Introduction - SOSE #1

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Social Issues in Australias Society

Ms. Berryman

005512

SOSE Year Ten

David BlackContents Page


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1.0 Hypothesis

2.0 Introduction

3.0 Findings

3.1 Homelessness

3.2 Drug and Alcohol Abuse

3.3 Crime and Justice System

4.0 Conclusion

5.0 Recommendations

6.0 Appendices

7.0 Bibliography

Hypothesis

For many years Australia has been seen as the lucky country

however, there is much evidence to disprove the ever commonfacade of Australia being a trouble free nation.


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Introduction

Australia has been labelled as The Lucky Country for manydecades. It has always been a holiday hot spot for many tourists andhas maintained a high level of immigration from several majorcountries in the world. Australia is famous for many events overseveral different things; this is why weve been branded as being

lucky. As we begin to delve under the surface, we soon find that


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there are a number of social issues in Australias society.

These problems, to the ordinary Australian, are obvious. However,there is no public recognition for the world to see. Youth in Australia

are at the biggest threat when it comes to the social issues inAustralia, with many things effecting how Youth perform in life.Homelessness and Drug and Alcohol abuse are the two highestproblems effecting Youth, which is also causing an increase in crimeamongst them. Indigenous residents in Australia are also one of thebiggest victims of the many problems in this country. All theseissues are creating an injustice within the justice system thatAustralians must face. It is clear that Australia is clearly not thelucky country.


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Homelessness

Tens of thousands are homeless in major cities in Australia everynight. Statistics on this are horrendous. Homelessness is a massiveissue within the Australian society and effects many different people

involved. According to the websitewww.homlessnessinaustralia.org.au- Last year, 105,000 peopleexperienced homelessness. Although we brand these people ashomeless, it has different meanings. Many of these people couldbe living in temporary homes or their cars. Homelessness inAustralia is real, and cannot be ignored much longer.

All around Australia, thousands are experiencing homelessness.During a national census taken in 2006, it showed that: 44% are

staying temporarily with relatives andfriends, 20% percent are living in boarding housings and othertemporary accommodation, 18% percent are sleeping rough on thestreets of our cities and towns, and 18% percent find a bed in thehomeless service system(refer to appendix one). Manyorganisations are being put into place to try and reduce the numberof Australians that are homeless in our major cities. Althoughhomeless shelters and other organisations just do not have enoughbeds to accommodate everyone they would like to.
http://www.homlessnessinaustralia.org.au/http://www.homlessnessinaustralia.org.au/


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Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Drugs and alcohol have become a major problem in Australia. Manydrugs exist and are legal to get; tobacco and many energy drinksand soft drinks are legal to purchase. Illegal drugs are also a majorproblem. With many illegal drugs being sold on the streets in citiesof Australia every single day. Due to drugs being so accessible inAustralia, it is beginning to affect its young and middle aged society(refer to appendix four). With many youth becoming socially andeducationally worse because of drug and alcohol abuse.

Alcoholism is one of the highest health issues in Australia. It affects

many Australians every year, making it more and more unstable inhouseholds and public areas. Alcohol is the easiest thing topurchase in Australia, with the legal drinking age only being 18.Many road accidents that occur in Australia are due to drink driving.Teenage binge drinking is one of the most serious issues in Australiawith teens going on weekend drinking binges which is ruining theirhealth because their bodies arent fully developed yet (refer toappendix 3). Both drug and alcohol abuse in Australia are seriousand possibly the most obvious issue, effecting people of all ages;also causing most of the roadside accidents and deaths (refer toappendix 5).


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Crime and Justice System

Youth are at risk of prejudice when it comes to the Australian JusticeSystem. There have been any incidents to suggest that youth crimehas increased in some areas and also decreased in minor areas overseveral decades. It is obvious that if Australia was genuinely a luckycountry; it would not have such problems with crime rate within theyouth community today. Statistics show us the high crime rateamongst youth across different ages (refer to appendix two). It isclear that the youth community in Australia is suffering badly,resulting in higher increase in crime.

Indigenous people to Australia are also showing higher increases incrime as opposed to non-indigenous people. Statistics can show thatIndigenous people are 16 times more likely in Western Australia tobe victims of homicide and 6.5 times more likely to report crimesagainst the person to police than non-indigenous. (Broadhurst,1997) It is clear that Indigenous people are not being treated fairlyin Australias society today. They are so far behind the rest ofAustralia due to the reason that they are being treated unfairly. Dueto this it means that Indigenous people are more inclined to permit

a crime so they can perhaps survive in the area they live in. Proof ofthe fact that Australias youth and Indigenous population are notlucky exists and proves this to be true.


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Conclusion

Although Australia is considered by many to be the lucky country,those who live here realise that, and there are a lot of problems thatneed to be fixed. Many age groups are struggling due to suchproblems as; alcoholism, drug abuse, injustice and being unfairlytargeted and homelessness as well. It seems that Australia has a lotof work left to do so that it can rid itself of these problems and trulybecome a country that is genuinely lucky. They are all damaging theeducation area because all of these problems are potentiallykeeping them from focusing on it.

All problem areas that have been discussed can be solves by theproper use of Government funded and independently runorganisations that can help to get the homeless off the streets,bottles and drugs out of youth and adult hands, also helping youthstay out of trouble when it comes to the justice system. With theuse of all these programs, Australia will be able to eliminate theproblems it has and people will be able to sleep safely in homes, orstay dedicated to school, and keep out of our jails. Australia, in time,may very well be the luckiest country in the world.

Homelessness is a major problem in our society, with hundreds ofthousands of people homeless on any given night. Many reasons arebehind why Australia has so many homeless. Poor education isoccurring so young adults are struggling to find jobs outside ofschool once they finish. Organisations and shelters are in place tohelp these people regain the skills they need to find work and beable to live on their own. Example of such an organisation is theRonald McDonald House Charity, which specialises in helping kidswithout homes to have shelter and to have an education.

Alcoholism and drug abuse effect not only teenagers, but manyolder Australians in todays society. Due to drugs being so availableon the major city streets in Australia, the number of people beinginvolved with it is increasing daily. Its obvious that this is definitelyone of the biggest issues in Australia, seeming as alcohol and drugsare so easy to buy for many Australians. Rehabilitation centres arestill available so that Australians can break their addictive habitsand get back on track with their lives.

With teenagers struggling to fit into normal society, they arestruggling to keep a clean record. Many youths are being wrongly

prosecuted and targeted simply because a minority of teenagersthat are involved with drugs, alcohol, etc, are getting themselves in


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trouble with many law officials. Somehow, all these topics are likedby the sole reason that they effect youths in many countries, notjust Australia. Many developed countries are struggling to fix drugproblems and such. Many countries, even though hundreds tothousands of help organisations are put in place, are having no such

luck in fixing the problem.

Recommendations

If specially organised Government organisations were put in place,to focus purely on ensuring the safety of youths in Australia, a

higher chance of success would arrive. More youth committees andcentres need to be put in place so that they are able to help withspecifically helping youth in all these areas. These would be muchmore effective because they would be able to focus in certain areasthat would make youths more likely to want to be helped. Australianeeds to focus on helping youth specifically, as well as everyone asa whole.


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Appendix

Appendix One.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics makes a specialeffort to include homeless Australians in the Census.In 2001 and 2006 the Census indicated that on anygiven night at least 105 000 Australians are homeless.The Census also tells us where homeless Australiansare staying. Approximately: 44% are staying temporarily with relatives andfriends,

20% percent are living in boarding housingsand other temporary accommodation,

18% percent are sleeping rough on the streetsof our cities and towns,

18% percent find a bed in the homeless servicesystem.

( S o l ow ie j , 2010 )

Appendix Two.


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Appendix 3

In Australia:- Alcohol misuse costs the Australian community 15.3 billion dollarseach year when factors such as crime and violence, treatment costs,loss of productivity and premature death were taken into account.- 51% of alcohol consumed is drunk at levels that pose a risk ofshort-term harm over 3 000 Australians die each year as a result ofharmful drinking.- Over 450 000 children (13.2%) live in households where they areat risk of exposure to binge drinking by at least one adult.

( S mi th , 2009 )

Appendix 4

Summary of recent drug use: proportion of the populationaged 14 years and over, South Australia, 1993-2007

( S mi th , 2009 )

Appendix 5


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Alcohol-related deaths in South Australia

( S mi th , 2009 )

Bibliography

- B road h u rs t , R . J . ( 1997 , Au g u s t 18 ) . Ab o r i g i n e s an d c r ime i nau s t ra l i a . Re t r i e v e d f rom h t tp : / /w w w . j s t o r . o rg /p s s /1147636

- S o low ie j , A . R . ( 2010 , Au g u s t 15 ) . Home le ss i n au s t ra l i a . Re t r i e v e d f r o mh t tp : / /w w w . h ome le ssn e ssau s t ra l i a . o rg . au /U se rF i l e s / F i l e /Home le ssn e ss% 20 in % 20Au s t ra l i a% 202010% 20 l r ( 1 ) . p d f

- S mi th , E . W . ( 2009 , N ov e mb e r 23 ) . D r i n k t oo mu ch , i t g e t s u g l y .Re t r i e v e d f rom h t tp : / /w w w . a l coh o l . sa . g ov . au / s i t e /p ag e . c fm? u = 88


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Documents

Introduction - SOSE #1