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Statistics gathered over the past few decades have consistently shown the mortality rates of Indigenous Australians far exceed those of the non-Indigenous population; indeed, some 50% of Indigenous Australians die before they reach the age of 50. This unit investigates why this is the case. Throughout the unit, Indigenous health within Australia is framed within the overarching policies of self-determination and practical and symbolic reconciliation. The unit takes a 'social determinant' approach to health and interrogates how the many inter-related socio-economic aspects of people's personal and community lives converge and impact on health status. Pre-contact health profiles and the impact of colonisation and dispossession both within Australia and in comparable countries will be investigated. The unit also enquires into the emerging explanatory models that go beyond the fundamental factors of colonisation and dispossession in explaining the continuing poor health status of Indigenous people. The unit also considers the differing constructs of health and well-being to be found in Indigenous and western cultures, the consequences of these differences for Indigenous health in the post-colonial context, and the effectiveness of contemporary strategies to reconcile both western and Indigenous value-systems in the provision of health care and the training of health professionals.
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