Understanding And Respecting The Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Culture

Diversity of Culture

Diversity of culture: As per my knowledge culture is an accepted and traditional way of behaving in the society. It is a common thought and understanding that is shared by the entire clan or community. Not only does it include land, spirituality and beliefs but also standard of living, occupation and language along with relationships and identity (Parker and Milroy 2014).

Skin and language groups: The skin system of ATSI people divides the society or community into different categories of names which are related through kinship system. The language groups also use a part which consists of four to eight skin names. The kid get holds of his skin name by birth and it also depends

Within many workplaces, there may be dynamics or factors which effect delivery of services to ATSI clients.  These might include such things as a lack of trust in institutions or how they understand kinship and family structures.

From your experiences identify two (2) situations that impacted upon the service delivery to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients – one (1) positive impact and one (1) negative impact.

Positive impact: while working in the service delivery there was an incident which focused on the strong and solid bond between the ATSI people of Australia. I had a prior knowledge that the aboriginal clients feel good by sharing of resource support with the family members; however they do not like to be the spokesperson in any meeting where other older members are present; this characteristic of kinship shows that they are a family person and know the value of respect. This is the reason why I did not let them conduct the program as there were older members and took the initiative myself to commence. This had a positive impact on the people present there and they appreciated it (Funston and Herring 2016).

Negative impact: I was not aware of the fact that the aboriginals are not used to calling people by their personal names rather they are more comfortable in calling them by relationship names such as brother, mother, aunt or somebody’s son. Although personal names of the people are considered as a part and parcel of their life but those names are used very tactfully and with care. It can be said that those are used rarely. I made a mistake by skipping this part and during the service I called one of them by their names and also used mine in the service delivery. My carelessness led to a serious issue in the institution. This was considered as a grievance and posed a negative impact (Kinnane et al. 2014).

Skin and Language Groups

Culturally appropriate programs/approaches are crucial in enhancing personal empowerment and as a result, promote more effective service delivery (be it education, health or whatever) for Indigenous people. For this question, please go to the link from Oxfam Australia, and then look at the ‘Deadly Ears’ program developed in cooperation with Queensland Health. Using table below, indicate how the program applies the seven (7) values and principles described in developing the framework for their service delivery.

Please indicate if any of these requirements are not addressed:

1. Respect	The ‘deadly ears’ program was developed in cooperation with Queensland health but there was no such mention of respect. This requirement was not addressed properly in developing the framework.
2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Control	This program was intended to decrease the rate of hearing loss among the ATSI children. It functions in 12 rural and backward communities in Queensland and there are 4 teams in charge of it.
3. Interpretation and integrity	This requirement was clearly addressed in developing the framework. There are 4 teams that work with the community to execute good ear and sound hearing. This has led to restrict the effect of ear disease on the development of the children (Carey et al. 2017).
4. Secrecy and confidentiality	In the development of this framework there was no secrecy or confidentiality maintained. This is because there is no such scope to maintain privacy. It is a health program for the children and no reason is there to keep it hidden.
5. Attribution	The success of this program is attributed to the health service of Queensland. They took this initiative to mitigate the hearing loss problem among the children. It is a ten year framework that focuses on the commitment to avoid the effect of middle ear diseases among children.
6. Sharing of benefits	Lots of benefits such as guiding behaviour in a particular situation were shared through this program. These benefits protect the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ cultural and intellectual property rights. It leads to the betterment of working relationships among the people to achieve better program results. The teams involved with this framework train the staff members so that the detection of ear diseases becomes easy. There are also a number of resources used such as different kinds of package which made trip to hospitals easy.
7. Legal recognition and protection	There are relevant legal policies such as NSW Centre for Aboriginal Health (2017) and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013- 2023 provide a long term framework. This implementation plan is approved by the Queensland Government, the ATSI community and other government and non- government organizations (O’Shea and Maxwell 2017).

According to Reconciliation Australia, successful workplaces are underpinned by the following:

• People– driving the right attitudes and behaviours in the workplace to ensure the environment is culturally and socially inclusive
• Policies – ensuring HR practices encourage and support the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates
• Engagement– building and embracing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, communities and external organisations to achieve greater outcomes and more effective and productive processes

Describe how you could use some of the ideas in the following websites to ensure your workplace is inclusive? Maximum 250 words

• Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and their Communities
• Reconciliation Australia
• Share our Pride

For the 1^st website it can be said that they need to improve their understanding of cultural competence. The services can also be improved by checking the implications for delivery and community development. The HR policies can be amended in order to encourage and give support to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s history, society and culture. With the flexibility of the policies and practices in the organization this particular website will be able to implement inclusive workplace (Workingwithindigenousaustralians.info 2018).

The organization Reconciliation Australia is always ready to pay homage to the traditional culture of the place and the elderly members of the community. The educational and spiritual practices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are also considered by this website. Therefore by using the people to drive the right attitude and behaviour it can be said that the workplace will be ensured of a culturally and socially inclusive environment. Moreover the ATSI people should be aware of the fact that the website consists of the names and photos of people who are no more in this world (Reconciliation Australia 2018).

This last website reflects on the form and shape of life from the viewpoint of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It can be ensured by building great rapport and a healthy relationship with the employees of the community. This will lead to the achievement of better result and efficient processes in the community (Shareourpride.org.au. 2018).   

• answered all 4 questions in the space provided
• clearly identified my answers

If you are unable to complete this task for a specific reason, please contact your teacher to discuss alternative arrangements for demonstrating your skills and knowledge.

Reference

Shareourpride.org.au. (2018). Share Our Pride. [online] Available at: https://www.shareourpride.org.au./ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2018].

Reconciliation Australia. (2018). Home – Reconciliation Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2018].

Workingwithindigenousaustralians.info. (2018). Working with Indigenous Australians – Home. [online] Available at: https://www.workingwithindigenousaustralians.info/index.html [Accessed 21 Feb. 2018].

O’Shea, M. and Maxwell, H., 2017. Collaborating to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s sport and physical activity. In Songlines: Our languages matter.

Carey, T.A., Dudgeon, P., Hammond, S.W., Hirvonen, T., Kyrios, M., Roufeil, L. and Smith, P., 2017. The Australian Psychological Society’s Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. Australian Psychologist, 52(4), pp.261-267.

Funston, L. and Herring, S., 2016. When Will the Stolen Generations End? A Qualitative Critical Exploration of Contemporary’Child Protection’Practices in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Sexual Abuse in Australia and New Zealand, 7(1), p.51.

Kinnane, S., Wilks, J., Wilson, K., Hughes, T. and Thomas, S., 2014. “Can’t be what you can’t see”: the transition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to higher education.

Parker, R. and Milroy, H., 2014. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health: an overview. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice, 2, pp.25-38.