Social Work - Community Work - Essay Example

Social Action Campaign Client Inserts His/her Name Client Inserts Grade Course Client Inserts Tutor’s Name 05/04/2012 Introduction Social action is applicable to a variety of social issues that inappropriately affect certain groups in the community e.g. drug and substance abuse among the youths, issues of health and sanitation, environmental issues etc (Weber 1991). It involves taking action to improve the community’s well being. In this essay the ‘close the gap campaign’ by the Australian Human Rights Commission will be used as an example. This is an ongoing campaign aimed at closing the life expectancy and health gap between the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. There’s clear discrimination when it comes to the health of the indigenous Australians as they are not properly handled like the non-indigenous Australians. The campaign is motivated by the evidence showing that the achievement of improved health status between the indigenous and non- indigenous Australians can occur in a short period of time. The campaign believe that by the year 2030, any child born that belong to the Torres Strait and aboriginal communities will have the same opportunity as the other Australian children to live healthy, long and have a happy life. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have shorter life expectancy than other Australians. Babies who are born by the Aboriginal mothers die at a more than double the rate of the rest of the Australian babies. Preventable illnesses like kidney failure, diabetes and heart diseases are experienced at a higher rate by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than other Australians. This is a health crisis linked with an impecunious nation but it is really happening in Australia. This means that there exist a class of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ and it is upon the ‘have nots’ to come up with ideas that will ensure social justice among these two classes. This is the ideology of social action. It entails undertaking of collective action to mitigate or solve a social problem (Stark 2007). This is one of the major campaigns in Australia on the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people’s health. It calls for firm targets, timeframes and funding in order to address inequality in health issues, which involves providing equal rights to health care for the indigenous Australians. UNESC (1956), defined community development as the process by which the labours of the people themselves are united by those of governmental authorities to improve the social, cultural and economic situations of the community (Stark 2007). The health status in the current indigenous society in Australia is as a result of years of neglect and poverty and inadequate access to basic services for their well being. Poverty among them is seen as a result of lack of education, poor housing, and high rates of unemployment, trauma and inadequate empowerment. It is evident that the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders do not benefit from the health services provided like other Australians. This is due to the fact that they are located out of reach or the attention they receive in terms of health is not welcoming and intolerant. The close the gap campaign was first launched in April 2007 by its Patrons, Catherine Freeman OAM and Ian Thorpe OAM. The campaign is led by Aboriginal and strait Islander members. It started when a problem in which the indigenous and non indigenous Australian health facts differed. It was realized that there was discrimination and something needed to be done. This led to the campaign members meeting with the chairman of the Torres Strait islander and Aboriginal social justice commissioner in March 2006 to address this problem. The close the gap campaign is aimed at; Including the indigenous Australians in policy considerations as they had traditionally been left out in the discussions. Ensuring basic health care facilities and infrastructure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is executed so as to bridge the gaps in the health standards by 2018. To set up policies that are fair and do away with discrimination as pertains to their health. To achieve health benefits to the indigenous Australians in the rural, urban and remote areas so as to achieve long lasting wellbeing. Promoting and respecting the rights of the indigenous Australians by ensuring that the health services are available, accessible, of good quality and affordable. The close the gap campaign believed that it is only through social action that the pledge to end the health injustice between the two Australian groups could be heard. The campaign therefore calls for the nation to place a national plan of action aimed at closing the gap between the indigenous and non indigenous Australians. The campaign is supported by over 40 organizations, both indigenous and non indigenous and more and more people are pledging to support the campaign each year. The health targets of the campaign were published and presented to the Minister of health in the year 2008. This was aimed at providing framework and indicators of progressing towards the achievement health equality among the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait islanders and other Australians in the country. In response to the prime minister’s report in 2011, the target issues of the close the gap campaign were raised. The campaign started by mobilizing the members of the community. Empowering them with the knowledge about their health rights enabled them to work together with the community of the non indigenous Australians. They are able to involve the community through organizing different workshops that aim at bringing different people together. To each workshop there are key representatives of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector, indigenous Australian’s health experts, mainstream health services as well as other stakeholders. The close the gap – National indigenous health service Equity Summit was the first national event. This is where they set their targets. Partnership in action is another workshop organized by the campaign. This was aimed at achieving Torres Strait islander and aboriginal health equality. The workshop was attended by both the indigenous and non indigenous representatives. In the year 2010 they conducted another workshop by the name make it happen which focused on planning so as to achieve the target of health equality set. This was also attended by the aboriginals, Torres Strait islander, non indigenous Australians. The campaign had also organized a National close the gap day to commemorate its launch. This was held n March 22, 2012. The day was specifically for people to show support to eradicate the 17-year life expectancy difference between the aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders and the other non- indigenous Australians (Aubrey 1962). So far the campaign has gained numerous achievements; one has been the success stories by the indigenous communities. In Townsville a project by the name “mums and babies” has received approximately 40000 patients from the day it was opened. This has led to improved health and weights of the Aboriginal babies improved. Deaths of newborn babies have drastically reduced by more than half. It is also noted that the Victorian Aboriginal health service has the highest rates of immunization in the country, higher than those of the non- indigenous Australians. The Wu Chopperen Aboriginal Health Service in Cairns has won the National Indigenous Governance Award from the project “Reconciling Australia” once. This is an achievement of the close the gap campaign as the award recognises the superb work done by the health services in personalised clinics, oral health, management of chronic diseases and the social well being of the community i.e. the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders. Another achievement is seen in the NSW, which is the Murdi Paaki Regional Housing project under the close the gap campaign. It has equipped community members with training in carpentry, plumbing and electrical in order to be able to fix their housing problems. This is done on the basis of the belief that well maintained houses help in reducing household accidents and infections thus improving children’s health and living conditions. Social action is most of the time practised by those with less powers in the community e.g. the Torres Strait islanders and the aboriginal groups in Australia. By working together members exercise their powers collectively using their votes, media, boycotts etc so that those in power can rethink about their position (Gecas, Viktor & Schwalbe 1983) One of the greatest achievements of the campaign is that they have brought the issue of the 17years life expectancy gap between the indigenous and non indigenous Australians to the vanguard of people’s minds. It has also been able to persuade the whole nation to commit to dealing with these health disparities which has bore fruits. The campaign is ensuring that the indigenous’ health is now a national concern. Through this the prime minister joined them in an organised community tour aimed at highlighting the health of the indigenous people and their needs and come up with the programs and services to meet these needs. Another achievement is seen in the ANTaR, one of the founding associates of the close the gap campaign, booklet titled “A Better Way” which talks about the success stories told by the Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. It includes various successful projects on health carried out by the Aboriginal individuals and other organisations for the betterment of the local community. ANTaR asserts that it will continue to support the success stories in the community-control as it continues to keep the campaign strong. The foundation also works strongly with the local communities, indigenous organisations and the government to improve not only health issues but also nutrition, women’s health, workforce training, aural health and community engagement. This is manifested in remote areas particularly. Fred hollows foundation is one of the powerful voices in the close the gap campaign. It has been an inspiration in the implementation and development of programs to avert blindness in some of the poorest and isolated regions in Australia. It performed around 62 cataract surgeries and 28 procedures on patients from Barkly regions and central Australia during a two intensive surgical weeks that was held in Alice Springs. Through the close the gap campaign, public attention is drawn regarding to issues on health that face the indigenous Australians. The campaign has provided opportunity for indigenous health organizations that are new or small in size to participate at a national level together with other key players. This has also benefited them in that there is sharing of skills and learning from each other. This can be seen also as offering an equal opportunity to the organizations involved. The Aboriginals and the Torres Strait islanders could give their views and contributions without being discriminated against. This is as a result of conscidization. The health of indigenous Australians has improved remarkably. The campaign is providing nutritional breakfast to small kids and supporting the Aboriginal elders in passing their wisdom to other generations. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community is becoming modernised and the sense of people becoming alienated is increasing with the pressure for change. Everybody is supporting the project as they seek change. Measures to include the indigenous Australians in the constitution have been accepted by people and the Australian government and the opposition have supported an appeal to hold referendum to recognize this group of Australians. An expert team has been appointed to undertake a nationwide consultation and give the government the way forward. The campaign has also been able to gather a lot of pledges over the last years. More people are participating in their open days and letters are being sent to the prime minister to provide support to the Aboriginal and Torres Islander workforce. Schools participants are also increasing and there are also major parliamentary events thus engaging the political arena. The media is also helping in making the public aware of the campaign. Every community action requires resources, the major one being the community capacity. The campaign has increased community awareness and support which is a great achievement. The campaign has empowered the indigenous Australians so that they can support the course and work together. There is a national focus and people are increasingly campaigning for indigenous health. The indigenous Australians have been involved in the indigenous policy debate about food security, Northern Territory Emergency Response measures and thus becoming more aware of their rights help them work together. Funding is another requirement for the campaign, so as to set up health care centres for the indigenous Australians and employ qualified doctors. The health facilities are made available to them the same way other Australians are able to access these health facilities. The financial independence of the close the gap campaign has been a significant key to its success. Contributors of the finances to the campaign especially the Oxfam has kept the campaign going. Depending on the government for funds in relation to a social action campaign is a waste of time (Ife 2002). Expertise is also important in any action campaign (Alinsky 1989). The close the gap campaign involved many individuals and organization that provided expertise and dedicated their time to the campaign. This involves passion and the intellect on the part of the personnel. The government also adopted the campaign and included it in the major national planning and programs. The many partnerships it has especially Fred Hollows played a major role in providing different types of services for the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders. This provided diplomacy and advocacy training to these people, with health expertise. Tactics and strategies A social action campaign is meant to achieve community’s desired goals that are long-term, and give focus to permanent changes that leads to social, political and economic justice (Ife 2002). Significant goals are never achieved quickly, or with minimal actions. There needs to be long-term strategies and tactics that will ensure achievement of interim goals that further leads to the attainment of final outcome. The close the gap campaign adopted a multifaceted approach with two core strategies. These were; a public mobilization campaign through workshops and community outreach programs and a political engagement strategy. The campaign started by signing of the statement of intent by the prime minister which led to many more partners signing a deal and offering support to the campaign. This led to holding the government accountable by use of shadow reports and political engagement. They came up with policy target to provide a framework for action and conducting intense public and political campaigning to gather support for the close the gap campaign. Some key strategic elements that ensured success of the campaign included; The placing of indigenous health in human rights framework for the first time. This provided a persuasive approach that was compelling for typically different audiences. The campaign was led by an indigenous leader from an independent organization- Australian Human rights Commission. Financial independence The political and bipartisan nature of the campaign reflected a successful approach. Use of multiple resources including financial, personnel and benefits in kind from many partners. The members had an understanding of political and government processes. Its membership was consistent. The timing of the campaign was also strategic as it was launched in an election year. This was tactful as it could gain political support. The structure was also deliberate, comprising of a number of vital players in lead health, human rights commissions, indigenous organizations and organizations campaigning for advocacy. Skills in a variety of areas were gained from these different personnel. Some of them included; general health sector, government operations, public relations, indigenous health and political engagement. Complex factors that led to health inequality could be addressed through these partnerships. Advice from experts in the different fields provided a comprehensive approach to the problem. Each member had access to certain networks and this provided expertise information to the coalition. The coalition combined common goals, skills, credibility and goals in the non indigenous sectors and the general public. The supporters were celebrities, people of high profile, champions and people in the entertainment industry. Recently the national Rugby League has joined in the campaign process. It is the first to launch a formal reconciliation action plan and this will also have a great impact on their fans. Every week the Rugby league holds a match where the indigenous and non indigenous Australian players join hands to achieve a universal goal. Since the launch of the close the gap campaign, approximately 150000 Australians have vowed to support the campaign. Public face to face campaign is also a strategy that has contributed to its success. These established healthy relationships among the indigenous and non indigenous groups and garnered support over a long period of time. They offered civil education to the community thus raising critical consciousness that enabled the community members to work together towards a common goal thus ensuring their participation and relevance. They placed the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander and non indigenous groups at the back of precise policy. Speaking together as one by the coalition organizations has greatly increased the awareness of the campaign Public engagement gave the community a sense of belonging and so working with them made things easier. Public engagement is very vital for any project to be a success (Kenny 1999). It involves shifting the centre of control from the centre to the periphery. It is brought out by the need of the society to participate in what is affecting them. Participation is important as the participants take initiatives and actions stimulated by their own thinking and reflection and over which they can exert effective control (Kenny 1999). This is clearly depicted in the close the gap campaign slogan which translated that they can do it. Community work ideologies Community work has been characterized by different theoretical approaches that lead the actual practise undefined (Smock 2004). The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) held a national conference in November 2006 together with the Australian Institute of Welfare and Community Workers. The theme read ‘United we stand: building knowledge and strengthening practice in our communities. There are a number of community work ideologies in the close the gap campaign. Marxism/Structural ideology is very clear in the campaign. The structure is a derivative of the struggle between the classes of the society. This is evidence in the two classes that exist in Australia; the indigenous and the non indigenous. Karl max’s theory of structuralism portrays how the institutions of the state function in such a manner to ensure capitalism continues to exist. This is seen in the way the Northern Territory Emergency Response was renamed as Northern Territory Closing the Gap strategy. The structuralist ideology argues that the state institutions function in the long term interest of the capitalism, instead of the short term interest of its people. This could be used to explain why there has been so minimal achievement in the campaign. There is also class conflict. Marx viewed the society’s structure in regards to its major classes and the struggle that exists between them as the agent of change. (Aubrey 1962). Another ideology used is the classical pluralism which views the process of decision making and politics being concentrated in the framework of the business. The nongovernmental individuals or groups use their own resources to exert pressure and influence to the government. This is typically what the close the gap campaign has done. It uses its own membership funding with Oxfam being the major financial contributor. In a classical pluralism structure there exist conflicts between groups and power becomes a constant bargaining practice between the two competing groups i.e. the indigenous and non indigenous Australians. Changes under this view are incremental and slow because the groups have different interests. E.g. the campaign wants the indigenous Australians to be included in the constitution. Another ideology employed by the close the gap campaign is the ideology that social workers are always committed to promoting social justice. This involves integrating personal pain with broader political and social structures in the community. This is clearly manifested in their goal of eliminating the 17 years gap in life expectancy of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and the rest of the non indigenous Australians. This was particularly useful in the indigenous areas where health facilities could not be accessed because of the discrimination prevailing. For instance, the application of skills that are highly valued in social work can assist the community development workers, n this case the close the gap campaigners, to acknowledge and respect individual differences and desires within collective course of action (Aubrey 1962). Social democracy theory has also been used in the close the gap campaign. This is seen in the struggle by the campaign to enforce equity and equality among its citizens since there has been discrimination in regards to the access of public resources. The campaign supports the ideology of a social welfare state. It supports a social welfare that is publicly funded, supports legal citizen’s rights access to public services like education, health facilities, care for the elderly and children, fair wages to workers, equal employment opportunities to its citizens etc. It advocates for freedom from oppression, discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, class, race and religion. (Aubrey 1962). Constraints In any social action or community development project taken, there are a number of difficulties experienced. This is according to Ife (2002).Engaging the community and educating them particularly the aboriginal community in the slums so as to fight for their rights was not an easy task. Majority of them were illiterate and so the process was slow Another dilemma was hindrances to cooperating with government indigenous individuals and so there were also restrictions to the greater participation at the local levels of the Aboriginal community. The campaign could not do much at the community levels and so then, little has been accomplished at the community levels. The health changes have to take place at the local Aboriginal community level and so there is need to engage the community. The National Congress of Australian’s first people need to be fully operational so that they play a key role in engaging the community in this campaign. Another problem is that there were different contradicting views on indigenous health and some members did not understand the implications and importance of health social determinants. This has been up to date a major limitation of the overall focus of the campaign. Social advocacy model used which mobilised the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders so that they can gain power and resources was very essential. This led them to advocate for their rights. Conclusion The close the gap campaign is a mechanism of bringing unity, equity, equality and positive change in the health sector to a large number indigenous Australians. It entails refusing to follow the bureaucracy of those in power but instead exercise the right to contest and protest the unfair policies and decisions put in place. It is meant to give powers to the neglected, disadvantaged, marginalized or discriminated members of a community by the authority, and to empower them with voices and authority so that they can stand for their rights. The main aim is to build capacity at all levels, from regional hospitals and national networks to village health centres. They train local health workers and doctors, build and improve facilities and provision of equipment so as to achieve long term sustainable health care. The campaign believes in working with the communities, individuals and the government. It has been noted that any community development project has its difficulties and it is upon the members to come up with solutions as fast as possible so that the project is not put on hold. There is also a bridge between the community development theory and the actual process that takes place in the ground as seen in the essay. List of References Achieving Outcomes, AASW. Canberra: AASW Alinsky, S., 1989. Rules for Radical. New York: Vintage Books. Aubrey J., 1962. Frustration and Conflict. New York: John Wiley Australian Association of Social Workers. 2003 .Practice Standards for Social Workers. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 2 April 2012]. Gecas, Viktor and Schwalbe, M. L., 1983. Beyond The Looking Glass Self: Social Structure and Efficacy-Based Self-Esteem, The Scholarly Journal Archive 46 (2): 77–88. Homan, M., 2003. Promoting Community Change: Making it happen in the real world. 3rdedn. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole. Ife, J., 2001. Human Rights and Social Work. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. Ife, J., 2002. Community Development. Sydney: Pearson Education Kenny, S., 1999. Developing Communities for the Future: Community Development in Australia. Melbourne: Nelson, Smock, K., 2004. Democracy in Action: Community organizing and Urban Change. New York: Columbia University Press. Stark, R., 2007. Sociology. Stamford: Thomson Wadsworth. Weber, M., 1991. The Nature of Social Action. New York: Cambridge University Press. Read More

The close the gap campaign was first launched in April 2007 by its Patrons, Catherine Freeman OAM and Ian Thorpe OAM. The campaign is led by Aboriginal and strait Islander members. It started when a problem in which the indigenous and non indigenous Australian health facts differed. It was realized that there was discrimination and something needed to be done. This led to the campaign members meeting with the chairman of the Torres Strait islander and Aboriginal social justice commissioner in March 2006 to address this problem.

The close the gap campaign is aimed at; Including the indigenous Australians in policy considerations as they had traditionally been left out in the discussions. Ensuring basic health care facilities and infrastructure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is executed so as to bridge the gaps in the health standards by 2018. To set up policies that are fair and do away with discrimination as pertains to their health. To achieve health benefits to the indigenous Australians in the rural, urban and remote areas so as to achieve long lasting wellbeing.

Promoting and respecting the rights of the indigenous Australians by ensuring that the health services are available, accessible, of good quality and affordable. The close the gap campaign believed that it is only through social action that the pledge to end the health injustice between the two Australian groups could be heard. The campaign therefore calls for the nation to place a national plan of action aimed at closing the gap between the indigenous and non indigenous Australians. The campaign is supported by over 40 organizations, both indigenous and non indigenous and more and more people are pledging to support the campaign each year.

The health targets of the campaign were published and presented to the Minister of health in the year 2008. This was aimed at providing framework and indicators of progressing towards the achievement health equality among the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait islanders and other Australians in the country. In response to the prime minister’s report in 2011, the target issues of the close the gap campaign were raised. The campaign started by mobilizing the members of the community. Empowering them with the knowledge about their health rights enabled them to work together with the community of the non indigenous Australians.

They are able to involve the community through organizing different workshops that aim at bringing different people together. To each workshop there are key representatives of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector, indigenous Australian’s health experts, mainstream health services as well as other stakeholders. The close the gap – National indigenous health service Equity Summit was the first national event. This is where they set their targets. Partnership in action is another workshop organized by the campaign.

This was aimed at achieving Torres Strait islander and aboriginal health equality. The workshop was attended by both the indigenous and non indigenous representatives. In the year 2010 they conducted another workshop by the name make it happen which focused on planning so as to achieve the target of health equality set. This was also attended by the aboriginals, Torres Strait islander, non indigenous Australians. The campaign had also organized a National close the gap day to commemorate its launch.

This was held n March 22, 2012. The day was specifically for people to show support to eradicate the 17-year life expectancy difference between the aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders and the other non- indigenous Australians (Aubrey 1962). So far the campaign has gained numerous achievements; one has been the success stories by the indigenous communities. In Townsville a project by the name “mums and babies” has received approximately 40000 patients from the day it was opened. This has led to improved health and weights of the Aboriginal babies improved.

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