Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were not seen as equal, they were believed to be primitive and childlike, and in fact the Australian State Governments introduced various legislation and policies in an attempt control and eradicate the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garvey & Walker, 2010). Under these state laws, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s rights were diminished; their children were taken from their families and communities and put into Government institutions or adopted by white Australian families (Hudson, 1999; Petchkovsky, San Roque, Napaljarri Jurra & Butler, 2004; Dudgeon & Hirvonen, 2014). These children were deprived of their culture, forced to adopt the white Australian way of life, traumatised, abused and treated as slaves (Silburn, Zubrick, Lawrence, Mitrou, De Maio, Blair, & Hayward, 2006). Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garvey & Walker (2010) explain that these Australian laws “were a form of cultural genocide of Indigenous Australians, through the loss of language, family dispersion and the cessation of cultural practices” (p. 30). The period of colonisation severely impacted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s self perception and self identity …show more content…
By increasing individual, community, family as well as culturally focused treatment programs, support and services; addressing all the significant contributing factors associated with mental illness among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in addition to developing a long term approach to treatment and prevention methods, mental illness among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population may be reduced (AIHW, 2013; OXFAM, 2007; Parker