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Closing the Gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians

Addressing Disadvantage in Remote Australia

This Budget continues our focus on providing better outcomes for Indigenous people living in communities across northern and central Australia. The appalling living conditions in remote Australia are the most visible and enduring evidence of past government failure. Building economic opportunities in these areas will also be a major challenge for our economic participation reforms.

The Government is providing substantial resources in this Budget to continue the measures begun in 2007 under the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER). Details are provided below under ‘Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory’. In addition, COAG has committed to major reforms in service delivery in remote Australia.

National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery

For too long remote communities have been the recipients of disjointed, ad hoc and uncoordinated actions and responses from governments at all levels. The Remote Service Delivery Strategy will change the way governments invest in remote areas, providing coordinated, concentrated and accelerated development across all levels of government.

Our benchmark will be to progressively deliver in communities or townships the facilities and services you would expect to have in other Australian towns of comparable size and circumstances.

Resources will initially be concentrated by the Australian and State and Territory Governments on the first tranche of priority locations across Australia.

These locations include 15 Northern Territory townships: Galiwin’ku, Gapuwiyak, Gunbalanya, Hermannsburg, Lajamanu, Maningrida, Milingimbi, Nguiu, Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Wadeye, Yirrkala, Yuendumu, Angurugu and Umbakumba. In Western Australia, priority locations will be Fitzroy Crossing and surrounding communities; Halls Creek and surrounding communities; and the Dampier Peninsula, focused on Ardyaloon and Beagle Bay.

The locations in Queensland are Mornington Island, Doomadgee, Hope Vale and Aurukun (together with continuing work in Mossman Gorge and Coen which are also part of the Cape York welfare reform trial). Amata and Mimili are the South Australian locations and Walgett and Wilcannia in New South Wales are also included.

In identifying where to concentrate government investment, COAG has developed a range of practical criteria including:

Governments will provide integrated engagement and service planning through a single interface. Conditions in communities will be mapped to provide a baseline, and detailed local implementation plans developed for each location in partnership with Indigenous people and other local stakeholders.

Another important aim – and the basis for any sustainable improvement – is to strengthen Indigenous leadership and governance and increase economic and social participation.

Communities and townships not initially covered by this strategy will continue to receive government support and services, including housing, employment services and CDEP. The intention is to maximise the role of priority communities as service hubs that support improved outcomes for both residents in those communities and those living in neighbouring areas.

Transforming these communities will require a two-way commitment to change. Governments will provide the resources and planning to build physical infrastructure and bring services up to standard. Communities and the individuals within them will, in many cases, have to work to change the way they function. Parents will be expected to take responsibility for their family wellbeing including their children’s health, safety and education.

The restoration of social norms is also a focus of the current welfare reform pilots being conducted around Australia: income management in the Northern Territory; Cape York Welfare Reform; and the Child Protection Measure in the Kimberley and in Cannington, Midland, Mirrabooka and Joondalup in Perth. Similarly, the School Enrolment and Attendance Measure being piloted at a number of locations in the Northern Territory is also aimed at increasing personal responsibility and improving the welfare of children.

Budget initiative: Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services

To deliver our remote strategy, the Australian Government is appointing a Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services to drive the implementation of reforms across a range of areas including service delivery, employment and housing. The Coordinator-General will work across all agencies and report directly to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

The Coordinator-General will also report to COAG annually on systemic issues arising from implementation of the remote strategy.

Focusing initially on the first tranche of priority communities, the Coordinator-General will:

The functions of the position will be supported by $9.0 million in funding over four years.

Budget initiative: National Indigenous Violence and Child Abuse Intelligence Taskforce

The Government is providing $5.5 million in 2009-10 for the National Indigenous Violence and Child Abuse Intelligence Taskforce. The measure will provide Government with unique intelligence to help decision makers address the challenges to effective disclosure, reporting and information sharing on crime in remote communities. It will improve access to information through the Australian Criminal Intelligence Database (ACID) for Australian Crime Commission stakeholders working in remote communities, and fund empirical research on service delivery for problem sexual behaviour in Australia.

National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing

Improved housing is central to our agenda for remote Australia. This is because decent housing is essential for protecting children, improving health, education and employment and restoring community norms.

Under the landmark National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing, the Australian Government is providing $1.9 billion over 10 years in new funding to four States and the Northern Territory. This will bring total funding for remote Indigenous housing to $5.5 billion over 10 years. This is the largest single outlay any government has made to address the living conditions of remote Indigenous people and will lay the foundations for major reform in remote communities.

The housing reforms will provide as many as 4,200 new houses and 4,800 major upgrades in remote communities. More than 9,000 Indigenous families will benefit from improved housing over the next 10 years. The first tranche of works is expected to see up to 980 new or replacement houses built and up to 2,500 houses refurbished.

Old housing models have not served communities well. The way we deliver housing and associated services in remote communities will change fundamentally. The Australian Government’s contribution will not depend on additional funding by the States and the Northern Territory. The agreement does, however, require the States and the Northern Territory to take on additional responsibilities, recognising their important role in driving change.

Under this new approach, the States and the Northern Territory have agreed to take responsibility for the management of housing assets. Australian Government funds will be used to upgrade and make good housing assets around the country.

The Australian Government is also working on a rigorous and planned approach to support responsibility being accepted by the States and the Northern Territory for municipal and essential services (such as water, power and sewerage) in remote areas. In the short term, the Australian Government will continue to fund $145 million over three years in municipal services to remote Indigenous communities pending the auditing of services and associated costs across Australia. The new arrangements will be finalised no later than 1 July 2012.

The new arrangements will require houses for Indigenous people to be properly managed, maintained and upgraded by State and Territory housing authorities or contracted community organisations on a regular and ongoing basis. Tenants will be expected to show increased personal responsibility for their houses and pay fair rent.

Also incorporated in this ground-breaking reform are:

Our housing reforms underpin all aspects of closing the gap in remote Australia.

Budget initiative: Eye and Ear Health

Many Indigenous children suffer from hearing impairment, due to persistent middle ear infections, which affects their educational achievement. Indigenous people are also at increased risk of avoidable blindness or vision loss through conditions such as trachoma.

The Australian Government is providing $58.3 million over four years to expand eye and ear health services to improve health outcomes as well as support education and employment outcomes.

The main components of this measure are:

Budget initiative: Mobile Dental Services

Poor oral health can affect a person’s education and employment and exacerbate other chronic diseases. Indigenous oral health is significantly worse than that of the general population. Indigenous children have twice the rate of tooth decay and are less likely to visit a dentist than other Australian children. Many Indigenous people living in regional and remote Australia do not have access to dental treatment facilities.

The Australian Government is providing $11.0 million over four years to pilot the use of mobile dental facilities to deliver dental care to regional and remote Indigenous communities.

Improving dental care for all Australians is a policy priority of this Government.

Budget initiative: Quality Assurance for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medical Services Pathology Program

The Australian Government is providing $3.8 million over four years to enable more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have access to pathology testing within their own communities, and assist in self-management of diabetes. The measure will increase access to pathology testing by expanding the number of health service sites from the current 120 up to 170.

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