Anne Damiano at ANU.

2. "Effective community governance is the key to improving outcomes for our people" (Richard Weston - Regional Director at Maari Ma Health, Broken Hill). Go to www.antar.org.au/health/ and scroll down to the section 'What works'. Discuss the different initiatives that have been successful in improving Indigenous health. Do you agree or disagree with Weston's comment? Explain.

Useful Links

ozspirit.info/archives.html has a considerable selection of other backgrounders and activities on Indigenous issues.

www.dropbears.com/l/links/aboriginal.htm is a page with useful links.

www.aboriginaleducation.sa.edu.au/pages/educators provides useful information and ideas for teachers.