Inequality In Australia

ANALYSE THE EFFECT OF INEQUALITY ON ACCESS TO SOCIALLY VALUED RESOURCES IN ONE

SOCIETY

Equality often implies an equality of opportunity to access what society has to offer. Typically this includes access to socially values resources, such areas as health, education, employment opportunities and political representation. Over the years, Australian society has been described by people as a "working man 's paradise, 'the land of the fair go ', and an egalitarian society. However, there has been evidence of inequality of groups such as the indigenous, the disabled, and gender issues, where differences to access of socially valued resources highlight the disadvantages that these groups in society face. This disadvantage has implications of a
In nearly all aspects of social life, indigenous Australians experience disadvantage. An inquiry into Australia 's health in 1994 revealed that indigenous Australians were 3 times more likely to die of childhood diseases and were 15 to 20 years more likely to die earlier that other Australians. Indigenous people were nearly twice as likely as member of the general population to live outside urban centres and are more likely to live further from a range of health services and facilities. This statistics highlight the lack of access to health systems leading to health problems and death. In addition to facing a range of cultural and communication barriers, they face particular issues, such as dispossession and the 'stolen generation ' which placed them in a uniquely disadvantaged position. Although there has been funding from the government to try and improve the conditions of life for the Indigenous, according to the ABS only 3% of Indigenous people in NSW were attending a university or other tertiary institution. There was also only 44% of young Indigenous people in NSW that were attending an education institution which came from the 1996 census. From the SMH article 'Vanstone admits indigenous money has been wasted ', it is evident that access to education may improve the future equality for indigenous, where there is a
They represent 50.6% of the NSW population according to the 2001 census and therefore have a strong voice in society. The Sex Discrimination Act 1984, highlight the feminist movement for gender equality in Australia. Although women have more equality compared to the indigenous group, they suffer disadvantage in comparison with men. In August 1998 according to the Department of Women (NSW), women 's average weekly earnings were 79.83% of men 's. They were also more likely that men to work unpaid overtime. Although statistics from Gender Equity: a frame work for Australian Schools 1997, show that girls have outperformed boys for the last 13 years on the bases of mean TER scores, women have had limits in achieving and reaching top positions in society, which is described as the 'glass ceiling ' theory. According to the SMH article 'affirmative: the glass ceiling is still firmly in place ', results from the 2004 Australian census of women in leadership revealed there had been no change in the number of women in chief executive positions and there was still only four in Australia. However, due to the woman 's collective strong voice in society, there is hope that the future prospects will change even more and become much more the same as the quality of life for