Sarah Prout

Security and Belonging: Reconceptualising Aboriginal Spatial Mobilities in Yamatji Country, Western Australia

Abstract Since British colonisation of Australia began, Aboriginal mobility practices have been poorly understood within the Anglo‐Australian consciousnesses. This paper examines current discourses and conceptualisations of Aboriginal mobilities in Yamatji country, Western Australia. Finding none of these explanations and interpretations singularly sufficient to encompass the diverse spatial practices of Aboriginal people in the region, the paper proposes an alternative framework for interpreting and understanding these population dynamics. The central tenet of this reconceptualisation is that contemporary Aboriginal spatialities – including spatial distribution, movements, and immobility – are iteratively shaped by the processes of procuring, contesting, and cultivating security and belonging. In a conscious shift away from generalised and pejorative interpretations of Aboriginal mobility, this more holistic framework considers historical and geographical context, cultural identity, and individual aspirations.

Policy, Practice and the 'Revolving Classroom Door': Examining the Relationship between Aboriginal Spatiality and the Mainstream Education System

Indigenous academic outcomes are in many ways negotiated at the interface between student spatialities—including their residential patterns and choices—and the mainstream school system. The current model of education delivery rewards regular attendance at well-resourced schools. Conversely, sporadic interactions with under-resourced schools generally produce poor educational outcomes. This paper draws on qualitative case-study research in Yamatji country, Western Australia, to present a grounded analysis of the mutually effectual relationship between the mainstream education system and Aboriginal spatiality. It begins with a discussion of how school location and standards influence Aboriginal migration and residence choices, and outlines the significant policy implications of this relationship. It then examines the impacts of Aboriginal itinerancy on student learning and school functionality, and critically evaluates a number of strategies for tackling student mobility in terms of their applicability and appropriateness to Indigenous contexts. The paper ultimately argues the need for researchers, policymakers and educators to engage more intentionally with the spatial practices of Aboriginal students.

'I could never have learned this in a lecture': transformative learning in rural health education

Health indicators for rural populations in Australia continue to lag behind those of urban populations and particularly for Indigenous populations who make up a large proportion of people living in rural and remote Australia. Preparation of health practitioners who are adequately prepared to face the ‘messy swamps’ of rural health practice is a growing challenge. This paper examines the process of learning among health science students from several health disciplines from five Western Australian universities during ‘Country Week’: a one-week intensive experiential interprofessional education program in rural Western Australia. The paper weaves together strands of transformative theory of learning with findings from staff and student reflections from Country Week to explore how facilitated learning in situ can work to produce practitioners better prepared for rural health practice.

Urban Myths: Exploring the Unsettling Nature of Aboriginal Presence in and through a Regional Australian Town

According to census data, Aboriginal Australians live predominantly in urban localities. Yet ‘urban Aboriginality’ has received limited attention in the Australian literature and continues to be generalised largely in terms of deficit and illegitimacy. Drawing on findings from recent research in Broome, Western Australia, this article explores how Aboriginal presence in and through a particular urban space disrupts overlain colonial boundaries regarding who and what constitutes ‘urban Aboriginality’. It argues that not only have ‘authenticity discourses’ had a marginalising and disciplining effect on Aboriginal spatial geographies, they also paint a distorted picture of the realities of Aboriginal lived experiences in and through urban spaces.

Recent Change in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population and Housing Geographies

The intercensal period (2006–2011) was a time of significant policy and population change in Indigenous affairs. The aim of this paper is to document the changing distribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and housing geographies over that period. We use the Indigenous Region structure developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to show that Indigenous Australians grew at a rate that significantly outstrips the non-Indigenous population with an increasing concentration of the Indigenous population on the urban eastern seaboard and particularly among older people. We present results that show that for certain measures, the housing situation of the Indigenous population in 2011 had improved relative to the Indigenous population in 2006. A smaller proportion of Indigenous households were estimated to live in an overcrowded dwelling compared with Indigenous households in 2006. There were also significant increases in the per cent of Indigenous households that owned or were purchasing their own home. Other results might be seen as less positive with community housing (a tenure type identified as having benefits in both qualitative and quantitative analysis) declining in importance. In net terms though, Indigenous households continue to experience a high degree of housing need. Compared with other households, they were 3.7 times as likely to live in an overcrowded dwelling.

The Social Geographies of Indigenous Population and Housing in Australia's Regional Urban Centres

ABSTRACT In recent years, social scientists have turned increasing scholarly focus to the ‘post-colonial city’, as it relates to the lived experiences and socio-cultural worlds of urban-dwelling Indigenous peoples. In Australia, this literature is concerned primarily with issues of identity, power and representation in big cities. More conventional geographic analyses regarding socio-spatial, economic and demographic aspects of urban Indigenous experience have been mostly absent from this discourse. In this paper, we begin to address this gap within the literature by identifying notable socio-spatial, economic, and demographic features of urban Indigenous experience in regional Australian cities. We draw on census and administrative data to empirically examine Indigenous residency, presence, and uneven housing market access in regional urban centres. The analysis builds a national comparative picture regarding population change, tenure type, crowding and housing affordability in these localities. At the same time, it ‘drills down’ to explore some of the drivers and implications of change against these indicators in one case study locality: Geraldton Western Australian. This case study analysis, based on recent fieldwork, grounds the broad identified trends in a localised narrative, illuminating some of general and specific socio-economic and socio-spatial dynamics that shape urban life for Indigenous peoples in regional Australia and the implications of these dynamics for broader questions of co-existence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Deconstructing consultative frameworks: the case of staff housing provision in Burringurrah, Western Australia

Housing for government‐employed staff in remote Aboriginal communities is a topic that raises considerable debate amongst those whom it affects. Striking at the heart of Australias effort towards reconciliation and a legacy of policy failure, debate regarding standards and siting of staff housing is highly political in nature. In Burringurrah, Western Australia, two government agencies recently undertook projects to provide staff housing within the community. Each agency approached its projects differently, but in both cases response at the ‘grassroots’ level was negative. This paper argues that a primary, but indirect, influence on ‘community’ satisfaction was the ideological structure of each agency. It follows, then, that understanding this organisational context is crucial to achieving more appropriate housing outcomes in the community.