University Entry Test: Practice Materials
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The Health of Indigenous Australia
新疆昌吉州
As Aboriginal Australians, our health lags behind that of indigenous groups in other ttler colonial nations such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Similarly, we are far behind the nations in relation to Indigenous participation in the health workforce and the professions generally. A compelling illustration of this is the fact that the first indigenous doctors in North America and New Zealand graduated in 1889 and 1899, respectively, while the first Indigenous doctor in Australia graduated almost a century later, in 1984.
It is undeniable that our poor health and our low participation in the health workforce are related. Increasing recognition of this has led to a situation in which there are now over 80 qualified Indigenous doctors and almost 100 Indigenous medical students in Australia. This achievement has only been possible becau we live in the era of “lf-determination”
that was born, as was I, during the 1970s. I am a multiracial Australian, with Aboriginal, Anglo and Asian ancestry. Becau my grandmother (being my only Indigenous ancestor) was a member of the “stolen generations”,大陆性季风气候 and becau I am fair-skinned, I started life with an ambivalent Indigenous identity which has been profoundly shaped by the policies of affirmative action that epitomi the era of lf-determination.
言意My first experiences with affirmative action occurred in high school, when I was showcad as a role model for other Indigenous students. Affirmative action later provided me with the financial means to complete a Master of Medical Statistics and then a Master of Public Health and a PhD.
伤心的泪水The goals of affirmative action are to create equality of opportunity and outcome for Indigenous Australians and, for the benefit of all Australians, to promote diversity through equitable reprentation of Indigenous people in society. Affirmative action is achieved, in practice, by assisting individual Indigenous people to become more “successful”. In addition, there is often an implicit assumption that the Indigenous recipients of affirmative action will act as role models.
While medicine has made some progress towards the goals, other areas of health have not fared as well. There has been little government support for increasing the number of Indigenous nurs or allied health professionals, with the notable exception of the recent Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarships. Health rearch is a particularly lonely field. I knew of no other Indigenous person studying at my institution in the same degree program as me. Also, milestones such as the first Indigenous doctor and the first Indigenous clinical psychologist to gain a PhD have only been achieved in the 21st century.
Clearly, there is still considerable scope for applying affirmative action in health and other ctors in which Indigenous people continue to suffer from disadvantage. However there are some problems. The most obvious is the difficulty faced by Indigenous people who are beneficiaries of affirmative action. They suffer from lf-doubt stemming from accusations that we do not merit such support. Unfortunately, it appears that many Australians still think Indigenous people get “too many benefits”. In one survey, almost a third of participants believed that car loans are paid for us by the government, and almost
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two-thirds thought that we receive more social curity benefits than non-Indigenous people. In another survey, more than half of respondents believed Indigenous people were “treated over generously by the government”. The hostility to affirmative action programs, which is compounded by the misconceptions, can only be reduced through education that explains the benefits of diversity and the need to remedy historical injustice.
营的组词There is also an urgent and profound need to tackle systemic racism in Australia, which, in its most extreme form, led to the death of Private Damien Palmer. After entering the army through an affirmative action policy, he committed suicide following racist taunts and inten ridicule from fellow soldiers and instructors. Systemic racism is something that white Australians, as tho who benefit most from the system of racial oppression, are in the best position to combat. Indigenous people, in contrast, face anguish and rapid “burnout” when leading the fight against this insidious form of racism.
The inten doubt of our lf-worth which some Indigenous people experience as a result
of affirmative action can be reduced by ensuring that Indigenous people are only placed in positions and given training or learning opportunities for which they have the appropriate commitment, skills, abilities and qualifications. The problem is not remedied by organizations around Australia engaging in tokenism. Not only are tho caught up in tokenism unable to effectively advance the goals of affirmative action, but they are also being t up to fail or, wor, t up as ever more prominent “tokens”, who increasing visibility as such verely hampers ongoing efforts to redress Indigenous disadvantage.
It is clear that affirmative action, no matter which gment of the Indigenous population is targeted, is most helpful to tho who are most advantaged to begin with. It is easiest, and perhaps most appropriate, for tho who have the most capacity to benefit to take up whatever opportunities are on offer. However, there is still a tendency for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to assume that being Indigenous is synonymous with a certain “marginality or victimage”. This misconception can leave Indigenous recipients of affirmative action not only doubting their lf-worth but also being en as threatening 重庆的习俗“tall poppies” and having their Indigenous identity questioned. I have certainly been acc
ud of taking positions that should have been given to “real blacks” who weren’t as acculturated to white society as me and/or who had darker skin. The issues need to be brought into the open, so that Indigenous people who are beneficiaries of affirmative action can share the difficult experiences and learn from each other about effective coping strategies.观点的英语单词