Evaluating resources for teaching Aboriginal Studies

TITLE OF RESOURCE: Face the facts: ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER
PEOPLES
PUBLICATION/COPYRIGHT DETAILS:
Australian human Rights Commission. (2014). Face the facts: ABORIGINAL AND TORRES
STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES 2014. Retrieved 10 October, 2017, from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/FTFATSI.pdf.
FORM/FORMAT:
a free to download PDF document including info-graphic, available online from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/FTFATSI.pdf.
There are also a variety of academic works addressing/evaluating this document that
would be highly valuable in terms of teacher background knowledge when using this
resource. One such document is Wiessner, S. (2009). The United Nations declaration on
the rights of indigenous peoples. In The Diversity of International Law (pp. 343-362). Brill
AUDIENCE:
While this is a government generated document it is written to be highly accessible. The
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

complete document could be used by competent stage 5 and 6 students, for less
competent or younger children only the info-graphic or sections of the text should be
used.
AUTHOR/OWNER SHIP:
The data for this report was collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and is
attributed to them under copyright.
CONSULTATION/AUTHENTICITY:
there is little information about the exact process of consultation easily available. A
press release from the ABS states that the data was collected in collaboration with
Indigenous people, government and researchers and that "In particular, the ABS
acknowledges that the success of our Indigenous surveys and other statistical activities is
dependent on the very high level of cooperation we receive from Indigenous Australians
and their communities. A full transcript of this press release is available at
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/products/454D4207EA2C3FBDCA2572E5007
FB33B?OpenDocument
CULTURAL PROTOCOLS:
In terms of adherence to cultural protocols, the ABS offers little specific detail of what
these processes constitute. The aforementioned press release states that the ABS has
introduced a vigorous Indigenous community engagement strategy. Seven Indigenous
engagement managers located across Australia foster communication between ABS and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations. An important role
of the engagement managers is to return information to Indigenous communities in a
relevant and culturally appropriate way. but provides no further details.
 Written REPRESENTATION of Aboriginal people:
While this is a detailed and statistically accurate representation of many factors in the
life of Australias Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, it does not give them
LINGUSTIC CONSIDERATIONS

an active voice. This lack of personal anecdotal evidence or experience can take away
from the lived human experience of Indigenous Australians, and make it harder for
students to build empathy in relation to the issues explored.
EMPHASIS:
This resource actively tries to keep a neutral emphasis, which is supported by its use of
statistical data. There is some emphasis on the improvements that have been made to
many of the social and emotional wellbeing factors listed here.
TERMINOLOGY:
Some of the more governmental language or jargon may need to be explicated to
students, and the teacher should asses class prior knowledge (in specific regard to the
necessary literacy skills for analysing the document) to ensure comprehensive student
understanding.
AUTHOR /AUTHORITY:
The image included in the resource is a figurative info-graphic created from statistical
VISUAL CONSIDERATIONS

data, and is an accurate visual presentation of the statistical data. The image of the
woman on the first page of the document is the same on all documents, regardless of
topic area and does not impact on the meaning of the resource
CONTEXT:
This is a standalone document. In terms of investigating its context students could
explore where it is located within the Australian human rights commission (analysing the
relationship between ease of access and importance/value of the document and its
content).
Visual REPRESENTATION of Aboriginal people:
See Linguistic considerations Written REPRESENTATION of Aboriginal people section
WHERE/HOW WOULD/COULD YOU USE THIS RESOURCE:
USEABILITY

This resource foundation text for both teachers and students in Aboriginal studies. The
Face the Facts report is a key source of statistical information about Aboriginal and
Torres strait islander people in Australia, and would be appropriate and probably
necessary to be used in some form or another in every unit over every stage.

NOTE: additional research may be necessary to answer these questions. If research is required
this should be noted. If information cannot be found, list as unknown this could affect the
suitability of the resource.