Social Work And Aboriginal Australians Social Work Essay

brotherly model And Aboriginal Australians Social Work EssayIn the reading by Bennett and Zubrzycki (2003) they write about themselves, a Polish-Australian and an endemical Australian who collaborated in a research project about innate affable nominate. They interviewed 6 Indigenous neighborly workers and give details of the difficulties faced in contemporary social work practice. Those interviewed face many obstacles in their practice due to cultural subjects in a profession that is dominated by a nonher culture.Green and Baldry (2008) argue that compensate though Australian social work clients are make up of many Indigenous people, the workers they deal with chip in their practice rooted in theories taken from European, British and Euro-Ameri give the gate social theory. They talk about the role of social workers in past injustices inflicted on Indigenous people and the fledgling movement among social workers, especially Indigenous ones, to develop theory and practice s pecifically targeting the ask of Indigenous Australians.The reading by Briskman (2007) looks at developing frameworks in response to the deficits of contemporary social work practice in five areas experienced by Indigenous Australians. These are social constructs of whiteness and othering, colonialist practice, racism and institutional racism, citizenship and gay rights.Wilson (1997) explores the failure of wellbeing departments in understanding Indigenous kinship dodges and the removal of children from their blanket(a) families and lands. Wilson argues that the removal of children and placing them away from extended family is tantamount to child abuse in itself. It is also stated that welfare related interventions are best handled by Indigenous organisations as mainstream organisations use the term culturally appropriate without really knowing what it means.AnalysisThe readings show that despite the many definitions of social work, Indigenous Australians do not receive the ser vice delivery they should. Although Australia has moved away from using British and American models of social work to reflect our own history (Napier George 2001, p.79) we are comfort lacking in our practice frameworks with Indigenous people.The Human Rights and Equal Opport unit of measurementy Commission 1997 (cited in OConnor, Wilson, Setterlund Hughes, 2008, p.25) states that the historic colonisation, seen as invasion by Indigenous people, sunk them, their culture and their land along with the imposing of alien laws, religion and social and economic arrangements upon them. The results of this have seen Indigenous people as the most marginalised people in Australia with many social problems including domestic violence, child care and poverty that needed to be responded to by the government (OConnor et al. 2008, p.40).Goldlust (cited in Briskman 2007, p.37) states that Indigenous Australians were not citizens of their country until the Nationality and Citizenship morsel of 1 948 granted them automatic citizenship but even so they were not given the right to vote until 1962. Anderson (cited in Whiteside, Tsey Earles, 2011, p.114) states that even though Australia was a world draw in its welfare entitlement arrangements, Indigenous people were not able to access these benefits until the late 1960s.When the Whitlam Labour government came into power in 1972 major social reforms took flummox which saw a large injection of funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs along with the dismantling of the White Australia Policy by the racial Discrimination Act 1975 (OConnor, Wilson, Setterlund Hughes, 2008, p.27).One of the major problems in Indigenous communities has been the historic removal of children and their over representation in the child welfare system. It was not until the justify of the Bringing Them Home report of the national inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families by the Hu man Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission HREOC (1997) that this issue began to be addressed. There is a conflict of values among welfare workers in the child protection system. Western society see differences in the way indigenous people live as abnormal and therefore this signals to them that there is a problem within the family (Wilson 1997, p.452). They have no understanding of the indigenous kinship system which then results in the removal of many children unnecessarily. Wilson argues that neglect is the primary reason for welfare intervention in Indigenous communities and that social inequality directly causes neglect. racial discrimination in schools, housing problems, general poverty and structural factors also resulted in interventions (1997, p.453). Furtherto a greater extent Wilson states that welfare departments fail to consult with Indigenous families, communities and organisations regarding interventions and that culturally appropriate welfare services should be pro vided by Indigenous organisations (1997, pages 453-458). There is a need for more Indigenous and culturally competent social workers in Australia today. Green and Baldry consider that social work in the past has been involved in racist, patronising and unjust practices toward Indigenous people and having now apologised is seeking to learn from Indigenous Australians how to work with their communities and individuals (2008, p.389). Bennett, Zubrzycki, and Bacon (2011, p.34) discuss that there is still much to be done in teaching social work students to be culturally sensitive to Indigenous AustraliansSocial work practice with Aboriginal people and communities requires significantresources and development. While some schools of social work (e.g., University ofWestern Australia and University of New South Wales) offer students core units onworking with Indigenous Australians, there is still no national core curriculum thatrequires this important subject to be included across all Austr alian schools of socialwork. Theories of Whiteness, knowledge about the ongoing practices of colonisation,knowledge of Aboriginal English, Aboriginal languages, and Aboriginal world viewsare just some of the areas that remain marginal in social work education. Yet thesocial justice outcomes for Aboriginal people indicate that these communities are themost disadvantaged and marginalised in Australia. This means that social workers,who have a central role in the delivery of welfare services, need to be educated andsupported to work in ways that are culturally respectful, courageous, and hopeful. (Bennett, Zubrzycki Bacon 2011, p.34)This advice should be followed in order for social work to address the needs of Indigenous Australians adequately. Indigenous people make up a small per centum of the Australian population. Therefore the number of Indigenous social workers is minute in terms of being able to service their people and communities. They also face challenges in their role as social workers due to the very fact that they are Indigenous. Soong (cited in Bennett and Zubrzycki 2003, p.62) contends that these workers are often seen as culture brokers who mediate between dickens cultures. This results in them experiencing tensions caused by being caught between professional and cultural expectations that are in conflict with each other. This dichotomy should not be and Indigenous social workers need a set more support from their peers in practice.ReflectionAs I reflect on what I have learnt in this unit I am reminded of the enormity of what will be expected of me in order to become a competent social worker in the future. The readings I have done in my chosen topic about Indigenous Australians have been of particular interest to me due to the fact that I manage an Indigenous Out of Home Care / Kinship Care service and am the mother of Indigenous children. The past injustices that have been visited upon the Indigenous communities in Australia are something t hat can never be tackd nor forgotten but we can learn from this and move on to a future that will embrace social justice and human rights on a large scale rather than the way it is now, in a stage of infancy. I have learnt that there is a lot more to being a social worker than you would expect and that it takes a lot of grit and determination to practice justly and fairly. My beliefs and values have been challenged, especially about the whiteness theories and the position of privilege that I hold just because of the colour of my skin. The unit has raised awareness in me of the predicaments people find themselves in through no fault of their own and it has given me more compassion and the desire to go out and help those who are marginalised and in poverty. I am a natural advocator, it is something that I like to do along with it being part of my profession and I have been challenged to go out and advocate for those that are little well off more often. In regards to future learning this unit has spurred me on to want to know a lot more as this is but the start of my course. I would like to learn more about politics and sociology. Human rights is a subject that I would like to do a lot more study on as it is something that really inspires me. By the end of the course I fully expect to be a competent social worker with a strong foundation in theories both past and present. The readings I have read in the unit are able to be put to good use already in my workplace and in my life and as I go on I am expecting to change and be a better person because of what I have learnt.Additional ReadingThe reading I have chosen is called How White is Social Work in Australia and the full reference for this reading is as followsWalter, M, Taylor, S Habibis, D (2011) How White is Social Work in Australia?,Australian Social Work, 64 1, 6 19.I got the reading from the Deakin Library under the journal section after doing a search on Australian Social Work. This reading sheds lig ht on my topic as it enables white people to see that there is a world of difference between them and Indigenous Australians. It also brings an awareness of how we practice othering, even if unconsciously so.