Social Justice Report 2006: Media Release - Government approach to Indigenous affairs seriously flawed
Social Justice Report 2006
Media Release
Government approach to Indigenous affairs seriously flawed
14 June 2007
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma has called on the federal Government to address serious flaws in their Indigenous affairs programs and services.
“It is clear to me that there are serious problems with the federal Government’s new whole-of-government arrangements in Indigenous affairs. The government has promised much in the way of accountability and progress on Indigenous issues, but has little to show for this over the three years since it abolished ATSIC,” Commissioner Calma said.
The Social Justice Commissioner’s latest Social Justice Report was tabled in federal Parliament today. The report, produced annually, considers the impact of government activity on the exercise and enjoyment of Indigenous people’s human rights.
“Current federal Government policy treats Indigenous people as ‘problems to be solved’ rather than as active partners in creating a positive life vision for our communities,” Mr Calma said.
“The irony is that this fosters a passive system of policy development and service delivery, while at the same time the government is criticising Indigenous peoples for being passive recipients of government services.
“What has emerged since the demise of ATSIC is a system of service delivery that lacks capacity for Indigenous peoples to participate in decision-making that affects their lives. While there are broad commitments to overcoming Indigenous disadvantage, there is also an absence of a strategic focus detailing how government activity will contribute to this most important and significant challenge.
“The outcome is bad policy that lacks an evidence base. It is also not meeting standards set out by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on policy implementation and released in late 2006 (in partnership with the Australian National Audit Office).”
Commissioner Calma said there were two major problems identified in this Social Justice Report.
“First, the federal Government has consistently emphasised that engagement with Indigenous peoples is a central requirement for the new arrangements to work. But in practice, the new arrangements are a top-down imposition – with policy set centrally and unilaterally by government and then applied to Indigenous peoples,” Mr Calma said.
“There has been no discernible progress in advancing mechanisms for Indigenous people to participate at the regional level, despite it being stated government policy for regional engagement mechanisms to exist.
“There is also a lack of implementation of the commitments made by the government. This lack of effective participation of Indigenous peoples in the new arrangements is a fundamental flaw in the federal Government’s approach to Indigenous affairs and will continue to undermine the ability of government to meet its commitments.”
The Commissioner said the second main problem identified in the report was that while the government was increasingly emphasising the importance of increasing access to mainstream services for Indigenous peoples, it had made little progress in achieving this.
“There is no overarching framework of benchmarks and indicators for how the government will improve access to mainstream services. Processes adopted through the existing whole-of-government approach are also unclear. This is even the case in urban areas where regional coordination offices have been operating since 2004,” Mr Calma said.
“The government is moving towards mainstream service delivery with changes to the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) and Indigenous housing, for example, but without a clear path to ensure that these services are more accessible. This Social Justice Report reveals significant problems with the system as it currently operates and its transparency. As a result, I am concerned that current changes could reduce government accountability and further disenfranchise Indigenous people.”
Mr Calma said the Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA) process provided some glimmers of hope for the government. In a survey of communities that have entered into these agreements, which was conducted for this report, most people were generally positive about the process and voiced improvements in their relationships with government.
However, community confidence and satisfaction in the SRA process was limited by the short-term nature of the funding, disproportionate accountability requirements, lack of flexibility once the agreement was signed and unrealistic expectations of the community party of the SRA.
Many communities saw the SRA process as a way to change the relationship with government to one that is based on addressing their needs and building their capacity to address ongoing problems. However, many communities have been left disappointed with the government not matching the expectations generated by the SRA process to date.
The Native Title Report was also tabled in Parliament today.
Both reports, a community guide, a media kit and other information are available online at www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/sjreport06/
The reports will be officially launched on Tuesday, 3 July in Sydney at an event open to the media and the general community.
Media contact: Louise McDermott (02) 9284 9851 or 0419 258 597