To what extent have the views of the indigenous population influenced the educational outcomes of Australian Aboriginal adolescents. Historical views and expectations of Indigenous people and access to education Inequality in Australian education can be attributed to a history of low expectations and discrimination against Indigenous people by government and society. Aboriginal children were denied the right to education until the 1970s due to the government and society's discriminatory view that Indigenous people were the substandard race by society's standards with a chance of success in life compared to the white Australian population (). Anglo-Celtic, white Australians considered themselves the superior race and considered themselves more intellectually and socio-culturally developed than Aboriginal members of society (Foley, 2013). Because Indigenous Australians were considered the lowest rung of society, children of Aboriginal descent were considered unskilled outside of their own interests and deemed incapable of excelling in “civilized” white society (Foley, 2013). Consequently, the Australian government, in an attempt to civilize and cultivate comity among the Aboriginal people, built “structured” educational training institutes in 1814. However, boys were only provided with skills to prepare them for agricultural employment, while girls were trained for domestic services (Foley, 2013). This rejection of formal education was largely “consistent with the perceived limitations inherent to their race and their expected position in life at the bottom rung of white society” (Beresford & Partington, 2003, p43). According to Foley (2013) these com… middle of paper… a socially defined group is treated differently, especially unfairly, because of its membership in the group (Kreiger, 1999). There are many aspects to the issue of discrimination that affects indigenous people, particularly young people in the 21st century. Among these is the perception that Aboriginal people are inherently lazy, alcoholic, dole-hits ( ). One factor that contributes to the representation of indigenous peoples in this light and therefore affects the relationship of the indigenous community within mainstream society is the influence of the media (Stoneham, Goodman & Daube, 2014). The consistent portrayal of Indigenous peoples in such a negative view further perpetuates racist stereotypes that were ______ which can have a major impact on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians (Stoneham, Goodman and Daube).