Introduction
As the technology and the globalisation have conquered the society, so has the issue of the inequality has arisen in the society, because of the considerable alteration in the employment, migration, technological landscapes. The following change proposal is aimed at addressing the issues of the inequality in the Australian society in context of the health. The structure of the change proposal is set by the initial introduction of the issue, explanation of the need of the change, the expected benefits out of the changes and a proposal of a change policy to conclude the discussions.
Analysis of the issue of Inequality in Australia
By the virtue of the globalisation, the economies are not only connected to each other, but also dependent on each other such that the economic and social disturbances outside the countries lead to significant impacts in context of healthcare within the countries as well. Health Inequalities denote the differences in the health status of the individuals arising due to the influence of factors of social, environmental and geographical domains (Schuch et. al, 2017). Australia is exposed to consistent inequalities in the area of health and welfare, as evident by the fact that there is a wide distribution of the Aboriginal, non-Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander people in terms of the distribution and most of the above listed reside in the rural and remote areas. Some of the reasons of the inequalities in healthcare are laid below.
Some of the reasons that have led to the said inequalities in health are described as follows. As stated by the WHO, social disadvantages and the inequalities are the prime reasons for the unfair distinctions in the health related outcomes for different groups. Social exclusion is the sub class of the social disadvantages, which means the lack of the resources, skills, participation and the opportunities (McLachlan et al., 2013). The social inclusion is stated to be expected by around 4.3 million people in Australia (Brotherhood of St Laurence & Melbourne Institute, 2019). The yet another key cause is the employment issues such as quality of work, levels of motivation and the access to medical facilities which affect both physical as well as the mental health. For instance, in context of Australia the number of jobless families reached to 1.4 million in the year 2017 (ABS, 2017). The next key cause is the inequalities in the appropriate and hygienic housing facilities. Thus, as stated above, there are various reasons associated to the health inequalities in Australia at income, occupation and the education levels.
Reasons for the policy proposals or the need for the change
As stated in the previous segments, there are various reasons associated for the inequalities in the health care sector of the country. The following segment would explain the arguments in favour of the development of new policies and enhancement of the existing policies. It is important to note that there are high risk factors associated with the inequalities described above, such as the existence of the chronic conditions, disease burden, and deaths. It must be noted that as per the statistics, the risk of the mortality rate for the people living in the remote areas is as high as 1.4 times the risk for a person living in the major cities.
Firstly to state that the health inequalities are not biological and can be avoided. The access to healthcare is further affected by the inefficient quality of the infrastructure, high cost of delivering services to the remote areas, social isolation, lack of awareness and others. It is vital to note that in the case of the refugees, severe mental and social trauma is experienced and thus have high rates of mental health issues. Secondly, the health inequities in the disadvantageous sectors tend to spread in the other societies as well and can lead to the economic and infrastructure burden on the country as a whole. Lastly, it can be stated that addressing the health inequalities will also aid in the contribution to the global health by addressing the issues of the chronic lifestyle diseases.
Thus, as stated in the above segment, there is diversification in terms of the health inequality and non-indigenous Australians are often exposed to social and economic reasons which affects their health stats even more. The policy formulations are essential for the efficient redistribution of the resources and sustainable growth, if not to diminish the root causes absolutely.
Change Proposal
The aim of the policy proposal is to minimize the inequalities in the health sector because of the reasons as stated in the previous segments, and includes the improvements to existing polices as well as the inclusion of new ones. Currently the country has a human rights based approach in context of the health care services which involves certain points to be noted as stated below. In terms of theoretical policies, the state governments are accountable to the national government regarding the budget formation and expenditure on health together with the community wise health statistics, the policies are designed on the principles of equal opportunity, and establishes the obligation of the government to guarantee healthcare services (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2020). These are in addition to the conjunction of the universal human rights as prescribed by the United Nations and other organisations. Various programs are developed over the years such as that of first Aboriginal health service in the year 1971 in Sydney, known as the Redfern health service. Though the fact cannot be denied that there is a poor history when it comes to implementation of the international treaties in context of the human rights.
The prime policy change that is suggested is the formal implementation of the human health rights into legislation in a detailed manner in Australia, regarding the Indigenous populations instead of the indirect impact on the policy initiatives such as the 1989 National Aboriginal Health Strategy (Mazel, 2018). It is important to note that the funding requirements of the various similar aboriginal health services are still dependent on the government funds. It has been proposed to liberalise the said funding principles so that more private supporters can contribute to the associations without much legal and procedural requirements. Though the human rights approach as stated above has advanced in the context of the civil, land and other political rights, it must be noted that one of the prime reasons for the unequal distribution of the resources is the isolation and the resistance by the individuals (Bleich et. al, 2012). It has been proposed to the regulators to set up the association of the health practitioner or counsellors and the representatives of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services so that the individuals do not resist the services out of isolation or trauma. It is further proposed to inculcate the health inequity issues in the education curriculums to enable the young people understand the issues and engage in the volunteering in context of the ground work.
Conclusion
The discussions conducted in the previous parts aid to conclude that the inequality of any sort is the root cause for the slowing down of the economic and social well-being of a country. The proposal formulated above concentrated on the inequalities in the Australian society in context of the healthcare services. The causes of inequality and the impact of the same are studied in detail and accordingly, the change proposal is initiated in the latter section of the work. Some of the key changes that are proposed are the setting up the association combined of health practitioners and aboriginal community services, liberalising the funding requirements and raising the awareness of the issue in the colleges in schools. These measures can aid in the effective implementation of the existing policies as well.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2017) Labour force, Australia [online] Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/lookup/6202.0Media%20Release1Dec%202017 [Accessed on: 27 January 2020].
Australian Human Rights Commission (2020) Social determinants and the health of Indigenous peoples in Australia – a human rights based approach [online] Available from: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/social-determinants-and-health-indigenous-peoples-australia-human-rights-based [Accessed on: 27 January 2020].
Bleich, S. N., Jarlenski, M. P., Bell, C.N. and LaVeist, T. A. (2012) Health inequalities: trends, progress, and policy. Annual review of public health, 33, pp. 7-40.
Brotherhood of St Laurence & Melbourne Institute (2019) Health [online] Available from: https://www.bsl.org.au/research/social-exclusion-monitor/who-experiences-social-exclusion/health/ [Accessed on: 27 January 2020].
Mazel, O. (2018) Indigenous Health and Human Rights: A Reflection on Law and Culture International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(4), p.789.
McLachlan, R., Gilfillan, G. and Gordon, J. (2013) Deep and persistent disadvantage in Australia. Canberra: Productivity Commission.
Schuch, H. S., Haag, D. G., Kapellas, K., Arantes, R., Peres, M. A., Thomson, W. M. and Jamieson, L. M. (2017) The magnitude of Indigenous and non‐Indigenous oral health inequalities in Brazil, New Zealand and Australia. Community dentistry and oral epidemiology, 45(5), pp. 434-441.
