Recent Events

As Australians celebrated the national ‘Close the Gap’ day, we again heard the news reports and the read the papers that have rehashed the statistics.  70% Indigenous students do not attend school regularly; Indigenous people are three times more likely to be unemployed.  On March 24 we read the blogs that were also posted support for the Close the Gap campaign.  Many of which outlined the positive contributions of many organizations that continue to work towards equality.  I loved that I could jump online and see so many people talking about the same things I talk to people about. 

Throughout the day I read a lot of information some well researched, some opinion and some that was trash.  It was the trash that stopped me in my tacks. Not only did some of the things posted online make me feel physically ill, but they left me breathless and made me feel un- Australian.  Racism isn’t completely foreign to me, I have had a few choice phrases thrown at me by all walks of life, what I have never seen is so many people use the words “them” and “us”.  Who is them? Who is us? I thought Australians were all working towards the same goals, equality for all Australians through education and meaningful employment… it seems that there are some people that think access to education and employment is only on offer if you aren’t Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.  It would appear that I have been living in a state of naivety for a while.

I hear a lot of people in my life say “I don’t have the answer”, or “what can I do, I mean really I’m one person” or “they don’t really want our help”.  To me these quotes present me with two main challenges for society.  The first of these challenges is time. People need time to make a commitment to changing the way Aboriginal people are marginalized; it is strange to me that people can commit to a TV show but can’t commit to support a cause.  If we take the time talk about the things that lead to disadvantage, we can do to change them.  The more aware you are, the more knowledge you have and sharing the facts with your friends, family and colleagues can lead to change.  The second challenge is doing what we can… the laid back attitude that is so fondly looked upon as a classic Australian attribute can’t apply to this aspect of our lives (and by our I mean all Australians). 

So to pass it on, the knowledge not the problems, I encourage you to look at the websites listed below.  Sign up to Generation One, check out ANTaR and Reconciliation Australia.  It’s well worth your time.

http://generationone.org.au/ 
http://www.reconciliation.org.au/
http://www.antar.org.au/