Crossing the Line (ATOM study guide)

Crossing the Line, a film suitable for secondary and tertiary students, explores one of the most difficult issues facing any health professional – what level of emotional involvement is appropriate and useful? – in the context of an even more complex issue: relationships between Indigenous Communities and non-Indigenous people and institutions meant to serve them.

The film documents the experiences of two Tasmanian medical students when they take up an eight-week placement in an Indigenous community on Mornington Island in north-west Queensland.

The two students, Amy and Paul, are given training to prepare them for their move into a completely different world. The pre-placement training covers the types of health, social and economic issues on the Island. However, the general medical principle of 'professional distance' is challenged by the overwhelming needs of the Indigenous people they meet and Amy and Paul feel they need to 'cross the line' to work effectively with the community.

They become accepted by Elders and other key people and begin to move out of the hospital and into the community building a feeling of mutual trust and respect but also discovering the pall of suicide that hangs over the community. Their supervisors are concerned that they have become too close and involved. Without consulting the Elders, the supervisors decide to pull both students out of the Community before the placement is due to finish. They leave them little time to say their goodbyes to the people who had accepted them into their lives.

This film will have interest and relevance for teachers and students at secondary and tertiary levels. The film and the study guide provide a rich resource for students to learn about the lives of the Mornington Island Indigenous peoples, who share similarities with other Indigenous peoples in Australia: their history pre and post contact with white people, the importance of the Dreaming, their totems, art and culture as well as their social and family lives. Students will learn about the legislation put in place over the years from 1897 designed to control Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and how the land rights legislation was a step towards recognizing the damage done to Indigenous communities by past legislation and actions that separated Communities from their cultural, spiritual, ceremonial and economic base – the land.

The guide includes extensive activities that encourage students to analyse the impact of white civilisation on Indigenous Australians, including many opportunities to discuss the values and ethics of white people working in these communities and the challenges facing health workers in particular.

Curriculum Links:
Crossing the Line has relevance for senior secondary and tertiary students of:
• Indigenous Studies
• Australian History
• Health
• SOSE / HSIE
• Legal Studies
• Media Studies
• English
• Medicine
• Nursing