MeSH and Australian Indigenous Communities

This proposal is supported by Health Libraries Australia, a group of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), and the ALIA Community on Resource Description (ACORD). The proposal is informed by terminology guidance and usage from the National Indigenous Australians Agency, the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and the Australian Capital Territory Council of Social Service (ACT CoSS), as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders

This decision is confusing, as Australian Indigenous populations of an entire continent are parcelled up with 'Other Pacific Islanders', along with the numerous other national and ethnic population groups that this MeSH term spans. Australia is not a Pacific Island (though we have very close ties with various Pacific Island regional organisations and fora). To include the two major groupings of Australian Indigenous peoples (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) under this MeSH heading is not only inaccurate and a misrepresentation, but also deeply harmful.
Use of MeSH terms in Australian catalogues such as 'Oceanic Ancestry Group' and now even more unacceptably 'Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander' is highly inappropriate and deeply offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with the potential to cause real distress to those encountering this term. It will also cause offence and confusion to library users of all backgrounds.
In 2021 Flanagin et al observed that "terminology, usage, and word choice are critically important, especially when describing people and when discussing race and ethnicity. Inclusive language supports diversity and conveys respect. Language that imparts bias toward or against persons or groups based on characteristics or demographics must be avoided." Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations have significant health problems that are poorly researched and are deserving of more focussed attention in their assignment of MeSH indexing. We need to ensure they are more appropriately described in research databases that rely on MeSH indexing.
It appears the National Library of Medicine changed the MeSH terms for 'racial groups' in the 2022 release to match the terms used in the US Census, which probably makes some sense for Americans but is far less helpful for the rest of the globe, especially where our ethnic categories don't match those used in North America. Going by the US Census Bureau's own definition, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians would not fit any of the listed categories.
The indexing of subject matter relating to Indigenous populations is problematic in several databases as indicated by Kelly  We write to propose a MeSH term change that better describes Indigenous Australians. In doing so we note the precedent set when the MeSH term 'Indigenous Canadians' was introduced in 2021. A comparable international thesaurus Emtree uses the inclusive term 'indigenous peoples'. However, feedback from local communities and stakeholders has indicated a firm preference for the term 'Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' over 'Indigenous Australians'. The former term is proposed here as a new MeSH heading, with the latter term included as an entry term.

Proposed term Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Scope note: 'The two groups of indigenous peoples of Australia. They include Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. These encompass many distinct peoples with unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs.'

Additional Proposals
Additionally, we urgently and strongly request that the concept 'Australoid Race', currently a narrower concept of 'Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander', have its scope note updated to reflect the outdated and highly offensive nature of this term, and emphasise that it should no longer be used in active indexing. We are interested in the potential of deleting this heading outright. We also propose a new narrower concept term 'Australian South Sea Islanders' be added to the existing term 'Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander'. South Sea Islanders are not indigenous to Australia, but are the descendants of Pacific Islanders kidnapped or otherwise coercively brought to Australia in the late 19 th century to work as indentured labourers on sugar plantations and in other primary industries.