Foreword
On 27 May 2007, Australia celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum, which allowed the Commonwealth Government to make laws on behalf of Aboriginal Australians and to count Aboriginal people in the census. 2007 also saw the 50th Anniversary of the creation of NAIDOC. These important achievements in Indigenous affairs demonstrated that it is possible for significant change to be achieved in the way that government works with Indigenous people to pursue better outcomes. However, the release of the third Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators report (also in May 2007) highlighted the ongoing disadvantage experienced by many Indigenous Australians.
To address the ongoing level of disadvantage the Secretaries' Group gave particular priority during 2006-07 to early childhood development, safer communities and economic development. Examples of real achievements in these areas in 2006-07 include the successful Petrol Sniffing Prevention Strategy in remote Australia involving collaboration between government and business. Another good example is increased funding for housing and house maintenance in Indigenous communities which will help to address a key cause of much of the disadvantage experienced by Indigenous Australians.
The Secretaries' Group also continued its efforts to encourage and improve the accessibility of services for Indigenous people. While many indigenous specific programmes are still delivered by the Australian Public Service (APS), ensuring mainstream services are relevant and accessible to all Australians is a critical step towards delivering better services to Indigenous people.
As a critical element of improving service delivery, the APS also continues to assess and refine the design
and delivery of programmes for Indigenous people. The evaluation of specific programmes, in conjunction with strong policy coordination by the Secretaries' Group and ongoing efforts to reduce red tape, aim to make a real difference to Indigenous people. In 2006-07, evaluations included reviews of Indigenous Coordination Centres and Shared Responsibility Agreements. Lessons learned from the challenges faced and mistakes made along the way in such programmes provide the opportunity to build the capacity of the APS to achieve better outcomes for Indigenous Australians. In 2006-07, another important capacity-building step was the adoption of Reconciliation Action Plans by Commonwealth Departments.
In building the capacity of the APS, Secretaries place a strong emphasis on the need to consult with key stakeholders. I was very pleased that in 2006-07 the group worked more closely with the National Indigenous Council (NIC). Through this closer relationship, the NIC was also able to consult across the APS in order to generate and develop its ideas. Consultation such as this also raises the awareness across the APS of some of the broader issues affecting Indigenous Australians.
Learning and planning for the future has been one of the drivers of change encouraged by the Secretaries' Group in order to ensure success. The progress made in the last year demonstrates that positive steps can be made, but a great deal of work still lies ahead. The long term commitment to improve the lives of Indigenous people is one that the APS recognises and accepts. On behalf of the Secretaries' Group I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of those who have worked over the last year to address Indigenous disadvantage. Some of their achievements are outlined in the following pages.
Dr Peter Shergold
Chair
Secretaries' Group on Indigenous Affairs