1.13 Community functioning
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Why is it important?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have long sought health outcomes encompassing the physical, social, cultural and emotional elements of life. This includes the ability to live proudly and freely as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (OATSIH, 2004). Functioning is about the things people achieve or experience, consistent with their account of wellbeing, varying from ‘being adequately nourished and being free from avoidable disease, to very complex activities or personal states, such as being able to take part in the life of the community and having self-respect’ (Sen, 1999; AIHW, 2014h). The conversion of capabilities into functioning is influenced by the values and personal features of individuals, families and communities and by the social and cultural environment in which they live. Different cultures give greater or lesser priority to different types of functioning, and do not necessarily align with Western perspectives (Sen, 1999; Taylor, J et al, 2012).
‘Community Functioning’ in the HPF is defined as the ability and freedom of community members and communities to determine the context of their lives (e.g. social, cultural, spiritual, organisational) and to translate their capability (knowledge, skills, understanding) into action (to make things happen and achieve a life they value).
To develop a picture of family and community functioning from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ perspectives, workshops drawing together participants from across Australia were held in 2008 and 2010. Participants at the workshops described the various elements of family and community life essential for high levels of functioning. The workshops identified a number of key themes and weighted these functionings according to their relative value. In 2010, six themes were identified by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants and these have been used to analyse and present available data.
Participants were drawn from a number of jurisdictions and settings so the themes they identified appear to reflect widely held views among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
While community functioning is a strengths-based measure, analysis of the institutional, interpersonal and internalised elements of racial discrimination suggest this factor deters and undermines community functioning and increases ill-health (Cunningham & Paradies, 2013). In 2014–15, one-third (35%) of Indigenous Australians aged 15 years and over reported being treated unfairly in the last 12 months because they were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. These estimates are conservative, with research specialising in racial discrimination reporting 97% of Indigenous Australians in the sample experiencing racism (Kelaher et al, 2014). For more details, see Racism and discrimination and measure 3.08.
Findings
Outlined below is a description of each of the six themes and the key findings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, using data from the 2014–15 Social Survey.
Connectedness to country, land, and history; culture and identity
- Being connected to country, land, family and spirit
- Strong and positive social networks with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Strong sense of identity and being part of a collective
- Sharing; giving and receiving; trust; love; looking out for others
Data from the 2014–15 Social Survey showed:
- 74% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aged 15 years and over recognised their homelands.
- 62% identified with a clan or language group.
- 90% ‘feel able to have a say with family and friends’ some, most, or all or the time.
- 95% had contact with family or friends outside the household at least once per week.
- 82% had friends to confide in.
- 82% were able to get support in a time of crisis from a family member living outside the household.
- 63% had attended an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural event in the last 12 months.
Data from the 2012–13 Health Survey showed that 83% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults reported feeling proud of who they are. Three-quarters reported that they get the emotional support and help they need from their family (75%) and that their family really tries to help them (76%).
Resilience
- Coping with the internal and external world
- Power to control options and choices
- Ability to proceed in public without shame
- Optimising what you have
- Challenge injustice and racism, stand up when required
- Cope well with difference, flexibility, accommodating
- Ability to walk in two worlds
- Engaged in decision-making
- External social contacts
Data from the 2014–15 Social Survey showed:
- 86% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aged 15 years and over reported that they did not avoid situations due to past discrimination.
- 81% agreed that their doctor could be trusted and 70% agreed that the local school could be trusted. People living in remote areas were more likely to trust their local school (79%) compared with people in non-remote areas (68%).
- 89% felt they were able to find general support from outside the household.
- 59% had provided support to someone outside their household in the last four weeks.
- 97% had participated in sport, social or community activities in the last 12 months.
- 41% of employed people said work allowed them to fulfil cultural responsibilities. People living in remote areas were more likely to have work that allowed for cultural responsibilities (63%) compared with work in non-remote areas (36%).
Leadership
- Strong elders in family and community, both male and female
- Role models, both male and female
- Strong direction, vision
- The ‘rock’, someone who has time to listen and advise
Data from the 2014–15 Social Survey showed that 44% of children aged 4–14 years had spent time with an Indigenous leader or Elder in the last week.
Having a role, structure and routine
- Having a role for self: participation, contributing through paid and unpaid roles
- Capabilities and skills derived through social structures and experience through non-formal education
- Knowing boundaries and acceptable behaviours
- Sense of place–knowing your place in family and society
- Being valued and acknowledged
- Disciplined
Data from the 2014–15 Social Survey showed:
- 59% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aged 15 years and over had not experienced being without a permanent place to live. This was associated with low to moderate levels of psychological distress and very good/excellent health status.
- 72% were in households that had not experienced cash flow problems in the last 12 months.
- 85% were in households in which there had been no days without money for basic living expenses in the last two weeks.
- Most children aged 0–14 years (96%) had participated in informal learning activities with their main carer.
Feeling safe
- Lack of physical and lateral violence
- Safe places
- Emotional security
- Cultural competency
- Relationships that can sustain disagreement
Data from the 2014–15 Social Survey showed:
- 78% had not experienced physical and/or threatened violence in the last 12 months.
- 84% felt safe at home alone after dark. This was associated with excellent or very good self-assessed health and low to moderate levels of psychological distress.
- In the five years prior to the survey, 97% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had not been incarcerated (91% had never been incarcerated in their lifetime).
Vitality
The final theme, vitality, covers community infrastructure, access to services, education, health, income and employment.
Data from the 2014–15 Social Survey showed:
- 66% of those aged 15 years and over had experienced low/moderate levels of psychological distress in the four weeks before the survey.
- 68% of children aged 0–14 years did not have problems sleeping.
- 76% of children aged 4–14 years spent at least 60 minutes every day being physically active.
- 75% of people aged 15 years and over said they can easily get to places as needed. This was associated with feeling able to have a say with family and friends in the community.
- Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were seeking to improve their knowledge, skills and qualifications, with more than half (53%) intending to study in the future.
- 79% of those aged 15 years and over accessed the internet in the last 12 months.
New analysis prepared by Biddle (2017) looked at the relationship between measures of community functioning and measures of wellbeing using the 2014–15 Social Survey. This analysis found that community functioning was strongly associated with individual measures of wellbeing. Those with high levels of all three measures of community functioning (connectedness, resilience and safety) were more likely to be satisfied with their life, more likely to report that they were a happy person all or most of the time, and less likely to report that they felt so sad that nothing could cheer them up.
High community functioning scores were positively associated with living in remote areas, post-school qualifications and high income. The young tended to have lower values, as did those with relatively low levels of education. Those who were not employed and those who had changed usual residence had lower values.
Living in a private rental or state housing were negatively associated with the safety measures; while living in community rentals and also overcrowded houses were positively associated with connectedness measures.
Those with higher values in the resilience and safety measures were more likely to report that they did not have any barriers to accessing services. However, controlling for those two measures and a range of demographic, socio-economic and geographic variables, there was a negative association between connectedness and service access.
One of the main findings from the analysis was that there was no single index that was able to summarise the variation in the community functioning measures. Rather, that community functioning is better thought of as a set of themes and related constructs with complex relationships with sociodemographic factors and wellbeing.
A recent qualitative study with Yaegl Indigenous community members between 2006-10, showed the importance participants placed on relationships for strength and functioning. The study found that strengths and resources of a community need to be recognised and valued in health and mental health initiatives, as tools in risk-prevention, strengthening recovery, and enhancing wellbeing (McLennan, 2015).
Lohoar and colleagues in 2014 showed the strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural practices in family life and child rearing. The study found that culture can be a protective factor for children, families and communities, dependent on necessary social conditions being in place (Lohoar et al, 2014).
Figures
Table 1.13-1
Selected variables contributing to community functioning among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 2002, 2008 and 2014–15
| Community functioning theme and associated variables | 2002 | 2008 | 2014–15 | 2014–15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per cent | Number | |||
| Connectedness to family land and history, culture, identity | ||||
| Recognises homelands | 70 | 72 | 74 | 328,619 |
| Speaks an Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander language | 21 | 19 | 18 | 81,101 |
| Attended Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural event in last 12 months | 68 | 63 | 63 | 277,740 |
| Identifies with clan group or language group | 54 | 62 | 62 | 276,275 |
| Feels able to have a say with family and friends some, most or all of the time | 89 | 90 | 397,717 | |
| Feels able to have a say within community on important issues some, most and all of the time | 48 | 49 | 219,099 | |
| Contact with family or friends outside household at least once per week | 94 | 95 | 419,447 | |
| Has friends can confide in | 75 | 82 | 365,227 | |
| Able to get support in time of crisis from outside household—from family member | 80 | 82 | 363,795 | |
| Provides support to relatives outside household | 51 | 50 | 219,289 | |
| Resilience | ||||
| Did not feel treated unfairly because Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander in last 12 months(a) | 65 | 272,565 | ||
| Did not avoid situations due to past unfair treatment(a) | 86 | 381,100 | ||
| Can visit homelands | 46 | 45 | 49 | 219,347 |
| Involvement with Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander organisation | 26 | 18 | 20 | 88,339 |
| Work allows for cultural responsibilities to be met (employed persons) | 22 | 44 | 41 | 82,783 |
| Household member(s) used strategies to meet basic living expenses in last 12 months | 49 | 36 | 37 | 162,554 |
| No community problems reported | 25 | 26 | 28 | 125,569 |
| Community problems reported, but less than three types | 29 | 23 | 22 | 98,515 |
| No problems reported for theft | 57 | 59 | 56 | 249,651 |
| No problems reported for alcohol | 67 | 59 | 62 | 276,543 |
| No problems reported for illicit drugs | 68 | 64 | 63 | 279,230 |
| No problems reported for family violence | 79 | 75 | 75 | 333,810 |
| No problems reported for assault | 80 | 77 | 79 | 352,008 |
| No problems reported for sexual assault | 92 | 88 | 92 | 409,044 |
| Agrees that most people can be trusted | 36 | 33 | 147,493 | |
| Agrees that their doctor can be trusted | 80 | 81 | 358,280 | |
| Agrees that the hospital can be trusted | 62 | 65 | 290,074 | |
| Agrees that police in the local area can be trusted | 52 | 58 | 256,724 | |
| Agrees that police outside the local area can be trusted | 41 | 46 | 202,475 | |
| Agrees that the local school can be trusted | 69 | 70 | 312,032 | |
| Knows someone in organisation that is comfortable contacting (non-remote areas) | 54 | 57 | 196,708 | |
| Felt able to find general support from outside the household | 89 | 89 | 396,555 | |
| Provided support to someone outside household in last 4 weeks | 56 | 59 | 262,265 | |
| Participated in sport/social/community activities in last 12 months | 97 | 429,771 | ||
| Recreational or cultural group | 14 | 19 | 85,598 | |
| Community or special interest group activities | 13 | 18 | 80,806 | |
| Church or religious activities | 24 | 15 | 22 | 95,429 |
| Watched Indigenous TV | 54 | 70 | 309,851 | |
| Listened to Indigenous radio | 26 | 28 | 124,724 | |
| Leadership | ||||
| Child spent time with an Indigenous leader or elder in last week (4–14 years) | 42 | 44 | 75,994 | |
| Encouragement from elders and council would help child (currently in secondary school) to complete Year 12 |
22 | 24 | 9,992 | |
| Structure and routine/having a role | ||||
| Can communicate with English speakers without difficulty (Indigenous language is main language spoken at home) | 72 | 62 | 29,030 | |
| Has lived in only one dwelling for the past year or longer | 69 | 78 | 77 | 341,689 |
| Child involved in informal learning activities with carer in last week (0–14 years) | 94 | 96 | 232,525 | |
| Feeling Safe | ||||
| Felt safe at home alone after dark | 80 | 84 | 372,265 | |
| Felt safe walking alone in local area after dark | 53 | 54 | 237,867 | |
| Not a victim of physical or threatened violence in the last 12 months | 76 | 75 | 78 | 344,665 |
| Indigenous culture taught at school (children aged 2–14) | 53 | 54 | 112,787 | |
| Was taught Indigenous culture at school or as part of further studies | 45 | 47 | 208,374 | |
| Learnt about own Indigenous clan/language | 17 | 17 | 73,385 | |
| Not incarcerated in the last 5 years | 93 | 97 | 97 | 429,112 |
| Never incarcerated | 91 | 91 | 404,346 | |
| Vitality | ||||
| Self-assessed health status excellent or very good | 44 | 44 | 40 | 175,967 |
| Has no disability or restrictive long term-health condition | 64 | 50 | 55 | 243,833 |
| Low/ moderate level of psychological distress (5–11 K5 score) | 68 | 66 | 294,290 | |
| Employed (persons aged 15–64 years in the labour force) | 54 | 48 | 202,098 | |
| Year 12 highest year of school completed (excluding secondary school students) | 18 | 22 | 26 | 114,114 |
| Has a non-school qualification (persons aged 25–64) | 32 | 40 | 54 | 150,105 |
| Living in a dwelling that has no major structural problems | /td> | 72 | 317,747 | |
| Accessed internet in last 12 months | 41 | 59 | 79 | 348,436 |
| Has access to motor vehicles whenever needed | 55 | 66 | 68 | 302,703 |
| Can easily get to places needed | 70 | 74 | 75 | 333,967 |
| Total persons aged 15 years and over | 100 | 100 | 443,419 | |
Note: Unless otherwise indicated percentages are of the estimated total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 15 years and over. Where another population is indicated, this has been used to calculate the percentage.
(a) Not comparable to previous years as question asked differently in 2014–15
Source: ABS and AIHW analysis of 2002, 2008 and 2014–15 NATSISS
Implications
Community functioning underpins health outcomes encompassing the physical, social, cultural and emotional elements of life.
The Family Wellbeing program is a social and emotional wellbeing program originally developed in 1993 in SA and in over 20 years has spread to 56 sites across most states and territories. Its objective is to develop people’s skills and capacity to move from a position of disempowerment to empowerment (Monson-Wilbraham, 2014). It has been found to increase the capacity of participants to exert greater control over their health and wellbeing (Tsey & Every, 2000).