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THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF OLDER PERSONS
BEGINNING OF THIS SERIES ON AUSTRALIA - THE LUCKY COUNTRY
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR LEPROSY FORUM
INTERNATIONAL BENEVOLENT SERVICES is dedicated not only to the support of Leprosy Sufferers, Widows, Orphans, Victims of Drugs, and Crime, but also the Liberation of Women and the Welfare of Older Persons. During this year we are celebrating :-
UNITED NATIONS' INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR OLDER PERSONS
The following principles were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December, 1991 (Resolution No. 46/91) - to add life to the years that have been added to life.
MAJOR PRINCIPLES FOR OLDER PERSONS:-
# Older Persons should have access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothing and health-care through the provision of income, family and community support and self-help.
# Older persons should have the opportunity to work or to have access to other income generating opportunities.
# Older Persons should be able to participate in determining when, and at what pace, withdrawal from the labour force takes place.
# Older Persons should have access to the appropriate educational and training programs.
# Older Persons should be able to live in environments that are safe and adaptable to personal preferences and changing capacities.
# Older Persons should be able to reside at home for as long as possible.
PARTICIPATION:-
# Older Persons should remain integrated in society, participate actively in the formulation and implementation of policies that directly affect their well being and share their knowledge and skills with younger generations.
# Older Persons should be able to seek and develop opportunities for service to the community and to serve as volunteers in positions appropriate to their interests and capabilities.
# Older Persons should be able to form movements or associations of older persons.
CARE:-
# Older persons should benefit from family and community care and protection in accordance with each society's system and cultural values.
# Older Persons should have access to health-care to help them to maintain or regain the optimum level of physical, mental and emotional well being and to prevent or delay the onset of illness.
# Older Persons should have access to social and legal services to enhance their autonomy, protection and care.
# Older Persons should be able to utilise appropriate levels of institutional care, providing protection, rehabilitation and social and mental stimulation in a humane and secure environment.
# Older Persons should be able to enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms when residing in any shelter, care or treatment facility, including full respect for their dignity, needs and privacy and for the right to make decisions about their care and quality of their lives.
SELF-FULFILMENT :-
# Older Persons should be able to pursue opportunities for the full development of their potential.
# Older Persons should have access to the educational, cultural, spiritual and recreational resources of society.
DIGNITY :-
# Older Persons should be able to live in dignity and security and be free of exploitation and physical and mental abuse.
# Older persons should be treated fairly, regardless of age, gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds, disability or other status, and be valued independently of their economic contribution.
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AUSTRALIA'S ABORIGINAL PEOPLE - THEIR STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE FROM 1788 TO 1998
Reproduced by kind permission of "Aboriginal Way", ( Page 4, Issue # 1 , 1998) - Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement , Native Title Unit, 321 King William Street, Adelaide, S. Aust., Australia. - Phone :- +61+8+8212+1244
BEFORE 1788 - PRECONTACT HISTORY :- This is the period of Aboriginal history where many Aboriginal groups with their own languages lived in Australia with a continuous cultural history of at least 40-60,000 years old. Some Aboriginal groups had no contact with Europeans until the 1930's.
DECEMBER 1834 :- SOUTH AUST. COLONISATION ACT:- British Parliament passed this Act to establish the new colony of South Australia.
NOVEMBER 1842 - WASTE LANDS ACT:- This Act was passed by the British Parliament, overriding the 1834 Colonisation Act . This new Act declared the land to be "waste and unoccupied" , but authorised land to be set aside for Aboriginal purposes, and also reserved 15% of the monies raised by land sales for the purpose of Aboriginal people of the colony.
AUGUST 1844 - PROTECTION OF ABORIGINAL CHILDREN ACT :- The Chief Protector of Aborigines become legal guardian of "half-caste" children. Many of the girls were used as housemaids and were abused and many boys used as farmhands. Basically, they were slaves. This was a policy of assimilation that intended for Aboriginal culture to be "whited-out". Initially, it was thought that Aborigines were a dying race, affected particularly from smallpox and other diseases brought to them from the Europeans. Sometimes the children were taken for their own protection, as some lighter-skinned babies were rejected by the Aboriginal community because their mothers had been raped by Europeans.
1851 - PASTORAL LEASES :- In 1851, when the system of pastoral leases was being developed, Lieutenant Governor Henry Young, after accepting advice from the Protector of Aborigines, Matthew Moorehouse, insisted that all pastoral leases in South Australia should include reservations in favour of the Aborigines, allowing them access to pastoral lands. In fact, the laws stated that if a pastoral lessee did not recognise indigenous land rights, his lease would be revoked. As stated in the "Advertiser" (28/11/97), Adelaide historian, Dr. Robert Foster, has been surprised by the uproar created by the High Court's
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