Latest news with #EmmaGarlett
West Australian
08-07-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Emma Garlett: Strength is at the heart of existing as an Aboriginal person
It's NAIDOC Week, and that means an opportunity to celebrate the strength, resilience and survival of First Nations people and commit to our ongoing empowerment. The theme of this year's NAIDOC Week — the event's 50th anniversary — is 'the next generation: strength, vision and legacy'. In our culture, we place a great weight on our elders and the invaluable guidance that they provide. But we also need to make sure we are cultivating our next generation of young leaders, so they can be the elders of the future. Our elders have a role in this, and are encouraging these new leaders to pick up the baton. This year's NAIDOC theme brings attention to the challenges faced by First Nations people in Australia. This past week has put a bright spotlight on those challenges, with Australia's first Indigenous-led truth-telling inquiry, the Yoorrook Justice Commission, finding that genocide and crimes against humanity were committed against Victoria's First Nations people. Hopefully other States will be inspired to follow Victoria's example in setting down the truth of colonisation and the ongoing impact it is having on Indigenous people. It is crucial that we acknowledge these truths. But we cannot be held back by them. We cannot be defined by crimes and injustices that have been done to us. That brings me to the first pillar of the NAIDOC theme: strength. Strength isn't just how we react to episodes of adversity or hardship. It is the way we think and behave. It's the story we tell ourselves about our place in society. It takes strength to be an Indigenous person in Australia, to exist and thrive in a system that has historically perpetrated injustices against our people. I am a strong advocate of strength-based language in telling our story. We need to break through the walls of deficit discourse. Most of what we hear in the media about Aboriginal people is rooted in this deficit discourse: the poor outcomes, the life expectancy gap. Those conversations are important, but they are only one part of our story. We must tell the good stories as well; the stories about our grit and resilience and the everyday excellence that so many Aboriginal people exhibit. That will lead us to the vision needed to have the energy to fight for policy and legislative reforms to empower First Nations communities, to provide the next generation with the tools to think in innovative ways. And that will enable us to leave a new legacy for those who come after us. One which encourages Australia to have the courage to face up to the ugly truths of the past but also provides a new, positive path for those who come after us. Legacy is not just we as First Nations leave behind for our kin, but what we leave behind for all Australians to see. Emma Garlett is a legal academic and Nylyaparli-Yamatji-Nyungar woman
West Australian
24-06-2025
- Health
- West Australian
Emma Garlett: We can't make excuses for poor Indigenous health outcomes
When you live remotely, access to health care can be a real challenge. But that shouldn't be a reason for us to give up on providing quality services to those who need them, wherever they live. In a nation as wealthy and developed as Australia, we should meet this challenge, not use it to excuse poor health outcomes and shortened life expectancies suffered by First Nations Australians About 59 per cent of Australia's Indigenous population live outside its major cities. This is a significant demographic difference. Just 27 per cent of the broader Australian population life regionally and remotely. What that means is that poor health services in the bush directly translate into poor health outcomes for Aboriginal people. That is borne out in the data. Indigenous people are more than 1.3 times more likely to be hospitalised by non-Indigenous Australians. We are close to twice as likely to present to an emergency department. That's likely an even greater problem than it appears given limitations of access to those health facilities in very remote areas. There is work being done to improve health care in the bush. Some of this is being borne by private companies seeking to expand their social licence in the communities they operate. One example is Rio Tinto which has recently announced it will spend $5 million across five years working with community-led organisations on projects in the Pilbara. That is to be welcomed and commended. But so much more needs to be done, including in areas which don't have the benefit of a mining company operating nearby that can be relied on to help pick up the tab. What we do know for sure is that solutions need to be arrived at in partnership with the communities they target. What might work in one community might not be the best fit for another. When our people are cared for by our us, we have better outcomes, and a better chance to close the gap. The deficiencies in regional health care are across the board. Certainly, we need improved hospital and GP services. But what our regional communities really lack is effective specialised care. We desperately need better mental health services in the bush. We need youth services and we need drug and alcohol services. These are the services which can make all the difference early on. And they're the services that people are unwilling or unable to travel to access. If they can access them where they live, it would make all the difference. That's not an easy goal. Attracting these specialists to the bush will be difficult, and will require targeted incentives. But we do need to try. The answers are out there. We can't throw our hands in the air and say it's all too hard. Emma Garlett is a legal academic and Nylyaparli-Yamatji-Nyungar woman
West Australian
22-04-2025
- General
- West Australian
Emma Garlett: This Anzac Day let's remember those who serve in the present as well as those from the past
opinion Emma Garlett: This Anzac Day let's remember those who serve in the present as well as those from the past
