Indigenous Australian peoples Blog Writing
PART A: Individual reflection (500 words)
In your first reflection you will explore the foundations of your own knowledge and understanding of Australian culture and history and how it impacts Indigenous Australian peoples. This will establish a baseline as you work towards providing culturally safe health care in your profession.
Your reflection must show evidence that you have considered the following questions:
What do you know / not know about the impacts of historical and institutional narratives on Indigenous peoples’ health in the Australian context?
Where and/or from whom did that knowledge come?
Can you identify any limitations to what you know?
How does this knowledge impact on your individual standpoint?
How might this knowledge impact on your professional standpoint?
You must also use and cite the following source to support your individual reflection:
Best, O. and Fredericks, B. (2018) The cultural safety journey: an Australian nursing context in Yatdjuligin: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery care, (pp. 46 – 63) Cambridge: United Kingdom
PART B: Examining deficit discourses (500 words)
In your second reflection you will begin to critically examine deficit discourses and their impact on health service provision to Indigenous Australian peoples both historically and in the present.
"‘Deficit discourse’ refers to disempowering patterns of thought, language and practice that represent people in terms of deficiencies and failures. It particularly refers to discourse that places responsibility for problems with the affected individuals or communities, overlooking the larger socio-economic structures in which they are embedded." (Fogarty et.al., 2018, p.xi)
Consider this definition, then identify the discourses that are evident in the two following media articles from across Australia's shared history. Explain how deficit discourses have been reproduced over time and how Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are framed. Consider how racial science influences historical and contemporary structures of Australian society and its health institutions.
1926: Segregating Aborigines (sic)
2020: 'We have had issues in our history, I have acknowledged them'
You must also use and cite the following source to support your individual reflection:
Fogarty, W. & Bulloch, Hannah & McDonnell, Siobhan & Davis, Micheal. (2018). Deficit Discourse and Indigenous Health: How Narrative Framings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People are Reproduced in Policy.
Your completed document will need to be uploaded into the Turnitin submission portal for this task (located in the relevant assessment folder). Following the marking period (release date), you will be able to access your grade and task feedback via the same portal or via 'My Grades'.
