Ever since 1788, when Australia was colonized as a British nation, Indigenous Australians have been represented in a problematic and untruthful manner by many non-indigenous and westernized institutions. In the nation’s healthcare system, Indigenous Australians are presented as being more unhealthy in terms of developed diseases, life expectancy and weigh related illnesses (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). The national education system, and the media, paint the indigenous population as being uneducated and often unemployed, with a low socio-economic status (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). The media, using various film and television texts, has depicted the aboriginal Australian population as living in a different era
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All of these representations of the Indigenous population of Australia have a great impact on preventing the complete cohesion between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations of Australia, as well as allowing indigenous Australians to be demeaned, disrespected and degraded by their own nation. This paper will take a deeper and more critical look into the way that the indigenous population of Australia has been represented over the years by Australia’s media institution and how this particular establishment has depicted Aboriginal Australians in an extremely type casted and stereotypical manner. As well as how Australia’s judicial and criminal system represents the indigenous population within the nation as being delinquent and wrongdoing citizens (Korff, 2015).
Before Australia was ‘founded’ by Captain Cook and colonized as a British nation in 1788, more than 250 languages and dialects were spoken throughout the country by its original indigenous inhabitants (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Post colonization, oppressive laws were established to strip the Indigenous Australians of their culture, languages and values, …show more content…
In fact, over the past 15 years, the rate of imprisonment among Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Australians has increased by 57 per cent (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014). According to Mick Gooda, Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (2014), almost 50 per cent of young Australians, between the ages of 12 and 24, who are in juvenile detention centers or prisons are of aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Gooda also found that 58 per cent of young indigenous Australians were likely to recommit a crime within 10 years of being released from detention. However, the average school retention rate for young indigenous Australians was only 45 per cent in 2009 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). These statistics show that the with the way Australian society seems to be running, it is more likely for young Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australians to spend their youth behind bars, rather than at school. These rates of imprisonment can be reflected by many different societies throughout both Australian and international history. After the first fleet, the British convicts and settlers invaded and overthrew the indigenous people who were the original inhabitants of the land, treating them as prisoners and as lesser humans, some even treated like farm animals (Donaldson, 1996).
All of these representations of the Indigenous population of Australia have a great impact on preventing the complete cohesion between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations of Australia, as well as allowing indigenous Australians to be demeaned, disrespected and degraded by their own nation. This paper will take a deeper and more critical look into the way that the indigenous population of Australia has been represented over the years by Australia’s media institution and how this particular establishment has depicted Aboriginal Australians in an extremely type casted and stereotypical manner. As well as how Australia’s judicial and criminal system represents the indigenous population within the nation as being delinquent and wrongdoing citizens (Korff, 2015).
Before Australia was ‘founded’ by Captain Cook and colonized as a British nation in 1788, more than 250 languages and dialects were spoken throughout the country by its original indigenous inhabitants (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Post colonization, oppressive laws were established to strip the Indigenous Australians of their culture, languages and values, …show more content…
In fact, over the past 15 years, the rate of imprisonment among Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Australians has increased by 57 per cent (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014). According to Mick Gooda, Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (2014), almost 50 per cent of young Australians, between the ages of 12 and 24, who are in juvenile detention centers or prisons are of aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Gooda also found that 58 per cent of young indigenous Australians were likely to recommit a crime within 10 years of being released from detention. However, the average school retention rate for young indigenous Australians was only 45 per cent in 2009 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). These statistics show that the with the way Australian society seems to be running, it is more likely for young Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australians to spend their youth behind bars, rather than at school. These rates of imprisonment can be reflected by many different societies throughout both Australian and international history. After the first fleet, the British convicts and settlers invaded and overthrew the indigenous people who were the original inhabitants of the land, treating them as prisoners and as lesser humans, some even treated like farm animals (Donaldson, 1996).