Health Care Gaps of Australia

For my case study project I am looking at the huge life expectancy gap and health care gap of Aboriginals in Australia. All my blogs and research have been building up to this project, and this will be my last and final blog. Enjoy my findings!!

            All around the world there are very distinct and unique cultures, but what happens when a very unique culture is in the midst of mainstream Australia? In the case of health care it means that they needs of Aboriginals in Australia are grossly under met. According to the 2010-2016 Aboriginal Health Care Plan, life expectancy of Aboriginals today is around 60 years old, that’s twenty years younger than the average Australian of European dissent, but why?

            The Health Care plan goes on to talk about how about 70 percent of early deaths are caused by preventable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, drugs, STD’s, poor diets, and cancer. So what is stopping proper health care from being attained? The biggest issues are cultural differences between Aboriginals and European Australians, preventative education, and cost. Currently one of the top reasons that Aboriginal peoples do not go for regular preventative checkups are language and cultural barriers. Like any culture there are unique customs, beliefs, and languages, and in many hospitals and doctors’ offices there are very few health care providers who speak the language or understand the culture. The language barrier itself is enough to stop many people from going to the doctor because they can’t verbalize their illness or understand the instructions or diagnosis from the doctor. There is also a very predominate role of the family when it comes to healthcare. Often time’s aboriginal families prefer to go doctors’ offices together and provide support, a practice that many hospitals oppose. There is also very little tolerance for the integration of natural healing practices that are very important and common in Aboriginal families. There is also the problem of remoteness with many Aboriginal families.

Throughout the years Aboriginals have been pushed from the coast into harsh desert climates, often time’s miles from the nearest towns. This makes creating preventable programs and education difficult to provide. Because the life expectancy for Aboriginals is commonly in the 60’s, the majority of the population is very young from their 20’s to 30’s. Because of the age of the majority of the population it is vital that health education is given so that the population can understand how diets, unprotected sex, and health checkups can increase and improve their lives. Their remoteness also makes it difficult for many Aboriginals to get rides to hospitals or receive emergency medical attention. Transportation can be very expensive in both circumstances. According to the 2010-2016 Aboriginal Health Care plan about 26 percent of deaths are accidental deaths where an individual’s is hurt and is unable to receive medical in time. To attempt to fix this the Australian government has sent up a helicopter program to get emergency health care to isolated areas. But the costs of these helicopters are far out of the budget of many Australian citizens. So far the Australian government has attempted to build more hospitals and health facilities to increase availability. They have also put in money to attempt to bring the cost down for many families. But there is more than just the facilities and cost that is keeping Aboriginals from getting proper health care. For many the biggest problems are the cultural and educational barriers. But Australia is not the only country who has many issues when it comes to the declining health care of their indigenous people. American too has many large health care gaps when it comes to their Native American population.

Political History of Australia

In order to better understand the current health care problem in Australia it is important to understand the political history of the state. So far I have only looked at the actual colonization, but this blog will give a short history of how the actual government came to be. Australia was first settled by the British in 1788. At this time Britain was going through a transition of its own, moving away from the rule of an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy under the Westminster system. This system was a huge step towards democracy for Britain and it will be because of Britain’s move toward democracy that Australia eventually became the Liberal Democracy it is today. But in 1788 Australia was far from democracy. When the state was first colonized it was merely used for housing convicts. Because it was not initially used for British citizens to settle in, there was no formal government, only a system of governors who kept order over the military a prison guards who lived on the continent. For the most part these governors had absolute power and acted on behalf of British crown. For the most part this system worked, that is until the prisoners started finish their sentences and demanded a more responsible government.

The first step towards creating a more responsible government came in 1823 with the creation of the Legislative Council, which in actuality didn’t limit the powers of the governors but only made governors power and rulings legitimate.  But the people continued to push to be represented and in 1842 they did add elected officials to give the people some say. Soon more and more convicts left the prison system and began to integrate into society, giving new English settlers free labor system that essentially helped build the colonies. But, Australia was not just an island filled with criminals; eventually the English government realized its potential as a producer for goods. Once people heard there were economic opportunities they start to settle into Australian colonies. This influx of people caused a stable economy to rise and with this came a middle class consisting of skilled workers. Once this group was established they wanted to be more active and acknowledged within government. Soon even the members of the Legislative Council wanted the governor to be more responsive to the people.

To accomplish this the Legislative Council and head of governments began discussion possible constitution ideas. Their goal in this was to create more rights for the people, and to have more control over their territory expect in cases of imperial issues, allowing them to handle problems unique to Australia. After several meeting and conferences it was decided that they would have a federal system of government. Once approved by the British Monarchy many territories adopted the constitution. But Australia’s federal government has been described has a “hybrid” with strong ties to Great Britain with the president having dominance within parliament, and American federalism that was created out of colonialism. Today Australia is a strong liberal democracy but its citizens are losing faith in their government and they feel as if the government is run by elites who do not represent them. This is causing Australians to want more state rights that way they will be more closely represented.

Australian Political Culture

By understanding a countries political culture you begin to slowly understand how a country is run and why it is run in that manner. The article I got mainly discussed how Clientelism is a major part of Australian politics.

Australian political culture is in many ways similar to the United States, they are patriotic, and have trust in the government and their officials. But in some cases Australians don’t feel like they can make a huge impact on politics with a voter turnout of only about 76%. Fortunately these current feelings about government have changed throughout time. In the beginning of Australian history Australia was a colony of England. As time progressed they kept those very tight knit bonds with England and the British government. But as national identity increased Australia transitioned away from the British monarch and made the Prime minister the head of state. This occurred so that their interests would be better represented and dealt with.

One of the most interesting aspects of the article was how in Australia a big part of their political culture is Clientelism, especially with immigrant and minority populations. Clientelism itself is a system where a patron creates a friendship or relationship with a client. Here the patron uses their influence and protection in exchange for support or assistance. In this system the patron would be a politician and the client would be the constituent. In most cases this system is thought of as very abusive to the constituent as they are often taken advantage of by the patron. It is common is Japanese politics and often times doesn’t properly represent their constituents. But for Australia they have molded this system to one that creates more benefits then downfalls. Today in Australia, Clientelism is used as a new form of representation where patrons can better get in touch with minorities and immigrants and in exchange get the support they need to hold office.

In many countries like Australia, minorities and immigrants tend to live in secluded neighborhoods. This often occurs because these groups face disadvantages in the life and living close to those are similar to them helps them cope and find support. These close knit communities create very complex networks that are often involved in community building and organizations. Despite their community involvement often times they are not involved politically. Many politicians see this trend of non-participation and refuse to ignore them as a political factor. Many politicians realize that their lack of participation harms them because their views aren’t being voiced in the political realm. In order to reach these communities representatives need to make strong community and cultural ties. Often times they attend social functions and community events to not only get to know the people but to start communication. Because politicians have to become close to the community to gain their votes and support they are less likely to abuse the relationship because it took so long to create. Politicians also use intermediaries to help in gain minority and immigrant support. These intermediaries often times come for the community and help bridge cultural and language barriers.

Although Clientelism is often viewed in a negative light, in Australia they seem to be making it work. The article also said that this system works because for many immigrants and minorities this system agrees with their cultural beliefs. The clients themselves in this system are very aware of the system and truly hold their representative responsible. It also gives a voice to groups of people who were formally not involved in politics until this method was utilized. And as long as this system doesn’t turn to its stereotypical ways of corruption, then what’s the harm?