INDIGENEITY AT WORK

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Date
 In Australia, despite a constitutional guarantee of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander people, they are systematically discriminated against in their workplace. The

stereotype, cultural misunderstanding, and institutional bias all keep Indigenous people from

using their employment rights. Despite the efforts to observe equity, these facts depict exclusion

from employment as proof that these practices do not work. In this paper, conflicting arguments

for affirmative action to remedy these disparities are thus reviewed. The paper provides a

balanced critical analysis of affirmative action arguments for and against affirmative action with

supporters because it fosters fairness in workplaces and critics of affirmative action as it fosters

reverse discrimination.

Context of Indigeneity at Work

Like many other parts of the world, Indigenous land in Australia was colonized and

thereby dispossessed to the point where the traditional economy and social organization were

affected. Before settlers came into this part of the world, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Communities also had their way and methods of trading and managing resources. This

process gradually culminated in excluding Indigenous people from the economy (Clik, 2020).

Attaining the purpose of consolidating such preliminarily grounded discriminative opportunities,

legislative measures were enacted into the Aboriginal Protection Acts that deprived Aboriginal

Australians of their right to work, own land, and education privileges.

The participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is considerably lower

than that of non-Indigenous Australians today, economically. The current data reveal that the

Indigenous people lag far behind other workers and are among those who experience both higher

unemployment and underemployment. Such differences are due to a lack of access to education

and training geographical and cultural marginalization from the labor market (Klik 2020). While
initiatives to facilitate the emergence of Indigenous entrepreneurship and employment have been

established, challenges persist in contributing to equity in the workplace.

Systemic discrimination is a significant factor in the case of Indigenous employment that

sustains inequalities. This discrimination is reflected in the formal and informal restrictions of

Indigenous people's lives and the disregard for or outright suppression of their Indigenous

cultures and worth. Employment discrimination occurs in the labor market information

processing, and stereotypes and biases, in particular, may affect recruitment, organizational

climate for work, and promotions, thus perpetuating a cycle of exclusion for affected groups.

Further, the primary reasons involve either an organization's general lack of cultural sensitivity

or an inability to adequately address the needs of Indigenous peoples within the organization.

Therefore, it is necessary to create an equitable workplace to improve the rights of Indigenous

people and ensure their occupational contributions in Australia.

Affirmative Action as a Solution

Affirmative action can be understood as a set of measures that are planned to help

traditionally discriminated categories of people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people. The primary objectives of affirmative action are fighting acknowledged discrimination

and providing equal opportunities for employment and education with the balance of race and

gender. Indeed, through affirmative action's purpose of extending equal opportunities, the policy

aims at putting the Indigenous peoples on equal standing to enable them to secure the labor

market opportunities that will supplement the nation's economy.

Supporters of affirmative action argue that policies are essential in minimizing barriers

faced by Indigenous persons in employment. According to Mushariwa (2020), affirmative action

measures mean the eradication of obstacles or practices that have locked out Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people from the labor market. Secondly, affirmative action boosts

organizational diversity, and as it is widely recognized, it increases organizational performance.

According to Ferguson (2024), diversity leads to increased diversity in leadership, decision-

making, and innovation, which results in enhanced financial performance for companies. In the

long run, affirmative action benefits Indigenous peoples through economic development and

positively impacts organizational effectiveness and diversity development.

Critique of Affirmative Action

Those against affirmative action policies argue that these policies lead to reverse

discrimination. This happens when non-indigenous individuals feel locked out of jobs in their

market in favor of the Indigenous people. Such an attitude creates feelings of unfair treatment,

fuels resentment, and increases differences between the classes. Critics argued that favoring one

race over the other defeats the essence of meritocracy since hiring should be based only on merit

and experience, not on color or origin Guynn (2024). From this perspective, there are some

concerns about the general equity of the labor market as non-Indigenous people may feel that

they have been edged off to the side in the name of Affirmative action.

The dispute over affirmative action at the workplace is evident in the case of Weber, who

sued Kaiser Aluminum. Here, Brian Weber stood for the matter that the company sought to give

preference to Black workers for job training programs through the affirmative action policy as an

example of discriminating against him, a white worker. Guynn (2024) analyses how Weber's

experience represents broader debates on equities concerns over job competition. This shows

how affirmation action policies affect each candidate seeking employment and demonstrates how

employees can perceive prejudice based on race. Furthermore, it highlights the possibility of
using these policies to widen societal divisions since there are different experiences and

representations of fairness and opportunity in the labor market.

Conclusion

This paper has considered the problem of attaining workforce diversity and how this

process requires the intervention of various historical, social, and economic perceptive

frameworks. Although proponents of affirmative action and those who are opposed to it agree

that there are concerns that are propping up the concerns for Indigenous employment, it is

depressing to say that systematic prejudices and socio-economical differences bring the

problems. However, due to the nature of discrimination and experiences, as well as society's

perception, these inequalities challenge affirmative action policies. Realizing that there is no

magical bullet is perhaps the most considerable emphasis to be made to try and see the

similarities and differences in how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people require fair

employment opportunities.
 References

Ferguson, J. (2024, August 13). Council post: Why we still need affirmative action, especially in

the workplace. Forbes.

Guynn, J. (2024, March 16). Two men fought for jobs in a river-town mill. 50 years later, the

nation is still divided. USA Today.

Klik, L. (2020). Re-Settling Australia? Indigeneity, Indigenous Sovereignty, and the Postcolonial

Nation in Kim Scott's Taboo. ariel: a review of international english literature, 51(2),

177-202.

Mushariwa, M. (2020). The Cycles of Affirmative Action in the Transformation of the

Workplace. SA Mercantile Law Journal, 32(1), 99-112.