The Maliyan Experience_SAMPLE

THE MALIYAN EXPERIENCE Supporting Cultural Excellence

The Maliyan Experience will offer you the skills and

the knowledge to develop an understanding of Aboriginal

peoples and Communities, and allow you the opportunity

to create and implement personal and organisational

strategies within your business.

Stage 2 The Maliyan Way to Awareness

Participant Guide

Name:

Stage 2 The Maliyan Way to Awareness 54 THE MALIYAN EXPERIENCE

Artwork: ‘Wlradjuri Ngurambang’ (Wradjuri Country) Artist: Joedie Davis

TAFE Western would like to pay our respect and acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Land, Rivers and Sea which we have always identified with; we would also like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Elders both past and present.

© TAFE NSW (Western Institute) 2014

CONTENTSTopic 1 RACISM 13

Topic 2 IDENTITY 33

Topic 3CULTURES 53

Topic 4SOCIO POLITICAL CHALLENGES 89

Topic 5COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 133


BackgroundThe Maliyan Experience cultural competence training program is your first step to bridging the gap through ‘Cultural excellence’. It is founded on the understanding that Cultural competence is not achieved through words alone, but rather through knowledge, the application of that knowledge and firsthand experience with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Cultures.

The Maliyan Experience is TAFE Western’s six stage Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural competence training program for individuals and business.

Welcome Your organisation has chosen for you to undertake this program as the first step toward Cultural awareness.

There are five topics in this stage of your journey:

• Racism• Identity• Cultures• Socio political challenges• Community engagement

98 THE MALIYAN EXPERIENCE Stage 2 The Maliyan Way to Awareness

Stage 1 We believe that building Cultural competence begins with a process of personal reflection on cultural identity, and recognising the impact it has on personal and organisational practices. The most important element in cultural competence is self knowledge and having the capacity for cultural self-assessment. In this stage you or your employees will identify their own cultural assumptions in the Maliyan Experience quiz.

Stage 2 This stage is about increasing Cultural awareness to deepen self-knowledge and lay the foundations for competence. In this awareness stage of the program you and your employees will examine both the positive and negative aspects of cultural difference in the context of Australian society and your workplace.

Stage 3 In this stage you will work towards building a framework for a culturally safe and inclusive workplace. During this stage the dynamics of cultural differences are proactively managed, increasing consciousness of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact.

The vital element in this stage of cultural awareness is experience. The best training is firsthand experience with Aboriginal peoples and/or Torres Strait Islanders. In the one day workshop you will interact with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Community organisations and representatives to learn to implement changes to how you deliver your services or programs using your new understanding of Community Cultural protocols.

YOU

ARE

HERE

Stage 4 In this stage you or your employees will maximise their Maliyan Experience potential through localised experiences with Aboriginal Peoples and/or Torres Strait Islanders, whilst examining policy and legislation at all levels and in practice. A vital element in this stage is examining policy and legislations. You will enjoy an on Country experience, with classroom learning, to take your skills to the next stage and implement positive change in the workplace.

Stage 5 At this stage cultural knowledge is embedded throughout the hierarchy of the organisation. Policy, practices, service delivery and behaviours are adapted to fit the cultural diversity of the community engaged.

Stage 6 In this stage a dedicated business consultant will support your organisation whilst you implement the knowledge and skills gained from the five previous stages.


Structure of the Workshop

Topic

Welcome and/or acknowledgement

Housing keeping

Where to start

Why are you here?

Racism

Morning tea

Identity

Cultures

Lunch

Socio political

Community engagement

Afternoon tea

Community engagement

Putting it all together

Review and what’s next

where to start

Think about where you see yourself now in terms of cultural competence. Are you:

1. Sitting at the top of the Boab tree looking out to see what is coming over the horizon? 2. Near the foot of the escarpment and haven’t been involved? 3. Coming over the escarpment and a long way off? 4. About half way up the Boab tree? 5. At the bottom of the Boab tree looking at the ground? 6. Looking up at the Boab tree thinking it’s too high? 7. Climbing the Boab tree slowly? 8. Think you might be in the wrong tree? 9. On the end of a branch in a precarious position? 10. On top of the escarpment observing the Boab tree?

Circle your answer, this can be used as a second positioning tool in your Cultural Competence Journey.

1

2

34

10

56

78

9


My ExpectationsWhat are my/our expectations of this course?

What do I think I will learn?

Why am I here?

What do I want to learn?

Why?

http://youtu.be/AONQGpOauCc

Eddie McGuire in hot waterOn 29 May 2013, AFL Collingwood club president and radio host Eddie McGuire made comments on air, wondering if it would be a good idea to use Aboriginal footballer Adam Goodes to promote a King Kong musical. McGuire’s comment came just days after Goodes was called an ‘ape’ by a spectator during one of his AFL matches.

According to newspaper reports on the day, McGuire apologised to Goodes but said he wouldn’t resign over the ‘two-second slip of the tongue’ and denied ‘racially vilifying anybody’.

‘I would have liked to have called Eddie a friend before that incident,’ Goodes said at a Corporate Club Australia breakfast.

‘Friends don’t make jokes about their friends like that.’

TOPIC 1 RACISM

READING

Stage 2 The Maliyan Way to Awareness 15

ACTIVITY

THE MALIYAN EXPERIENCE14

ACTIVITY 1.1

With a partner discuss the clip and the information on the previous page and answer the following question.

Do you agree with Eddie McGuire that his action was not racial vilification?

Do you think calling an Aboriginal person an ‘ape’ is likely to offend?

So what exactly is racial vilification?According the Australian Human Rights Commission, racial vilification is ‘doing something in public based on the race, colour, national or ethnic origin of a person or group of people which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate.’

This includes:

• comments at sporting events by players, spectators, coaches or officials• material on the internet, including forums, blogs, social networking sites and

video sharing sites• comments or images in a newspaper, magazine or other publication such as a

leaflet or flyer• speeches at public rallies• comments in a public place, such as a shop, workplace, park, on public

transport or at school.

Is intention relevant?Those accused of racial vilification often claim they did not intend to insult anyone. They may even point out that they would not have been insulted themselves if the situation was reversed.

McGuire himself stated that he did not intend to racially vilify Goodes.

‘ …The question that I took at the press conference today … was did you racially vilify? And the answer was no and I stand by that. Does that mean that there was an act of inadvertent vilification of somebody? Then yes there was and for that I will apologise and I will do anything at all … ’

However, McGuire’s intention is somewhat irrelevant according to Australian Racial Vilification Law, which states that actions that are likely to cause offence are part of what defines racial vilification.


Let’s talk about racism

Prejudice

1. Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.2. Dislike, hostility, or unjust behaviour deriving from preconceived and

unfounded opinions.

Racism

1. The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

2. Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.

According to the NSW Government Education and Communities ‘Racism. No Way!’:

‘… Racism is the result of a complex interplay of individual attitudes, social values and institutional practices. It is expressed in the actions of individuals and institutions and is promoted in the ideology of popular culture. It changes its form in response to social change.

Racism has its roots in the belief that some people are superior because they belong to a particular race, ethnic or national group. The concept of race is a social construct, not a scientific one.

Racist attitudes and beliefs are misconceptions about people based on perceived racial lines and are often founded on the fear of difference, including differences in customs, values, religion, physical appearance and ways of living and viewing the world. This includes negative attitudes towards the use of different languages, ‘foreign’ accents or the use of non-standard variations of a dominant community language.

Racist attitudes may be manifested in a number of ways including common expressions of racial prejudice towards and stereotyped assumptions about other cultures as well as more extreme forms of prejudice such as xenophobia. These beliefs are reinforced by prevailing social attitudes towards people who are seen as different and are often a reflection of the values which underpin social relations and institutional practices.

These attitudes and beliefs find expression in racist behaviours, both in the actions of individuals and in the policies and entrenched practices of institutions. Where these behaviours involve unequal power relationships between individuals or groups from different cultural backgrounds, racist actions on the part of members of the dominant culture have the effect of marginalising those from minority groups …’

ACTIVITY ACTIVITY

Stage 2 The Maliyan Way to AwarenessTHE MALIYAN EXPERIENCE 1918

ACTIVITY 1.2 MYTH BUSTER

What sorts of things have you heard, read and/or seen about Aboriginal peoples including the types of language that is used?

ACTIVITY 1.3

Read the two scenarios below and write down your reflection on the lines below.

Scenario 1:A woman on her way home from work takes her place on the bus. Shortly afterward, a man with unkempt hair and disheveled, dirty clothing (who appears to the woman to be of Aboriginal descent) sits next to her, and she becomes aware that he has distinctly unpleasant body odour. The woman arrives home and says to her husband, ‘I don’t like it when Aboriginals sit next to me on the bus—they all smell.’

Scenario 2:A woman on her way home from work takes her place on the bus. Shortly afterward, a man with unkempt hair and disheveled, dirty clothing (who happens to be of Aboriginal descent) sits next to her, and she becomes aware that he has distinctly unpleasant body odour. The woman arrives home and says to her husband, ‘A man sat next to me on the bus today and he was so smelly! I don’t know why he was in that state, but I hope things work out for him.’

Share with the group which scenario you believe contains a racist statement and why.

ACTIVITY


Different forms of racismIn 2008, a group of Aboriginal people (including a women called Bethany Langdon) were asked to leave a backpackers hostel in Alice Springs shortly after checking in. The group were attending lifesaving training when they were told by hostel personnel that they were ‘unsuitable’ guests because other customers at the hostel were ‘afraid of Aboriginal people’.

Image: http://nicholsoncartoons.com.au/aboriginal-travellers-barred-from-hostel-550.html

‘… I felt like I wanted to cry because it made me feel like I wasn’t an Australian, like I wasn’t wanted there …’ Bethany Langdon

Individual racismIndividual racism is the the expression of racist attitudes or behaviours by individuals. Myths and negative attitudes underpin individual racist behaviours, including ridicule, racist abuse, property damage, discrimination, racial harassment, racial vilification and physical assault.

ACTIVITY 1.4

Do you think the hostel staffer knew they were being racist? And why?

ACTIVITY


Institutional racismMajor political and social institutions can also exclude, marginalise and oppress racial minorities—this form is called institutional racism. Institutional racism describes forms of racism that are structured into institutions who discriminate, either deliberately or indirectly, against particular racial groups. Institutional racism routinely and systematically advantages the dominant cultural or ethnic group while disadvantaging and excluding others. Because it reflects the cultural assumptions of the dominant group, institutional racism can be hard to recognise as the practices of the institution are seen as the norm to which other cultural practices should conform. Such institutions often fail to recognise the structured ways they disadvantage racial minorities because this discrimination is not (usually) deliberate.

How did we get here?There is an underlying history behind racism in Australia. The timeline on the following pages will give you some insight into why Aboriginal Australians still experience the disadvantage and marginalisation that results from the inherent assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes that existed, and in some cases still exist, within government, institutions, organisations and the general community over our country’s history. Take a moment to read through each event.

Prior to 1770 Australia was a land filled with over 400 Aboriginal nations whose cultures were based on equity and consensus, with defined rights and responsibilities for all. Then everything changed.

On the following pages is a chronologic list of just a few of the events that contribute to the action of racism we have been discussing.

ACTIVITY 1.5

Select one event from the timeline on the following pages and list how you think this event may have resulted in what we have discussed racism.


Timeline

1898 White Australia PolicyAt the 3rd Session of the 1898 Australasian Federation Convention, Western Australian premier John Forrest said, ‘It is of no use to shut our eyes to the fact that there is a great feeling all over Australia against the introduction of coloured persons. It goes without saying that we do not like to talk about it, but it is so.’

Official World War I Historian, Charles Bean defined the White Australia Policy as ‘a vehement effort to maintain a high Western standard of economy, society and culture’. It was not a single policy, but a mixture of legislation, practices and policies based on a foundation of attitudes, beliefs and values supported by the principally white Australian population.

The era of White Australia Policy began with the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901, and ended when the Whitlam government passed laws ensuring that race would be totally disregarded as a criteria for immigration to Australia. In 1975 the same government passed the Racial Discrimination Act which made racially-based selection criteria illegal.

1901 Immigration Restriction ActIn 1901, 98% of people in Australia were ‘white’. At this time trade unions became keen to prevent labour competition from Chinese and Pacific Islander migrants who they feared would undercut wages. That same year the Immigration Restriction Act was passed, making it very difficult for Asians, Pacific Islanders or ‘people of colour’ to migrate to Australia.

The Act stated that if a person wanted to migrate to Australia they had to be given a dictation test. Officers were given powers to exclude any person who ‘when asked to do so by an officer fails to write out at dictation and sign in the presence of the officer, a passage of 50 words in length in a European language directed by the officer’.

The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 represented the formal adoption by the Commonwealth of Australia of racist policy resulting in a form of immigration apartheid.

Read more: http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/immigration-restriction-act/

1902 The ConstitutionWhen the Constitution came into effect in 1901, it contained several specific references that allowed governments to discriminate against Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islanders.

The most glaring discrimination occurred in Section 51 of the Constitution:

‘… The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to … [T]he people of any race, other than the [A]boriginal people in any State, for whom it is necessary to make special laws …’

Additionally, Section 127 stated:

‘… In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, Aboriginal natives shall not be counted …’

Read more: http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/closer-look/the-australian-constitution.html


1914–1934 Policing Functions under the NSW Aborigines Protection Act

Some of the following police functions may shock you. Reflect on the 12 functions below and think how you would react if police officers had these powers over you and your family.

Policing functions from 1914–1934 were to:

1. Issue rations to ‘Aborigines’.2. Reduce the ration lists by investigating all applicants and issue rations only to

‘deserving’ cases.3. Force children to attend school by withholding rations if they did not comply.4. Refuse rations to ‘Aborigines’ if necessary, in order to ‘persuade’ them to go to

another locality or to move on to an Aboriginal reserve or station.5. Decide whether or not an ‘Aborigine’ was sick enough to see a doctor.6. Patrol and maintain order on unsupervised Aboriginal reserves.7. Recommend on the disposal of reserve land.8. Expel ‘trouble makers’ from Aboriginal reserves.9. Remove children from their parents and send them to the Board’s ‘training homes’,

on the grounds that they were ‘neglected’ or that they were 14 years of age.10. Institute proceedings against Aboriginal parents who took their children away

from Aboriginal reserves or from school in an attempt to escape the Board’s decision that their children be removed from them and ‘trained’.

11. Expel light-coloured people from Aboriginal reserves and stop them from returning to their families still living on reserves.

12. Institute proceedings to remove whole Aboriginal Communities from certain localities, under Section 14 of the Act.

Read more: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/conferences/hcpp/jennett.pdf

1930–1960 Assimilation‘Assimilation was a policy in the ascendancy in Indigenous affairs from the 1930s to the 1960s. The standard definition now of assimilation dates back to the 1963 statement by Aboriginal affairs ministers (quoted from www.kooriweb.org):

‘… The policy of assimilation means that all Aborigines and part-Aborigines will attain the same manner of living as other Australians and live as members of a single Australian community enjoying the same rights and privileges, accepting the same responsibilities, observing the same customs and influenced by the same beliefs, hopes and loyalties as other Australians. This seemingly simple statement belies the many assumptions that render ‘assimilation’ an extremely complex concept to define. As Russell McGregor contends: ‘assimilation’ had no single meaning. It was a discourse which was informed by a diversity of intellectual currents and which produced significantly divergent visions of the Aboriginal destiny. One cause for the confusion surrounding ‘assimilation’ lies in the fact that the term was used in relation to two distinct forms of integration. The first could be called ‘biological absorption’, or the desired removal of Indigenous physical characteristics. The second can be termed ‘social integration’, whereby Indigenous cultural or social practices would yield to non-Indigenous social and cultural practices.Some of the authorities on Aboriginal affairs in the states and territories—for example, AO Neville in Western Australia and Cecil Cook in the Northern Territory—were keen advocates of the active ‘breeding out’ of Aboriginality. Others, most famously the Sydney anthropologist AP Elkin, championed the ‘social integration’ version of assimilation. To complicate matters further, some of the experts in the 1930s who did not advocate the active attempt by authorities to ‘breed out’ Aboriginality were nevertheless of the ‘dying race’ view, and held that social integration would facilitate the eventual demise of Indigenous peoples. The ‘dying race’ view was on the wane by the start of the Second World War; nonetheless, it further complicates any attempt to give a clear definition of the policy of assimilation …’


What’s happening now?

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples• Comprise around 2.5% of the Australian population.• Have lower life expectancy than non-Indigenous Australians.• Have socioeconomic outcomes that remain below those for non Indigenous

Australians.

Social and Emotional Wellbeing• Around one third of adults reported high/very high levels of psychological distress.• Many Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people have experienced

discrimination.• Around one in twelve Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander adults have

personally experienced removal from their natural family.

Health• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians have poorer self-assessed

health and were more likely to report higher levels of psychological distress than non-Indigenous Australians.

• Latest results show a decline in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander smoking rates, while alcohol consumption remains steady.

• Half of all Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over had a disability or long-term health condition.

Housing• Most Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander adults live in rented housing,

however, the proportion living in homes being purchased has increased.http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/lookup/4704.0Chapter100Oct+2010

The good news

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EV-cLb_Ttg

Adam Goodes—Australian of the Year 2014

ACTIVITY ACTIVITY

Stage 2 The Maliyan Way to AwarenessTHE MALIYAN EXPERIENCE 3130

ACTIVITY 1.6

Watch the clip and answer the questions below.

1. How did Adam describe his journey to eliminate racism?

2. What practical tools does Adam use to eliminate racism?

3. What is the main message you take from this clip?

ACTIVITY 1.7

In the area below write what you believe you can do to address racism against Aboriginal peoples.

Wherever possible I will endeavour to …


Notes:

TOPIC 2 IDENTITY

Exemption forms

During the 1940s the Australian Aboriginal people were required to carry an identity card which stated their ‘caste’. Terms were used to describe the percentage of Aboriginal blood each individual possessed:

• Full-blood: a person with no white blood.• Half-caste: someone with one white parent.• Quadroon or quarter-caste: someone with an Aboriginal grandfather or

grandmother.• Octoroon: a person whose great-grandfather or great-grandmother was Aboriginal.

Today, non-Indigenous Australians often fall into the trap of judging the legitimacy of an Aboriginal person’s identity depending on the ‘lightness’ or ‘darkness’ of their skin tone. This is a misconception that originates from the 1940s, and is now considered to be offensive and racist.

To an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person, identity has nothing to do with skin colour. Instead, there are three aspects that are considered fundamental to Aboriginal identity as a whole. This is captured in the Australian Government’s 1981 ‘Working Definition of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders’.

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The Maliyan Experience_SAMPLE