Indigenous Australians were also affected on a large scale by Europeans when they arrived in Australia in the distant past. This is called colonisation. Today, we can witness the ways colonisation impacts Indigenous Australians, and the particularities of Geelong, Victoria are a good example(Profile of First Nations People, 2023).

This will also review the effects of colonisation on Indigenous people in terms of their health, their experiences with education and employment, safety, and incarceration. We will then see these matters in relation to the respective experiences of Indigenous and non-indigenous Australia to be able to distinguish one from the other.

Health and Death Rates

The most significant impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians is their health. When Europeans got there they introduced diseases that the Indigenous people had never encountered. They also altered their lifestyle and diet, a fact that was not very beneficial to the indigenous individuals.

From the Geelong case we are able to observe that Indigenous Australians have higher mortality rates than non-Indigenous Australians. 
- Indigenous Australians die at a rate of 927 per 100,000 of population per year(Closing the Gap, n.d.).
- This reveals that for every 100,000 non-Indigenous Australians, 539 are killed every year(Closing the Gap, n.d.).

This means that Indigenous Australians are dying almost twice as often as non-Indigenous Australians.

However, there are several factors that can explain why Indigenous Australians might experience poorer health. It should be noted that when Europeans came to Australia they introduced different diseases which the indigenous people of Australia had no immunity to. This leads to increase sickness among many individuals. Further, colonisation altered the social and eating culture of the Indigenous people.

They were displaced from their original territories, which in turn limited them from using any of their customary remedies or consuming any familiar diets. All these change affected their health in a big way. In addition, the newer stress and challenges that resulted from colonisation, such as poverty and discrimination, have persisted to impact Indigenous health to date. As a result of all these, the Indigenous Australians have succumbed to long-term health issues than other Australians and their life expectancy is lower.

All of these factors mean that Indigenous Australians often don't live as long as non-Indigenous Australians. This shows us that we need to do more to help improve Indigenous health.

Education and Jobs

It also affected the way Indigenous people learned and worked through colonisation. Indigenous people of course had their own ways of teaching and learning long before Europeans arrived. However colonization interfered with this system and it became difficult for

Indigenous persons to gain quality education or to get quality employment. Some important information about education and jobs in Geelong are:

Education:

- 69.5% Australians completed Year 12 or its equivalent(Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.).
-  It was also found that more than 80% of non-Indigenous Australians completed Year 12 or its equivalent(Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.)

This means that a less number of Indigenous Australians are able to complete high school than non Indigenous Australians.

Employement:

- 9 out of 10 Indigenous Australians have a job.
- The unemployment rate for Indigenous Australians is 8.7%(Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.).
- The unemployment rate for non-Indigenous Australians is 4.1%(Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.).

It means, even though there are many indigenous Australians in the workplace, indigenous Australians are formally unemployed or have a higher unemployment rate compared to non-indigenous Australianst(Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.). Some of the causes of the disparity in education and employment between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population can be explained as follows:

This can be attributed to the Stolen Generations where Indigenous children were often forcibly separated from their families and denied know ledge of their culture or language. This disruption in the family and cultural education has also not had a happy ending.

The last effect is perpetration of discrimination, which hinders the Indigenous people from being hired or promoted in careers. Furthermore, many indigenous peoples, especially those in the rural areas, do not enjoy the same quality services such as quality schools or employment opportunity as their non-indigenous counterparts. This lack of resources makes it even difficult for Indigenous people to have access to a good education or get better-paid employment.

To eliminate these issues, certain measures aimed at providing Indigenous students with the necessary support in class need to be implemented. There is also a necessity to address the insufficient employment rate of the Indigenous people and support for the equality of their rights at the workplace.

Victimisation

Victimisation is a situation where an individual becomes a target of criminal involvement or unjust treatment. The research shows us that Indigenous Australians in Geelong are more likely to be victims of crime than non-Indigenous Australians

Indigenous 

Actual physical harm: 3% of Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over reported experiencing the actual physical harm in the past 12 months, 30,900 individuals(Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2022-23 Financial Year, 2024).

Non Indigenous 

1.7% were physically assaulted (358500).(Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2022-23 Financial Year, 2024)
2.2% reported at least one incident of face-to-face threatened assault (459800 persons)(Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2022-23 Financial Year, 2024)    

This implies that Indigenous Australians are twice as inclined toward being a victim of crime as the non-Indigneous Australians. There are several reasons why this might be happening. It is, therefore, possible to assert that the increased rates of victimisation in Indigenous Australians could be caused by the following factors.

As noted earlier, Indigenous people are disadvantaged in many ways, and living in poverty increases one’s vulnerability to living in a high-crime neighborhood. This means that the rate of becoming a victim of crime is high. Another factor is the limited number of culturally sensitive support services available in many regions meaning that Indigenous victims may not easily access the support they require when they are victimized.

Another issue that has been related to the community violence and to the family violence in particular, is the intergenerational trauma, caused by colonization and the experience of Stolen Generations. Finally, discrimination and racism can put the Indigenous peoples at risk of being a victim of crimes or other forms of unequal treatment. To help solve this problem, we need to:To help solve this problem, we need to:

- Offer additional support for the Indigenous people that fall victims to crimes
- Develop efforts aimed at eradicating poverty in Indigenous peoples’ domains
- Develop/generate solutions to minimize the occurrence of violence/ criminal activities
- Another is to fight against discrimination and racism

Incarceration Rates

●    Presently, 65% (7,759 Indigenous Australian prisoners) were imprisoned for violence-related offences and, offences causing harm as at 30 June 2019. Overall, Indigenous people are incarcerated at vastly higher rates than non-Indigenous people, especially Indigenous children(2.10 Community Safety, n.d.).
●    It was found that non-Indigenous Australians aged between 35 and 44 years had a hospitalisation rate due to assault of 103 per 100,000 people(2.10 Community Safety, n.d.).

Indigenous Australians are imprisoned at a significantly higher rate than other groups due to various factors. In the past, there were laws adopted that , in one way or another, discriminated Indigenous people, and although many of those laws have been repealed, their effects are felt to this day. Lack of education, beatings, and other abuses throughout the generations of colored people and their lack of opportunities can lead to crime as a form of feeding oneself.

Another issue that arises is the general disregard or minimal respect for Indigenous peoples’ culture, which contributes to unfair treatment in the justice system. Unfortunately, racism is still an issue, which means that some individuals in the justice system are bias and prejudice towards Indigenous people because of the color of their skin. Finally, the loss of culture issus from colonisation and the Stolen Generations have resulted in social problems that may contribute to the chances of being in contact with the police.

To help fix this problem, we need to:
- Change laws that unfairly affect Indigenous people
- Provide more support to Indigenous communities to prevent crime
- Train police and judges to better understand Indigenous culture
- Create programs to help Indigenous people who have been in jail to rejoin their communities
- Address the root causes of crime, like poverty and lack of opportunities

Conclusion

When we consider health, education, employment, victimisation, and imprisonment, it is clear that colonisation has left its mark on Indigenous Australians. Despite the fact that it transpired a few decades ago, it is still being felt in the present. The disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples give a clear realization that there is still much work to be done in order to provide equality for all. This topic is often explored in humanities assignments, as it provides a critical lens to understand historical injustices and their ongoing effects.

Thus, to make things better, one has to work on Indigenous health issues, education, employment, crime rate, justice system, Indigenous cultural heritage, and racism. However, one must not forget that all these numbers and graphs represent real people’s lives. It is the right of every Australian to be healthy, well-educated, and protected. In humanities assignments, students analyze these issues through historical, sociological, and ethical perspectives, highlighting the importance of acknowledging Indigenous voices.

To address these issues, it will require time and effort from all people – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Indigenous people have to be heard, their culture acknowledged, and together we have to turn Australia into a more equitable society. Thus, it would be possible to address the consequences of colonialism and create more favourable conditions for the development of all Australians.

References 

Life Expectancy | Closing the gap. (n.d.). https://ctgreport.niaa.gov.au/life-expectancy
Profile of First Nations people. (2023, September 7). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/profile-of-indigenous-australians
Geelong | Region summary | Data by region | Australian Bureau of Statistics. (n.d.). Australian Bureau of Statistics. https://dbr.abs.gov.au/region.html?lyr=sa4&rgn=203
Aboriginal over-representation. (n.d.). https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_pages/Aboriginal-over-representation.aspx
Imprisonment rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria | Sentencing Council. (n.d.). https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sentencing-statistics/victorias-indigenous-imprisonment-rates
Australian Institute of Criminology. (n.d.). Welcome to the Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/
1.06 Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease / Data. (n.d.). AIHW Indigenous HPF. https://www.indigenoushpf.gov.au/measures/1-06-acute-rheumatic-fever-and-rheumatic-heart-dis/data
Profile of First Nations people. (2023, September 7). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/profile-of-indigenous-australians
Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia, 1780 to 1930, v3. (n.d.). https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/map.php
Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2022-23 financial year. (2024, March 20). Australian Bureau of Statistics. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/crime-victimisation/latest-release#data-downloads
2.10 Community safety. (n.d.). AIHW Indigenous HPF. https://www.indigenoushpf.gov.au/measures/2-10-community-safety