Intersectional theory and disadvantage: A tool for decolonisation

It is widely recognised that First Nations peoples in Australia (also known as Aboriginal Australians) have some of the poorest health and social outcomes of any other group. This is evidenced in a number of areas including the disproportionately high rates of disability for First Nations peoples in Australia. This paper explores how the intersection of race and disability compounds disadvantage for First Nations peoples with disability in Australia. Additionally, it explores the conceptual diversity of disability and the role colonisation has played, and continues to play, in creating and maintaining high rates of disability for First Nations peoples in Australia. This paper argues for the decolonisation of the disability sector as a step towards improving outcomes for all. In particular, the use of intersectionality theory is examined as a potentially effective tool for mapping and enacting the decolonisation of the disability sector. Points of interest First Nations peoples in Australia understand disability in a manner that differs from the mainstream dominant ‘western’ understanding, and this has huge implications for the disability sector. The dominant model focuses on people with disabilities as individuals who need to be ‘treated’ and ‘supported’ by health authorities. First Nations approach is community-based wherein everyone has abilities and responsibilities that are valued by the community–a culture of inclusion and connection that normalises and accepts people with disabilities. Routinely encountered racism and structural discrimination experienced by First Nations people compound discrimination commonly experienced by people with a disability. Intersectional theory identifies how disability and race combine in Australia to produce particularly poor outcomes for First Nations people with a disability, compared to their non-Indigenous peers. Decolonisation, the process of reversing the impact of the dominant way of thinking, is important to improving outcomes for First Nations people with a disability.