"Terra Nullus" or "empty land", described Australia through the eyes of Captain James .
Cook and the Endeavour when they first anchored in Botany Bay in 1770. With the .
Endeavour more or less a part of Britain, brought with it not only British men, women and .
firepower but more importantly British Culture, its western influence, its ideologies and .
diseases which were to impact critically on the health and wellbeing of the indigenous .
people and dramatically decreasing their health and wellbeing status. .
All people have their own culturally determined and socially structured health care .
systems, some more complex than others but all suited to and working for their specific .
society. In aboriginal Australia, the indigenous health care system is part of a unique .
complex, which includes descriptions of well being, explanations of illness causation, .
healing practices and prerequisite social behaviours for the person experiencing the .
illness ( Reid, J. and Thrompf, P. 1991). .
When Europeans introduced alien diseases such as smallpox, influenza, pneumonia, .
typhoid fever, mumps, scarlet fever, diptheria, gonorrhoea and syphilis to the aboriginal .
population. As a result of colonisation their whole health care system was severely .
affected as their traditional healing methods could not fight such unknowns. All .
epidemics such whether smallpox or influenza proved especially disastrous for .
aborigines because all members of a community were equally susceptible which meant .
that no immediate family member was able to nurse the sick, to bring food or even water .
which was essential for survival. Barwick 1971 regarded the main cause of decline in .
numbers of aboriginals had been due to the introduction of these alien diseases which .
were known able to wipe out whole families and communities at a time. This dramatically .
affected the health and well being of the aboriginal people in a negative way.
The introduction and eventual forced conformity to the British culture and its ideologies is .
