TeaH (Turn ‘em around Healing): a therapeutic model for working with traumatised children on Aboriginal communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (02) ◽  
pp. 55-59
Author(s):  
Michelle Moss ◽  
Anthony Duwun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Government Interventions ◽  
Creative Therapies ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
Model Of Practice ◽  
Therapeutic Model

AbstractAboriginal children in Australia are over-represented in both the child protection and juvenile justice systems. Using Western therapeutic models of practice with Aboriginal people who live in remote communities can be highly problematic. Moreover, the historical legacy of past and present legislation, government interventions and racist service provision needs to be acknowledged and addressed prior to any service implementation. This paper presents a therapeutic model of practice that incorporates Aboriginal concepts of healing and spirit within a creative therapeutic framework. It will demonstrate how the model works through principles of community engagement and capacity building, enabling the provision of a culturally derived therapeutic intervention that involves a synergy of both Aboriginal- and Western-based healing practices. The findings from the implementation of the TeaH model affirm the need to incorporate Aboriginal concepts of healing, spirit and creative therapies into mainstream practice with Aboriginal people.

Empowerment is the Basis for Improving Education and Employment Outcomes for Aboriginal People in Remote Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-161
Author(s):  
Byron Wilson ◽  
Tammy Abbott ◽  
Stephen J. Quinn ◽  
John Guenther ◽  
Eva McRae-Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Community ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Shared Space ◽  
English Literacy ◽  
Education And Employment

In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people score poorly on national mainstream indicators of wellbeing, with the lowest outcomes recorded in remote communities. As part of a ‘shared space’ collaboration between remote Aboriginal communities, government and scientists, the holistic Interplay Wellbeing Framework and accompanying survey were designed bringing together Aboriginal priorities of culture, empowerment and community with government priorities of education, employment and health. Quantitative survey data were collected from a cohort of 841 Aboriginal people aged 15–34 years, from four different Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal community researchers designed and administered the survey. Structural equation modelling was used to identify the strongest interrelating pathways within the framework. Optimal pathways from education to employment were explored with the concept of empowerment playing a key role. Here, education was defined by self-reported English literacy and numeracy and empowerment was defined as identity, self-efficacy and resilience. Empowerment had a strong positive impact on education (β = 0.38, p < .001) and strong correlation with employment (β = 0.19, p < .001). Education has a strong direct effect on employment (β = 0.40, p < .001). This suggests that education and employment strategies that foster and build on a sense of empowerment are mostly likely to succeed, providing guidance for policy and programs.

scholarly journals Western Australia’s Remote Indigenous Communities: A Case Against Closures and a Call For New Governance

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 209-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asta Hill
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
The Government

In the late 1970s thousands of Indigenous Australians initiated a movement back to the ancestral lands they had been removed from during the assimilationist era. Less than 50 years since their return to country, Aboriginal people living in Western Australia’s (WA) remote communities are again grappling with their impending redispossession. Wa Premier Colin Barnett’s announcement late last year was panic inducing: It is a problem that I do not want and the government does not want, but it is a reality. There are something like 274 Aboriginal communities in Western Australia—I think 150 or so of those are in the Kimberley itself—and they are not viable. They are not viable and they are not sustainable . . . I am foreshadowing that a number of communities are inevitably going to close.

Distance or Difference in Aboriginal Education

1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Northern Territory ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Present Complex ◽  
The Social ◽  
Isolated Communities ◽  
Arafura Sea ◽  
Aboriginal Children

The majority of the 27,000 Aborigines in the Northern Territory live in remote communities and on cattle stations, or are grouped around some of the smaller rural towns that are scattered through the 1,347,500 square kilometres of the Northern Territory. These extremely isolated communities may vary in size from, say, one hundred to over one thousand people. There is vast climatic and geographical variation, too, between the tropical communities around the beaches that fringe the Arafura sea, and those in the desert where the harsher climate and terrain have an appeal of their own to those who live there.To educate 7,000 Aboriginal children, the Northern Territory endeavours to maintain 43 schools in Aboriginal communities, plus another 27 which are located on pastoral properties. Apart from two residential colleges located at Alice Springs and Darwin, which cater for secondary-age Aboriginal students, all Aboriginal schools could be regarded as remote, isolated by geographical distance from the larger centres. These 70 schools present complex logistical problems to those who supply and maintain buildings, equipment and staff. However, although formidable, the problems associated with remoteness are insignificant when compared with the social, cultural and linguistic factors that create distance between these traditionally oriented Aboriginal children and our western style of education.

scholarly journals Epidemiology and microbiology of diarrhoea in young Aboriginal children in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

1992 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gunzburg ◽  
M. Gracey ◽  
V. Burke ◽  
B. Chang
Keyword(s):  
Hospital Admission ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Failure To Thrive ◽  
Diarrhoeal Disease ◽  
Australian Aborigines ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Infectious Diarrhoea ◽  
Health Standards ◽  
Aboriginal Children

Infectious diarrhoea is common in young Australian Aborigines [1–3] and is one of the main causes for their unsatisfactory health standards with consequent widespread failure to thrive and undernutrition [4–5]. Most published reports relate to patients in hospital or to hospital admission statistics and give little indication of the extent or severity of diarrhoeal disease in children in Aboriginal communities.The present investigation involved more than 100 Aboriginal children up to 5 years of age living in remote communities in the tropical north of Western Australia who were studied prospectively over a 12–month period.

Informing Social Work Practice with Theory: Reflections on the Protection of Aboriginal Children in Remote Communities of Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (8) ◽  
pp. 2021-2041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Nietz
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Public Health Model ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Outcomes For Children ◽  
Health Model ◽  
Aboriginal Children

Abstract Recent reforms to the Australian child-protection sector have widened its scope from solely a statutory child-protection system to a public-health model to increase the number of agencies involved in the provision of services for children who are deemed ‘vulnerable’ or ‘at risk’. Nevertheless, the number of Aboriginal children in the sector continues to increase. This paper argues that the reflective basis of social work practice in Australia contains a lack that evades consideration of the ‘projective identifications’ informing practice. Social workers are more likely to achieve safety outcomes for children when such projections are acknowledged and tendered to in their reflective practice.

scholarly journals The Well-Being of Carers of Older Aboriginal People Living in the Kimberley Region of Remote Western Australia: Empowerment, Depression, and Carer Burden

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346481989866
Author(s):  
Dina LoGiudice ◽  
Cathryn M. Josif ◽  
Roslyn Malay ◽  
Zoë Hyde ◽  
Melissa Haswell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Odds Ratio ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Australians ◽  
Carer Burden ◽  
The Mean

Objective: To describe demographic features and well-being of carers of Aboriginal Australians aged ≥45 years in remote Western Australia. Method: Carer burden, empowerment, and depression were assessed in 124 Aboriginal carers in four remote Aboriginal communities. Results: Carers were aged 38.8 ± 15.0 years, 73.4% were female, and 75.8% were children or grandchildren of the person cared for. The mean Zarit-6 score was 3.7 ± 3.6. Attending high school (odds ratio [OR] = 0.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.1, 0.7]) and feeling empowered (OR = 0.2; 95% CI = [0.1, 0.8]) were inversely associated with carer burden; female carers were less likely to feel empowered (OR = 0.4; 95% CI = [0.2, 0.9]); and empowerment was inversely associated with depression (OR = 0.3; 95% CI = [0.1, 0.7]). Discussion: Aboriginal carers in remote communities are relatively young and most are children or grandchildren. Carer burden was lower than anticipated. However, existing tools may not adequately measure Aboriginal perspectives. Education and empowerment are key factors which support programs must consider.

Addressing Issues of Equity and Access in the Delivery of Arts Education to Aboriginal Students

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.G. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Equity And Access ◽  
Aboriginal Children

The over-riding objective of an Aboriginal Education Policy should be to achieve equity between Aboriginal people and other Australians in participation at all stages of education by the turn of the century. Education opportunities must be available to Aboriginal people regardless of where they live and in a manner that is appropriate to the diverse cultural and social situations in which they live. It is therefore essential to ensure access for Aboriginal children and adults to school and tertiary education, to ensure that Aboriginal communities are able to influence the way in which education is provided, and to ensure that it reflects their social and cultural values (Hughes Report, 1987: 17).

scholarly journals Characterisation of a G2P[4] Rotavirus Outbreak in Western Australia, Predominantly Impacting Aboriginal Children

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 350
Author(s):  
Celeste Donato ◽  
Nevada Pingault ◽  
Elena Demosthenous ◽  
Susie Roczo-Farkas ◽  
Julie Bines
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Full Genome Sequencing ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Rotavirus Vaccination ◽  
Rotavirus Gastroenteritis ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
Representative Samples ◽  
Dominant Genotype

In May 2017, an outbreak of rotavirus gastroenteritis was reported that predominantly impacted Aboriginal children ≤4 years of age in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. G2P[4] was identified as the dominant genotype circulating during this period and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed the majority of samples exhibited a conserved electropherotype. Full genome sequencing was performed on representative samples that exhibited the archetypal DS-1-like genome constellation: G2-P[4]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A2-N2-T2-E2-H2 and phylogenetic analysis revealed all genes of the outbreak samples were closely related to contemporary Japanese G2P[4] samples. The outbreak samples consistently fell within conserved sub-clades comprised of Hungarian and Australian G2P[4] samples from 2010. The 2017 outbreak variant was not closely related to G2P[4] variants associated with prior outbreaks in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. When compared to the G2 component of the RotaTeq vaccine, the outbreak variant exhibited mutations in known antigenic regions; however, these mutations are frequently observed in contemporary G2P[4] strains. Despite the level of vaccine coverage achieved in Australia, outbreaks continue to occur in vaccinated populations, which pose challenges to regional areas and remote communities. Continued surveillance and characterisation of emerging variants are imperative to ensure the ongoing success of the rotavirus vaccination program in Australia.

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