Workshop/Workbook 5

Question 1

What is the White Australia policy? How did it affect Aboriginal people?

Answer 1

• The White Australia policy was legally enforced at the end of 1901 with the Immigration Restriction Act, which restricted any non-British immigrants from entering Australia
• The White Australia policy did not specifically target Aboriginal people, but it created a mindset of white cultural values and beliefs
• Because of this, Aboriginal people were marginalised and segregated from society based on their ethnicity, and the fact that they were not white

Question 2

What is the structure/agency debate?

Answer 2

• Agency: free will; the ability to make choices of your own desire
• Structure: social structure that influences your thoughts, behaviours, experiences and choices
• The structure/agency debate is the conflict between making the choices that you desire and making choices that are acceptable to society

Question 3

How do past and present government policies affect interprofessional practice?

Answer 3

• Past and present government policies can affect interprofessional practice due to the institutional racism and mistrust

Question 4

List some protection, segregation and assimilation policies

Answer 4

Colonisation:

• Australia was considered uninhabited (terra nullis)
• European people and their values were highly considered, and those of Aboriginal people were not
• Ultimately resulted in death, sickness, domestication, and loss of languages and traditions of Aboriginal people

White Australia policy

“Protection” through segregation:

• Resulted in forced segregation of Aboriginal people by placing them in reserves and missions away from their land
• These missions and reserves were run by the Chief Protector, who was the legal guardian of all Aboriginal children under 16, and had power over marriages, wages, properties and deaths of all Aboriginal people
• The power of the Chief Protector led to the stolen generation, where children were removed from their families
• Curfews were set in place and Aboriginal people were not allowed to enter Perth

Assimilation:

• Proposed that ‘full blood’ Indigenous people should be allowed to ‘die out’ and half-castes could be integrated into the white community
• Involved trying to make Aboriginal people adopt the culture, lifestyle and customs of Europeans
• Targeted Aboriginal children, as they were thought to be more adaptable European culture than adults
• Included forcible removal of children (stolen generation)

Question 5

What is epigenetics?

Answer 5

• Environmental factors influencing your gene expression and biology