Experiencing racism in health care: the mental health impacts for Victorian Aboriginal communities

To examine experiences of racism in health settings and their impact on mental health among Aboriginal Australians.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the accounting profession : an exploratory study

The aim of this article is to explore the role that accounting skills and accounting qualifications may play in entering fields that have been virtually closed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people. It is acknowledged in the literature that accounting processes and accountants have historically had a domineering and detrimental impact on marginalised groups, such as ATSI peoples. However, we propose an alternative viewpoint using a Bourdieun perspective and theorise that accounting skills and accounting qualifications (capital) can open doors to powerful organisations and institutions (fields). As this is an exploratory study, we have limited our analysis to one key aspect of the Bourdieun framework, namely that of field. To that end, we examine accounting and other organisations that have traditionally closed their doors to marginalised groups in society. Interviews were conducted with ATSI people who have successfully gained entry into the field of the accounting profession, in an effort to understand the experiences and barriers they faced and to investigate the role that accounting skills plays in enabling ATSI people access to fields and decision-making positions that have traditionally been inaccessible to them.

Aboriginal people and local government. A Shepparton story

Sequential governments have created policies to deal with the "Aboriginal problem". None of these have been particularly successful. I contend that the absence of effective dialogue has been the cause of most failures. I also argue that future policies will also fail unless a dialogic approach of deep listening, respect and love is adopted.

Applying a we al-li educaring framework to address histories of violence with Aboriginal women

An Aboriginal woman living in a remote area is 45 times more likely to experience domestic violence than their white peers. (Gordon et al, 2002) The nature of that violence is multi-layered, complex and incorporates a history of intergenerational loss, grief, trauma and the impact of colonisation, as discussed by Atkinson, C (2008). It involves women, children, families, communities. It is a story about people, many of whom find themselves in trouble with the legal system. Of the 25 male parents who killed their children in a domestic violence context five identified as Aboriginal (20%) (NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team Annual Report, 2015, p.17). The percentage of women in Victorian prisons who have been victims of sexual, physical or emotional abuse has been reported to be 87% (Johnson, 2004). This figure is supported by the latest Ombudsman’s report on Victorian Prisons (2015).None of the 17 females who killed their children identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team Annual Report 2015, p.18). The most common charge/offence for both Aboriginal men and women is an act intended to cause injury (see Figure 2).The stories of women in this program and anecdotal evidence from people working in the field reveals that most of this violence is lateral, ie within families and communities which is not an uncommon occurrence where there is a history of colonisation.

Implementing the Flinders Model of self-management support with Aboriginal people who have diabetes : findings from a pilot study

A pilot program for Aboriginal people with diabetes on Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, aimed to test the acceptability and impact of using the Flinders model of self-management care planing to improve patient self-management. A community development approach was used to conduct a twelve-month demonstration project. Aboriginal health workers (AHWs) conducted patient-centred, self-management assessment and care planning. Impacts were measured by patient-completed diabetes self-management assessment tool, goal achievement, quality of life and clinical measures at baseline and 12 months. Impact and acceptability were also assessed by semi-structured interviews and focus groups of AHWs. Sixty Aboriginal people with type 2 diabetes stated their main problems as family and social dysfunction, access to services, nutrition and exercise. Problems improved by 12% and goals by 26%, while quality of life scores showed no significant change. Self-management scores improved in five of six domains. Mean HbA1c reduced from 8.74-8.09 and mean blood pressure was unchanged. AHWs found the process acceptable and appropriate for them and their patients. It was concluded that a diabetes self-management program provided by AHWs is acceptable, improves self-management and is seen to be useful by Aboriginal communities. Barriers include lack of preventative health services, social problems and time pressure on staff. Enablers include community concern regarding the prevalence and mortality associated with diabetes.

Sport safety policies and practices in two rural Victorian communities

Australian football and netball are the predominant sports played in rural Victoria, Australia. This exploratory study is the first to report the sport safety policies and practices adopted by junior Australian football and netball clubs in small rural communities. Eleven informants from four clubs completed a semi-structured interview and survey. Whilst the clubs performed a range of injury prevention activiities, they did not have formal sports safety policies. Generally, netball informants reported fewer safety practices than football informants. Crucial factors influencing safety policies and practices were the reliance on volunteers and a lack of senior players. Barriers towards the adoption of safety policies and practices appeared to be related to rural population declines, a lack of qualified people and attitudes to injury in rural areas. Future research needs to identify how widespread this lack of sport safety policies and practices is across rural Australia and to identify strategies to overcome barriers to implementing them.

Re-engaging young people through applied learning pedagogy

The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) was developed as an innovative response to the changing context post-compulsory schooling in Australia. By combining ‘hands-on’ learning approaches with the traditions of adult learning, the VCAL seeks to cater for the learning temperaments and employment pathways of post-compulsory students who are less likely to remain at school to complete a more traditional Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). This paper draws on my doctoral research into the schooling experience of VCAL students to explore the irony in using adult and work-based learning principles that underpin applied learning pedagogy as a strategy to reengage students frequently considered by schools to be ‘at risk’. It argues that traditional contentdriven and transmissive approaches result in some students being defined ‘at risk’ because of their failure to accept as legitimate traditional school-based modes of learning. It is proposed that teachers in secondary schools require a deeper understanding of applied learning principles and teaching strategies in order to cater for the increasing numbers of applied learning students in the post-compulsory years of secondary schools. It is argued that such an understanding is also critical to avoid many of such students being incorrectly labelled ‘at risk’.

Gardner; re BWW: Victorian Supreme Court makes landmark Australian ruling on tube feeding

• The Victorian Supreme Court has decided that artificial nutrition and hydration provided through a percutaneous gastrostomy tube to a woman in a persistent vegetative state may be withdrawn.
• The judge ruled, in line with a substantial body of international medical, ethical and legal opinion, that any form of artificial nutrition and hydration is a medical procedure, not part of palliative care, and that it is a procedure to sustain life, not to manage the dying process.
• Thus, the law does not impose a rigid obligation to administer artificial nutrition or hydration to people who are dying, without due regard to their clinical condition. The definition of key terms such as “medical treatment”, “palliative care”, and “reasonable provision of food and water” in this case will serve as guidance for end-of-life decisions in other states and territories.
• The case also reiterates the right of patients, and, when incompetent, their validly appointed agents or guardians, to refuse medical treatment.
• Where an incompetent patient has not executed a binding advance directive and no agent or guardian has been appointed, physicians, in consultation with the family, may decide to withdraw medical treatment, including artificial nutrition or hydration, on the basis that continuation of treatment is inappropriate and not in the patient’s best interests. However, Victoria and other jurisdictions would benefit from clarification of this area of the law

Reconciliation between Aboriginal and other Australians : the "Stolen Generations"

The current study presents an overview and content analysis of the "Stolen Generations" inquiry as an example of how structural violence, grounded in the geohistorical context of the invasion of Australia by Europeans, plays itself out in the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. The inquiry, based on testimony received from 777 people and organizations, documented the impact of the government policy, from 1910 to 1970, of removing Aboriginal children of mixed heritage from their families. The consequences of these forced separations are examined and the implications of the inquiry are considered. We critically reflect on the role psychology has played in the past, and suggest roles for peace psychology, particularly in view of theoretical questions related to reconciliation processes.

Total arsenic accumulation in yabbies (Cherax Destructor Clark) exposed to elevated arsenic levels in Victorian gold mining areas, Australia

Arsenic is a proven carcinogen often found at high concentrations in association with gold and other heavy metals. The freshwater yabby, Cherax destructor Clark (Decapoda, Parastacidae), is a ubiquitous species native to Australia's central and eastern regions, with a growing international commercial market. However, in this region of Australia, yabby farmers often harvest organisms from old mine tailings dams with elevated environmental arsenic levels. Yabbies exposed to elevated environmental arsenic were found to accumulate and store as much as 100 μg/g arsenic in their tissues. The accumulation is proportional to the concentration of arsenic in the sediment and is high enough to be of concern for people who eat the yabbies. A comparison of arsenic levels in wild and lab-fed animals also was performed. Although there was no significant difference in the level of arsenic in the various organs of the wild animals, the animals purchased from a yabby farm showed a significantly higher arsenic concentration in their hepatopancreas (3.7 ± 0.9 μg/g) compared to other organs (0.6–1.8 μg/g). Furthermore, after a 40-d exposure to food containing 200 to 300 μg/g inorganic arsenic, arsenate (As[V])-exposed animals showed a significant increase in tissue-specific arsenic accumulation, whereas arsenite (As[III])-exposed animals showed a lower, nonsignificant increase in As uptake, primarily in the hepatopancreas. These results have important implications for yabby growers and consumers alike.

Building collaborative partnerships: a key to increasing Indigenous Victorian peoples' access to country

This article reports on a qualitative research study undertaken with Indigenous government employees to explore ways in which Indigenous communities can access programs involving caring for Country' (knowledge, responsibility and inherent right to protect the traditional natural landscape) on their traditional land and, in so doing. improve their health. Factors that optimise such nature-based projects are the capacity of their intention to build relationships, consultation. transparency, consistency, education and training between Indigenous communities. government and the general public. Government agencies need to develop strategies where partnership and collaboration are effective with Indigenous communities and within the agencies themselves, in order to resolve controversial issues surrounding access to Country.