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Babana News
Babana Aboriginal Mens Group Inc.
V
olume4Issue2
March2012
Babana News is the official Newsletter ofthe Babana Aboriginal Mens Group Inc.,and is produced in the main as an e-letter.A copy will also be produced in
the Babana Myspace site and a limitednumber will be available at our GeneralMeetings.
Opinions and conclusions contained inthe Your Word section are those of thewriter and do not necessarily reflect theopinions, policies, aims or objectives ofBabana Aboriginal Mens Group.
Inside this issue:
early childhood on a property
at Wyandra, 800km west of
Brisbane, where she helped
cook for the stockmen.
She would become "carer"
to her family after settling in
the Pomona area in the
Sunshine Coast hinterland,
her niece said.
"She did everything she
could to make her family
happy," Mrs Watson told The
Australian.
Mr Cheedy was born in
1907 on Hooley Station in
outback WA, where he
worked as a stockman and
windmill man. Later, he
moved to Roebourne
Reserve so his children
could get an education. Hewent became a preacher at
the Pilbara Aboriginal Church
and travelled widely in his
home state helping families
affected by alcoholism.
The Australian
Jamie Walker
3 April 03 2012
TWO of Australia's longest-
lived Aborigines have died
on opposite sides of the
country, drawing praise for
extraordinary lives that each
spanned more than a
century.
Federal Indigenous Affairs
Minister Jenny Macklin
yesterday led tributes for
Yindjibarndi elder Ned
Cheedy, who died in Western
Australia on Sunday, aged
about 105.
His passing followed that
of Queenslander "Aunty" May
Beckmann, also 105, who
was said by her family to be
the oldest Aboriginal woman
alive.
Ms Macklin said Mr
Cheedy had dedicated much
of his life to teaching young
people about his traditional
country in WA's Pilbara
region.
Last year, he was awarded
the prestigious NAIDOC
Lifetime Achievement Awardin recognition of his
contribution to caring for
Yindjibarndi law, culture and
language and the future of
his people.
"His outstanding
contributions over the years
helped to improve the lives
of Aboriginal people in
Yindjibarndi ... and beyond,"
Ms Macklin said.
Mrs Beckmann died in
Toowoomba on March 4, and
The Australian was asked by
close relatives to mark
"Aunty May's" lifelong
devotion to her family and
community in Queensland.
She was born on October
22, 1906. As was common
in that era, her parents,
Norman Hoad and Alice
Richards, were refused
permission to marry by thethen Protector of Aborigines
in Queensland.
"She had contact with her
Aboriginal grandmother and
other members of her
Aboriginal family, none of
whom spoke English," her
niece, Marlene Watson, 74,
said. "She learnt a little of
their language and
experienced some of their
cultural practices."
Mrs Beckmann spent her
From the Chair 2
Close the Gap 4
Aboriginal HealthFacts and
Statistics
7
Aboriginal school closes with
one pupil
8
Ancient Aboriginal rock art to
be catalogued
13
Tributes for our lost Aboriginal centenarians
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Our March Newsletter and by now
we are already in April. The year is
passing too quickly. Sometimes I
wonder how we can do so much with
such limited resources.
But we get on with it.
Our main focus in March was
Closing the Gap.
Closing the Gaps Statement of
Intent to work together to achieve
equality in health status and life
expectancy between Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples and
non-Indigenous Australians by the
year 2030'. Out purpose was to
introduce the plan and the program
to our community and give
information and options for people
to be better informed on the
operation of the plan.
We held an event at Clarke Island
with over 200 people attending.
The day was a complete success
and there are too many people to
thank for that success. From
funding and donors to volunteers to
our guests from other organisations
and groups. There are so many
people who will be involved aseither providers or clients. And the
interest was so great I can only
think that at last we will get our
health up to, at least, the same
standard as the mainstream
community.
I thank everyone who was
involved and hope that we can now
move towards closing that gap.
April will bring us the Coloured
From the Chair
Page 2
BabanaNews
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Mark Spinks Chair of Babana
to work together
to achieve equality
in health status
and life expectancy
between Aboriginal
and Torres Strait
Islander peoples
and non-
Indigenous
Australians by the
year 2030' .
Digger March. I have included a
poster in these pages. It would be
good if everyone who receives this
newsletter prints it out and posts it
on your notice boards at work or in
your organisations.
The more people we get attending
this memorial to our Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander comrades
who volunteered and, in many
instances gave their lives, toprotect country and family, the
better.
I cant finish this column without
mentioning the passing on of two of
our great men and the sadness it has
brought to me.
Jimmy Little and Bruce Larpa
Stewart. .
Both men of great substance.
Jimmy with his music, knowledge and
gentle grace and Larpa with his
leadership and courage.
They are men who gave of
themselvestheir time, their
knowledge, their talents (so different
and yet so similar), their courage and
their abilities. Time given with no
thought of return or reward.
Time given through their love of
their communities and their families.
Their sharing and their generosity.
They, to me, are modern warriors.
Keeping alive their cultures and
customs and sharing their wealth of
experience with all who asked of it.
Warriors and men who will sadly be
missed by me, by Babana and by all
those who they came into contact
with over their long and life-filled
years.
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Krieg said.
"We all live very busy lives and time in
the dunny is a moment to be by
yourself and it allows a few minutes to
think about things - for contemplation."
Mounting pressures from a fast-
paced modern lifestyle meant few
people had the hours to spare needed
to read up on and research a health
issue and sift through and digest all the
information available online and off.
And much of what was available, said
Mr Krieg, was either poor quality or too
academic, too detailed and "too
overdone".
"There are those who still just want
the raw facts," Mr Krieg said. "They
want it distilled down. They will say
'Just tell me what I need to do, not all
the background to it'."
To "get the ball rolling", Mr Krieg said
he had inserted yellow-coloured pages
in the middle of the book that
encouraged those contemplating life
while on the dunny to try to identify the
physical and mental health "traps" they
were falling into, to get to the root of
issues and take action to change
their ways. It includes lists of
suitable helplines and a "shock
absorber quiz" for those feeling
overwhelmed or having problems
sleeping or coping.
Stress and distress levels among
WA's men and women were
continuing to increase, he warned,
because of the demands of themodern lifestyle.
Contributing factors included work
commitments spilling over into the
weekends and hours usually spent
sleeping and mobile phones and the
internet interrupting time spent with
family and friends
"When things are not going well, it
is not often that people slow down
and try and identify what is giving
them the most trouble and what
they can do about it," Mr Krieg said.
"Men in particular, they just work on
rather than regroup."
While the book is slanted towards the needs of
men and those living in rural areas, the
foreword by WA's Governor Malcolm McCusker
recommends its sensible suggestions and
thought-provoking stories to all and says theyare suitable for a much wider audience."We
are all in i t, it's only the depth that varies" was
written and published by Julian Krieg. Price
$9.95. The book can be ordered by emailing
[email protected] or writing to
Wheatbelt Men's Health, PO Box 768 Northam
WA 6401. Source: Marnie McKimmie , West
Australian
Dunny the new seat of learning
Marnie McKimmie
West Australian
Located far away from the
computer, gossip, family
distractions and work, the
dunny and the few minutes of
isolation spent on it daily is
being targeted as the ideal
opportunity to provide both men
and their partners with a quick
no-frills high quality lesson on
what really is best for health.WA award-winning men's
health and suicide prevention
expert Julian Krieg has
produced his physical and
mental health and relationships
advice book "We are all in it, it's
only the depth that varies" with
a hole punched out so that
string can be attached and it
can be tied to the toilet paper
roll holder.
Covering issues from obesity,
bad backs, fatigue, making time
for children to alcohol,
depression and suicide
prevention in an easy-to-
understand, down-to-earth
manner, it was put together by
the group Wheatbelt Men's
Health and follows on from Mr
Krieg's seven-year stint writing a
health column for rural
newspapers and presenting on
radio. "The dunny idea came
from years of 'my own personal
experience' and visiting houses
and noticing that most toilets
had some reading material," Mr
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Close the Gap
Page 4
CLOSE the GAP DAY 2012
On Friday 23 March 2012, Redfern Aboriginal Mens Group Babana, celebrated Close the Gap day on thenew Tribal Warrior Association Boat Mari Narwi.
Almost 200 Aboriginal people from Redfern, South Coast, North Coast and La Perouse were entertained byUncle Vic Simms and informed by guest speakers from Wyanga Aged Care (Aunty Millie Ingram), Prince ofWales Hospital (Linda Boney), Guriwal Aboriginal Corporation La Perouse (Aunty Barbara Keeley), Depart-
ment of Community Services (Will Garton), Babana Mens group Chairperson (Mark Spinks) and ExecutiveMember (David Pross), John Holland Group (Nikki Suey) and Virgin Airlines (Christiee Louttit).
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Information obtained through surveys conducted on the day for those who attended have highlighted the 5 mainissues affecting Aboriginal people, so that Babana and other organizations can provide further events as Close theGap Day to assist Aboriginal people long term
*
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BabanaNews
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Aboriginal HealthFacts and Statistics
Australian bureau of Statistics
On Wednesday 31 March 2010, the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
released the 2008 Causes of Death
data. The suicide statistics on this
webpage will be updated by Friday
16 April 2010 to reflect the new
data.
For a summary of the updated
2008 data, refer to Recent Australian
Data section on the media
professionals website
Caution must be exercised in
examining information and data on
patterns of mental illness and suicide
in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander communities as accurate
statistics and population estimates
are unavailable. Data that are
available are limited in quality.
Discussion in the field draws both on
available Australian research and
limited data on hospitalisation and
mortality rates for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people. The
following information is presented to
progress the development of an
understanding of the factors that
influence and impact on the mental
health and wellbeing of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander
Australians.
Definition
An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait
Islander person is a person ofAboriginal and/or Torres Strait
Islander descent who identifies as an
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait
Islander and is accepted as such by
the community in which he or she
lives.
Population Context
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples comprise 2.4% of
the total Australian population, with
estimates as of June 2001 at
458,500. Torres Strait Islanders
comprise 11% of the total Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander
population.
A significant proportion of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people (69%) live outside the major
urban centres. In 2001, around one
in four Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Australians lived in remote
areas compared with only one in fifty
other Australians.
Over half of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander population live
in either NSW (29%) or QLD (27%).
Although the Northern Territory (NT)
has only 12% of Australia's
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people they represent 29% of the
total NT population, which is the
highest proportion in any state or
territory. Over half (58%) of all Torres
Strait Islander people live in
Queensland.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples are a young
population with a median age of
20.5 years compared with 36.1
years for other Australians. As a
result, it can be misleading to make
direct comparisons with the broader
Australian population which has a
different age structure.
The estimated life expectancy at
birth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people is much lower than
for other Australians.
Aboriginal Mental Health (Social and
Emotional Wellbeing)
Some people, including Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Australians
prefer the term "social and emotional
wellbeing", rather than "mental
health" because of its more positive
and holistic connotations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people have traditionally viewed
health as including not only the
physical health of the person, but
also the social, emotional and
spiritual wellbeing of the whole
community.
Trauma and grief have been
identified as significant issues for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
communities and for individuals. At
present, there isn't any definitive
national data about the incidence or
prevalence of mental disorders
among Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. Limited available
research however supports the
conclusion that serious mental
disorders occur in Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander populations,
(Continued on page 12)
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Aboriginal school closes with one pupil
Stuart RintoulThe Australian
9 April
FOR several weeks this year, a
Year 8 boy attending the Ballerrt
Mooroop College, in Melbourne's
north, was the $1.1 million
student.
That was the annual operating
budget for the Aboriginal
"pathways" school and the boy
was the school's only student.
Ballerrt Mooroop has now
been de-staffed and its closure
may signal the end of Victoria's
experiment with Aboriginal
schools, which have had low
enrolments and poor academic
outcomes.
Ballerrt Mooroop began as a
Koorie Open Door Education
school in 1995. In 1997, the
Glenroy school had 86 students.
By 2009, there were 28, costing
taxpayers $95,000 a student, or
nine times the state average.
Attendance was 66 per cent.
Last year, there were 11
students, with 64 per cent
attendance, being taught by
eight teachers. The school had
recurrent income of $1.1m.
Forced to share its grounds
with a special school for
disabled students, Ballerrt
Mooroop began this year with
two students, which quicklybecame one. After several
weeks, the sole remaining
student was removed to another
school.
According to Aboriginal activist
Barbara Williams, the boy "was
happy with the school and when
he was told it was closing, he was
crying his heart out".
But the Victorian Education
Department says Aboriginal
people have voted with their feet,
enrolling their children in
mainstream schools. There are
almost 1200 indigenous students
in Melbourne's north.
"Since we wound up with one
student, we couldn't justify
spending $1.1m to keep it going,"
regional director Wayne Craig told
The Australian.
"The community has voted with
its feet in a lot of ways. When you
wind up with a school with no kids
in it, I guess basically the decision
is made for you."
Over the past 17 years,
Victoria's four Aboriginal
campuses, in Mildura, Swan Hill,Morwell and Glenroy, have been
tried as Prep-Year 10 (KODE),
Prep-Year 12 (Victorian College of
Koorie Education) and Year 7-10
(Pathways), with the goal
eventually of reconnecting
disengaged Aboriginal students
with mainstream education, or
training.
In 2007, respected Aboriginal
educator Chris Sarra reported
they had "failed dramatically" to
boost Aboriginal education and had
become a dumping ground for
difficult Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal students.
Last year, the state's Auditor-
General, Des Pearson, said the
Education Department could not
demonstrate whether they were
working.
Ms Williams said students had
been discouraged from attending
the Glenroy school, while fellow
activist Gary Murray said Ballerrt
Mooroop had been allowed to
become a "poor black school that
takes in naughty black kids".
Mr Murray, who attended Glenroy
High School, said a more creative
strategy, aimed at strong academic
results and incorporating sports and
performing arts academies, could
have succeeded.
He said Aboriginal activists would
now fight for the Glenroy site. "We
can't fight for the kids, because
they're not there," he said."If the Greeks can have their
schools and the Jews can have their
schools and the Muslims can have
their schools and the rich kids can
have their schools and the disabled
kids can have theirs, why can't we?"
he said.
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Demons dump EnergyWatch as sponsor and Polis resigns as CEO
Paul Tatnell, Padraic MurphyHerald Sun
5 April 2012
MELBOURNE Victory and the
Melbourne Rebels have followed the
Melbourne Football Club in dumping
EnergyWatch as a sponsor after its
co-owner posted a litany of racist and
sexist comments on Facebook.
The clubs today severed their ties
with EnergyWatch after the Herald
Sun revealed Ben Polis' catalogue of
slurs against Aborigines, Asians and
women including Prime Minister Julia
Gillard.
Mr Polis resigned as CEO of
EnergyWatch today, but will remain a
co-owner in the lucrative business.
EnergyWatch said its senior
management held emergency talks
with Mr Polis this morning. He soon
resigned from his position.
The chief financial officer and co-
founder of EnergyWatch Luke
Zombor will take over the CEO role.
Mr Zombor said he was saddened
with what had gone on and
unreservedly apologised.
"It's been a tough day - I'm
concerned about Ben's health and
profoundly disappointed that our
EnergyWatch brand has been
embroiled in his remarks,'' he said in
a statement.
"Let me make it crystal clear, the
recent comments of Ben Polis are at
diametric odds with those ofEnergyWatch, our management and
our team members.''
Melbourne Football Club dumped
EnergyWatch as a sponsor this
morning, calling Mr Polis's
comments "disgraceful and
abhorrent".
The Victory and the Rebels
followed suit this afternoon.
In a statement, the Victory said it
"views Mr Polis' comments as totally
unacceptable" and said it was left
with no choice.
"It is less than ideal that we find
ourselves in this position today, but
we take matters like this very
seriously," Chairman Anthony Di
Pietro said.
"After a thorough investigation and
discussions between Board and
Management, we felt it in the best
interest of the club, partners and
members that we make the decision
to terminate the agreement with
immediate effect."
It also comes after it was revealed
Mr Polis said he "hates" soccer and
may support Melbourne Heart
instead.Rebels club chairman Harold
Mitchell was asking officials to
investigate how long it would take to
remove the companys logo from its
playing jumpers.
And energy companies are also
abandoning the broker, with both
TRUenergy and Momentum Energy
distancing themselves from
EnergyWatch.
TRUenergy had suspended its
contract with the energy broker
indefinitely, the company said in a
statement.
TRUenergy and its NSW branch
EnergyAustralia, said the comments
were "extremely inappropriate."
"TRUenergy does not tolerate such
comments within its own business
and consistent with that position we
expect a similar standard of
behaviour from our service
providers," the statement said.
"The remarks were deeply
concerning to our company and are
completely out of step with
community expectations."
Momentum Energy has torn up its
contract despite admitting the move
will lose them money.
"Mr Poliss comments on his social
media pages are offensive to
Momentums staff and customers,"
managing director Nigel Clark said.
"The value we place on integrity and
diversity means we cannot continue
to work with EnergyWatch."
The Victorian Amateur FootballAssociation also dumped
EnergyWatch this afternoon.
"This morning the VAFA Board
became aware of reckless comments
made by EnergyWatch CEO and co-
owner Mr Ben Polis and has
terminated the Associations
arrangement with that company with
immediate effect," Mr Sholly said.
"Whatever the level of offence
(Continued on page 10)
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Demons dump EnergyWatch as sponsor (cont)told that EnergyWatch is under
investigation by the tax office for
unpaid entitlements to its employees.
Mr Polis, the co-owner and CEO of a
company that gives an estimated $2
million a year to the Demons, has gone
to ground this morning after the Herald
Sun revealed a litany of racist, sexist
and offensive comments posted by him
on Facebook.
His comments have deepened the
racism crisis engulfing the Melbourne
Football Club.
Speaking on 5AA radio in Adelaide
this morning, Ms Gillard said she was
not worried about Mr Polis's comments
about her, but found them "nasty" and
"disappointing" in general."Some of it (is) very, very nasty about
great indigenous players, some of it
very nasty about women too, and its
such a pity to see these comments
because youd have to say the AFL has
played a tremendous role in Australia
for reconciliation, for promoting
indigenous players... so to see that kind
of stuff is really disappointing.
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou
described the posts as "offensively
outrageous" and a former Demons
president said the club must cut ties
with the controversial entrepreneur.
"It has put the Melbourne Football
Club in a terribly difficult situation.
They obviously know our view, as
would the general community, which
wouldn't tolerate those sorts of
comments," Demetriou said.
"I'm not quite sure what he (Polis)
is thinking."
Former Demons president Paul
Gardner told 3AW the club had to
end its deal with EnergyWatch.
"If Melbourne keep him as a
sponsor, this is tarnished money."
"They must cut him loose
immediately."
This morning, the Herald
Sun has seen more
evidence of inappropriate
racist remarks this time
focusing on US president
Barack Obama. The
comments are too
offensive to publish.
Mr Polis admitted to the Herald
Sun yesterday that he made dozensof offensive remarks on Facebook.
He sledged the Demons'
indigenous player, Liam Jurrah,
claiming his arrest last month over a
machete attack was good because
it generated publicity for
EnergyWatch.
Do I have any beef with
Aboriginals? No I don't. If you get on
to my Facebook I make comments
(Continued on page 11)
caused by Mr Polis inanities, it
is of even greater concern that
his comments seem designed to
insult as many people as
possible.
EnergyWatchs biggest money
maker, AGL, has yet to
announce whether any action
will be taken against the broker
despite its competitors fleeing.
Other clients of Mr Polis told
the Herald Sun it could not
continue working with the broker
given the nature of Mr Polis
comments.
The Herald Sun
understands a number
of organisations linked
to EnergyWatch are
receiving legal advice
on whether they are
allowed to terminate
their relationship with
the company.
The Herald Sun can
also reveal more shocking
comments made by Mr Polis,including:
REGULAR drug use, including
with a high profile cricketer
USE of a company credit card
to pay for sex workers
TOLD staff he didnt want
Indians answering phone calls
TALKED about bringing a gun
into the office to shoot the
muppets in the office.
The Herald Sun has also been
(Continued from page 9)
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about every single race
He then wrote that when Jurrah
"came to the Dees they thought he
had tribal tats but it was ring worm.
He had never been to a doctor in his
life, he comes from outback
bit past Carrum Downs".
The Demons' board last
night held a crisis meeting to
decide the future of the
sponsorship.
"The club is extremely
concerned with these
allegations. We have
commenced a full
investigation," the board said.
Mr Polis, who is also the major
sponsor of Melbourne Victory,
claimed the statements were private
"jokes" and said he could not be a
racist because he had once dated a
"half-Aboriginal" woman.
"Do I have any beef with
Aboriginals? No, I don't. If you get on
to my Facebook I make comments
about every single race."
In other explosive comments, therising business star:
SLAMMED Prime Minister Julia
Gillard as a "peasant" but thanked
her for the carbon tax before later
admitting to scaring the nation about
rising energy prices.
DISMISSED Melbourne Victory as "f-
--ing useless" and expressed hope
that star Harry Kewell's career would
turn into a "train wreck" because it
was good for EnergyWatch.
(Continued from page 10) RIDICULED EnergyWatch
customers who signed up on
Christmas Day, later claiming they
were "Muslims and Jews".
CLAIMED "Asian girls add no value
to society apart from insurance
premiums cause they can't drive".
LABELLED promotional models as
"s----" who should be "slapped
around" and said "fat people should
have no rights, just like a woman".
BAGGED Rosebud as "a s--t whole"
where "even the Aboriginals didn't
want to holiday".
BOASTED a retired football legend
had snorted cocaine at his home.
SAID Frankston was "full of inbred
Labor voting franksterian peasants"and claimed Docklands is full of
"wogs" and "fat brides".
BRAGGED about getting six luxury
tickets to Europe from The Age
newspaper, believed for extensive
advertising spending.
Mr Polis also claimed he would not
set up business in Darwin because
he "doesn't help Aboriginals", and
made other comments too offensive
to publish.
On the drug use of the former AFL
player, Mr Polis said it happened
after a recent polo event in Portsea.
He told the Herald Sun he was not
a racist and all the comments were
"jokes" - but admitted many were not
appropriate.
He claimed he could not
"be a racist" because his
cleaner was Asian.
"You're taking private
comments in relation to
something that I'm talking
to friends about," he said.
"In relation to Liam
Jurrah ... has it offended
the Melbourne Football Club, well
obviously the answer is yes, I think
they will probably be very upset. I
want to apologise to Liam Jurrah.
"Are my comments pushing the
envelope or construed to get
reactions out of people. Well,
obviously they are. People who know
me know I push people's buttons all
the time."
The AFL last night said Mr Polis's
remarks were a matter for theDemons.
"The content and tone of the
alleged material published on
Facebook is concerning to say the
least," a spokesman said.
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Aboriginal HealthFacts and Statistics (cont)
be a risk factor for mental illness.
Several surveys have shown that
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians are less likely than other
Australians to drink alcohol, but those
who do drink are more likely to
consume it at hazardous levels.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians are also at risk of ill health
when using illicit substances such as
marijuana, heroin, amphetamines and
inhalants (for example petrol, glue or
aerosols).
There are no reliable national data on
petrol sniffing, but case studies
indicate that the practice continues to
be a major problem in some Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Effects of petrol sniffing include
aggression, lack of coordination,
hallucinations, respiratory problems
and chronic disability, including mental
impairment.
Suicide
Suicide and self-harming behaviours
were not part of traditional Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander culture, prior
to contact with Europeans. However,
suicide and self-harm now occur more
frequently in these communities than
among other Australians.
As with other data about health and
wellbeing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander communities, it is difficult to
know the true extent of suicide. The
available data on population estimates,
hospitalisation and mortality rates arelikely to be an underestimate.
In 2008, suicide was the leading
external cause of death for
Indigenous Australians. Preliminary
data for 2008, pending further
review, indicates that suicide
accounted for 4.2% (103) of
Indigenous deaths due to all causes
in that year; 74 were males and 29
were females.
Suicide is more concentrated in
the earlier adult years for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people
than for other Australians.
Death rates from suicide for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
males and females are over twice
the rate for other Australian males
and almost twice the rate for other
Australian females.
In recent years, the death rate
from suicide for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander males was
highest in the 15 to 34 year age
group. For females, the rates have
generally been highest in the 15 to
24 years age group.
The suicide rate among older
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people is low compared to other agegroups and other Australians of the
same age, however, as a smaller
number of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people live to an age
over 65 years it is not possible to
draw many conclusions from this
and such disorders are at least
as common as they are among
other Australians.
Data on hospitalisation and
mortality due to serious mental
disorders and illnesses are
currently the main sources of
information about mental
disorders in Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people.
These data sources 3 4 indicate
that:
The chance of an Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander person
being involuntarily admitted to
psychiatric care is three to five
times higher than for other
Australians.
In 2004-5, Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people
were twice as likely to be
hospitalised for conditions
classified as 'mental and
behavioural disorders' than
other Australians.
The rate of hospitalisation for
Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Australians diagnosed
with mental disorders due to
psychoactive substance use was
four to five times higher than the
rate for other Australians.
While mental illness and
emotional distress may cause
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Australians to come into
contact with the criminal justice
system, incarceration may also
(Continued from page 7)
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7/31/2019 Babana Aboriginal Men's Group newsletter - March issue
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Page 13
Ancient Aboriginal rock art to be catalogued
AFP
2 April 2012
AUSTRALIA'S greatest ancient
Aboriginal rock art detailing
kangaroos, turtles and humans on
boulders in the remote Pilbara area
will be studied under a US$1.1
million deal announced
Monday.
Tens of thousands of the
indigenous works, which are
scattered over the mineral-
laden region, will be researched
and catalogued under a six-year
agreement between the
University of Western Australia
and miner Rio Tinto.
Although one of the world's
richest collections of Aboriginal
art, the carvings which lie on theNational Heritage-listed
Dampier Archipelago, about 1,500
kilometres (930 miles)
north of Perth, have
never been fully
documented.
"It's surprising that we
don't know what is
there but that is very
much the case for
everywhere in
Australia, everywhere
that we have rock art,"
said Australian rock art
expert Jo McDonald.
"The Sydney region is a very good
example of that. We've probably only
documented about 25 percent of the
engravings in Sydney 200-plus years
later.
"It's a very time consuming process
and there's a lot of it."
The rock art in Western Australia's
Pilbara is thousands of years old and
includes images of thylacines, the
"Tasmanian tigers" which became
extinct on the Australian mainland
an estimated 3,500 years ago.
Among the most significant panels
are those showing human faces and
activities and what some experts
believe are mythical figures.
Also amidst the boulders on the
Burrup peninsula of the Pilbara, one
of the country's major industrial hubs
for resources, are archaic faces
which McDonald said could be
among some of the earliest
documented images of humans.
"The Burrup includes some of
what we think is the earliest art
in Australia," said McDonald, who
will become the first Rio Tinto
Chair of Rock Art Studies at the
University of Western Australia.
"But it also records the changing
climate.
"So the sea level rose to where it
is now about 7,000 years ago
and a lot of the art there has
been produced after that time,
so we've pictures of turtles and
fish and sharks and
other marine animals
that obviously record
that phase."
The government placed
the Burrup rock art on
the National HeritageList in mid-2007 but
campaigners fear that
threats to it have
intensified in recent
years as mining and
energy companies drain
the region of iron ore, natural gas
and other resources to feed the huge
demand from Asia.
(photos are free common)
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14/16
Page 14
NewsletterTitle
Volum
e4Issue2
Close the Gap Event
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7/31/2019 Babana Aboriginal Men's Group newsletter - March issue
15/16
Page 15
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7/31/2019 Babana Aboriginal Men's Group newsletter - March issue
16/16
BabanaAboriginalMensGroupInc.GeneralMeeting
Babanainvitesmembersandinterestedmento
joinusatourgeneralmeeting
ThenextgeneralmeetingofBabanaAboriginal
MensGroupInc.willbeheldon:Friday27April2012NCIEGeorgeStreetRedfernAllmenofgood
willwelcome
Babana Aboriginal Mens Group Inc.
PO Box 3292
Redfern NSW 2016
Phone: 0402 567 473
Email: [email protected]
babana@ babana.org.au
Babana Aboriginal Mens Group Inc.
Our web sites
Http://www.babana.org.au
http:www.myspace.com/babanaboriginal
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1715072238&ref=profile
Babana members, guests and friends
Tosupport,enableandempowerAboriginalmenandfami
liesinourcommunity
Quotes:
A queer country, so old that as youA queer country, so old that as youA queer country, so old that as youA queer country, so old that as you
walk on and on, there's a feelingwalk on and on, there's a feelingwalk on and on, there's a feelingwalk on and on, there's a feeling
comes over you that you are gonecomes over you that you are gonecomes over you that you are gonecomes over you that you are gone
back to Genesisback to Genesisback to Genesisback to Genesis ---- Australian
bushman