I took the government to court to lower the Indigenous pension age. Here’s why
OPINION | Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Rights
First Nations people must work until they're 67 before getting the pension, just like white people. But we have a much lower life expectancy.
Image credit: Royal Botonical Gardens
By Uncle Dennis
People say Australia is the lucky country. But lucky for who? Not for the First People of this land.
I am a proud Aboriginal man. I grew up with my family on the Cherbourg Aboriginal settlement in Queensland. The people from this area are known as the Wakka Wakka people, as they lived on both sides of the river. The settlement was built by white people to control Aboriginal people, who were taken off the good land all over Queensland and put on settlements and missions like Cherbourg.
I started working on the settlement when I was just 10, milking cattle. Later I worked as a farmhand and at the sawmill. We worked seven days a week but got paid very little. Our wages were stolen, and my family was given rations by the white people who ran the settlement. Years later, the government had to pay us compensation.
When I got older, I spent years working on the railways in central Queensland. It was hard work, but we needed employment to feed our families. Labouring jobs were the only thing available for us, as a lot of us were not educated in English.
These days I work as an Aboriginal Heritage guide, teaching people about native plants and Aboriginal tools, food and medicine. I teach people what the land means for Aboriginal people and how we look after it. I’m also a DJ at 3KND radio (a dedicated Koorie radio station) and a poet. The radio gives me a platform to speak to our people in truth.
A right to fair support
Recently I took the Australian government to court to lower the pension age for the First People of this country.
The government wants people like me to work until I am 67, despite the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a lower life expectancy. Indigenous men are likely to live only to 71, 8.6 years fewer than non-Indigenous men. Indigenous women are expected to live only until 75, 7.8 years fewer than Indigenous women.
White people live longer because they haven’t lost what we have lost. We are often lucky to hit 50 or 60, although I’ve seen a lot of my people dying at a very early age — even as young as 30.
This is about acknowledging what has happened in this country. We didn’t have a problem; a problem came here. So many things that Aboriginal people are suffering from today are because of how we have been treated since colonisation. Europeans brought their diseases, their animals, their guns and their poison, and they ripped this country apart.
On the settlement, we ate a lot of food that was no good for our bodies. So many of us were locked away and stripped of our language. A lot of massacres happened here, and many children were taken away from their families.
Settlers today can say none of this is their problem. But it is.
Equal access
More than a decade ago, the Australian government promised to “Close the Gap” in life expectancy between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous people. We are not making much progress: governments are all talk and no action, and there have been so many lies. If it were the other way around, and white people were dying too young, they would have fixed this already — they wouldn’t let it happen.
Everywhere I go, people who are younger than me call me uncle. It’s a sign of respect, because everything is passed on to our young people from their ancestors and their elders. It’s part of our culture and identity to respect our elders.
The pension is an important part of caring for and looking after our people when they can’t work any more. I don’t earn a lot of money and I don’t get any Centrelink. If our people can access the pension earlier it would be a big thing for me and for all our old people. The pension means people can live with pride.
Giving Aboriginal people fair and equal access to the pension is about telling the truth. Things will never get better unless we acknowledge something is wrong. Truth and accountability are important.
I want all people to understand the history of what has happened here and how Aboriginal people are still impacted by it. Our language, our culture and our identity come from this land. It’s not about blaming anyone; it’s about understanding.
I took this legal action because I wanted to stand up for my people. This case is for Aboriginal people all over.
Otherwise, how can we call this the lucky country? I would still like to know: lucky for whom?
Uncle Dennis is a proud Aboriginal man, radio presenter and Aboriginal Heritage guide.