Inquiry Into Petrol Sniffing in Remote Aboriginal Communities

John Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University. C entre for John Bern is a Professor and Director of the A boriginal South East Arnhem Land Collaborative E conomic Research Project (SEALCP) at the University of Wollongong. P olicy Kate Senior is an Honorary Fellow at SEALCP The Australian National University R esearch and a doctoral candidate at The Australian National University. Ngukurr at the Millennium at Ngukurr Rapid change arising from large-scale development projects can place severe strain on the physical infrastructure and Ngukurr at the social fabric of affected communities, as well as providing opportunities for betterment. The remote Aboriginal town of Ngukurr, together with its satellite outstations in the south- Millennium: A Baseline east Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory, faces the J. Taylor, J. Bern, and K.A. Senior and K.A. Bern, J. Taylor, J. prospect of such change as a result of mineral exploration Profile for Social Impact activity currently underway, instigated by Rio Tinto. This study, which is comprehensive in its scope, provides a synchronistic baseline statistical analysis of social and Planning in South-East economic conditions in Ngukurr. It emphasises several key areas of policy interest and intervention, including the Arnhem Land demographic structure and residence patterns of the regional population, and their labour force status, education and training, income, welfare, housing, and health status. J. Taylor, J. Bern, and K.A. Senior The result is an appraisal of Ngukurr’s social and economic life after a generation of self management and land rights, immediatly prior to a possible period of major introduced economic development based on mineral exploitation. Thus it presents both a summary of the development effects of post- assimiliation policy and the ‘before’ stage of a comparison- in-waiting. It forms a basis for social impact planning by establishing planning benchmarks across a range of key policy areas, and demonstrates the capacity that exists for NO.18 CAEPR RESEARCH MONOGRAPH rapid appraisal of remote Aboriginal communities. CAEPR RESEARCH Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research The Australian National University MONOGRAPH Research Monograph No.18 NO. 18 ISSN ‒ 18 ISBN Ngukurr at the Millennium: A Baseline Profile for Social Impact Planning in South-East Arnhem Land J. Taylor, J. Bern, and K.A. Senior Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research The Australian National University, Canberra Research Monograph No. 18 2000 First published in Australia 2000. © The individual authors and, in the work as a whole, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealings for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be directed to the publisher, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia. National Library of Australia. Cataloguing-in-publication entry. Ngukurr at the millenium: a baseline profile for social impact planning in south-east Arnhem land. Includes bibliography. ISBN 0 7315 5102 8 1. Social surveys – Northern Territory – Arnhem Land. 2. Social surveys – Northern Territory – Ngukurr. 3. Aborigines, Australian – Northern Territory – Ngukurr – Social conditions. 4. Aborigines, Australia – Northern Territory – Arnhem Land – Social conditions. 5. Social planning – Northern Territory – Ngukurr. I. Bern, John Edward. II. Taylor, John, 1953–. III. Senior, K., 1971–. IV. Australian National University. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. V. Title: Baseline profile for social impact planning in south-east Arnhem Land. (Series: CAEPR Research monograph (Australian National University. Centre for Aboiginal Economic Policy Research); no. 18). 361.25089915 Design and layout by Green Words & Images, Canberra Printed by National Capital Printing Foreword This monograph has its genesis in approaches made by Paul Wand, Vice President, Aboriginal and Community Relations, Rio Tinto Ltd to Professor John Bern of the University of Wollongong and to the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) at the Australian National University for expressions of interest in conducting long-term social and economic research in south-east Arnhem Land, given the prospect of mining development following exploration in the region. Subsequent discussions between these parties led to the establishment of two discrete, but related, research projects. The first was a three-year partnership between the Ngukurr community, Rio Tinto Ltd, and the University of Wollongong which established the South East Arnhem Land Collaborative Research Project (SEALCP) within its Institute of Social Change and Critical Inquiry. Following on from this, and in order to provide initial impetus to SEALCP, RioTinto engaged Dr John Taylor of CAEPR in May 1999 to undertake a baseline socioeconomic profile of the Aboriginal population of south-east Arnhem Land. This monograph combines the findings of Taylor’s baseline analysis with select results of a household survey conducted at Ngukurr in November and December 1999 by Senior and Bern of SEALCP, along with other data collected by Senior and Taylor from agency and local sources in late 1999 and early 2000. Historical material in the report draws on research carried out by Bern at Ngukurr between 1970 and 1988. The study reported here is a social statistical analysis of the remote Northern Territory town of Ngukurr. The baseline data presented represents the position at Ngukurr at the end of the twentieth century after a long period of settlement, including 60 years of church mission control and a generation of land rights and self management. References to an earlier comprehensive study of Ngukurr in the early 1970s, and to other more recent material, provide some comparisons with the current data and give some temporal depth to the work. Overall, the present study provides an important baseline for ongoing social impact planning research and serves as the basis for future comparisons. This monograph is published in the CAEPR Research Monograph Series in part because it uses John Taylor’s 1999 report to Rio Tinto and in part to utilise an established channel of publication. In our view it is important that this research is made widely available in a timely manner to demonstrate the usefulness of baseline information in situations where there is some probability of sudden development change. It also reflects the positive early outcome of a very fruitful collaboration between an Aboriginal community on one hand, and two university- based research centres, each bringing particular specialities to the collaboration. Professor Jon Altman Director CAEPR The Australian National University Professor John Bern Director Institute of Social Change and Critical Inquiry University of Wollongong August 2000 FOREWORD N iii Preface The study reported here is a largely synchronic social statistical analysis of the remote Aboriginal town of Ngukurr in the Northern Territory based primarily on a report to Rio Tinto by Taylor (1999a). It comes after a generation of self management and land rights and immediately prior to the possibility of major introduced economic development based on mineral exploitation. As such, it presents a summary of the development effects of post- assimilation policy and the ‘before’ stage of a comparison-in-waiting to follow in the event of large-scale mining. In the meantime its purpose is to contribute to social impact planning by outlining contemporary social and economic conditions as vital input to the wider ongoing research conducted by the South East Arnhem Land Collaborative Research Project (SEALCP). The central concerns of the partners to the SEALCP are to produce comprehensive historical and contemporary social, cultural, political and economic profiles of the region and to develop an understanding and appreciation of people’s attitudes and aspirations, including their reception of external changes. Material and cultural issues in the development of mining and other ventures present potential social impacts with the attendant overriding issue of how these social circumstances may be managed by and with the communities affected. As a collaborative venture, this study has drawn upon the goodwill and resources of numerous agencies and individuals, though it should be acknowledged that the Ngukurr community as a whole has facilitated the research process with its support and patience. Agency assistance has consisted largely of the provision of data and assistance with interpretation of these, but it has also extended to the facilitation of a field base in Ngukurr and cooperation in establishing meetings with key informants. In each of these areas, special thanks are due to the Yugul Mangi Community Government Council (YMCGC) while representatives of many other agencies, government departments and Aboriginal organisations have also greatly assisted. In alphabetic order these include the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC, Canberra and Katherine), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, Darwin), Batchelor College (Batchelor), Centrelink (Katherine), Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business (DEWRSB, Canberra),

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