Social Justice Report 2003: SUMMARY SHEET TWO: GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR RECONCILIATION
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SUMMARY SHEET TWO: GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR RECONCILIATION
During 2003, the government's approach to
reconciliation has continued to be restricted to measures that fall within
its 'practical' reconciliation approach. This has the consequence of there
being a partial framework for progressing reconciliation with significant
issues of unfinished business left in abeyance. The report establishes
that progress in advancing 'practical' reconciliation over the course
of the year has been variable.
'The statistical data indicates that there has
been limited progress over the past five years in achieving the central
purpose of practical reconciliation, namely improved Indigenous well-being.
Of particular concern is the fact that the disparities that exist between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians have remained substantially
the same, or have widened over the past five and ten years. Indigenous
Australians also presently endure health standards worse than those in
some so-called 'third world' countries. The lack of progress in achieving
substantial improvement in Indigenous well-being is also in marked contrast
to outcomes in similar settler countries such as the USA, Canada and New
Zealand' (p54).
2003 saw the development of significant measures
for advancing reconciliation within the framework of the Council of Australian
Governments. The national reporting framework on Indigenous disadvantage
and whole-of-government trials under COAG (see further summary
sheet ) are in fledgling stages and there are a number of issues
that remain to be addressed before success is assured.
'These initiatives have not, however, been backed
up by a range of other commitments and processes that are necessary to
ensure the long-term sustainability of improvements in the well-being
of Indigenous peoples. There remains an absence of an appropriate national
commitment to redressing Indigenous disadvantage, sufficiently rigorous
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and benchmarks with both short-term
and longer term targets agreed with Indigenous peoples. There are also
critical issues relating to the depth of inequality experienced by Indigenous
people, the size and growth of the Indigenous population and under-resourcing
of services and programs to Indigenous peoples that cannot continue to
be ignored if there is to be any genuine improvement in Indigenous peoples'
circumstances.
Ultimately, the process of practical reconciliation
is hampered by its lack of a substantive action plan for overcoming Indigenous
disadvantage in the longer term, with short-term objectives to indicate
whether the rate of progress towards this goal is sufficient.
The failure of the government to address these
factors as part of its practical reconciliation approach reflects a fundamental
flaw in the process. By committing to provide full access to citizenship
entitlements and nothing more, practical reconciliation is a 'blank cheque'
and amounts to a commitment into the foreseeable future to pay the increased
economic and social costs associated with Indigenous disadvantage. In
relation to employment alone, this cost is estimated by the Centre for
Aboriginal Economic Policy Research to rise to the vicinity of 0.5 to
1% of gross domestic product within the decade.
At this stage, it is not possible to foresee a
time when 'record levels of expenditure' of the Commonwealth on Indigenous
services will not be necessary. It is also not possible to foresee a time
when a continuation of the current approach will result in significant
improvements in the lives of Indigenous peoples. Practical reconciliation
does not have a plan for overcoming rather than simply managing
Indigenous disadvantage.
'Ultimately, deficiencies in monitoring and evaluating
processes for reconciliation indicate that there are problems of accountability
of governments for their contribution to reconciliation. This lack of
accountability allows governments to unilaterally establish the boundaries
of issues that they will address in the first place and then to avoid
public scrutiny when material improvements in Indigenous well-being are
not achieved and sustained. A number of recommendations have been made
throughout the course of Chapter 2 of the Report to address this situation'
(pp55-56).