Overcoming Indigenous Exclusion: Very Hard, Plenty Humbug N D Westbury and M C Dillon
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OVERCOMING INDIGENOUS EXCLUSION: VERY HARD, PLENTY HUMBUG N D WESTBURY AND M C DILLON Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences CAEPR POLICY INSIGHTS PAPER 1/2019 Series note The Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) undertakes high-quality, independent research to further the social and economic development and empowerment of Indigenous people throughout Australia. For more than 25 years, CAEPR has aimed to combine academic and teaching excellence on Indigenous economic and social development and public policy with realism, objectivity and relevance. CAEPR maintains a substantial publications program, including Research Monographs, Discussion Papers, Working Papers and Topical Issues. The CAEPR Policy Insights: Special Series marks the Centre's 30th anniversary in 2020. This series focuses on assessing and taking stock of the past 30 years of Indigenous public policy, and discusses the development of policy over the coming decades. This Policy Insights: Special Series Paper has been internally peer reviewed. All CAEPR publications are available in electronic format for free download from CAEPR’s website: caepr.cass.anu.edu.au CAEPR is located within the Research School of Social Sciences in the College of Arts & Social Sciences at the Australian National University (ANU). The Centre is funded from a range of sources, including ANU, the Australian Research Council, industry and philanthropic partners, and Australian State and Territory governments. As with all CAEPR publications, the views expressed in this Policy Insights Paper are those of the author(s) and do not reflect any official CAEPR position. Professor Tony Dreise Director, CAEPR Research School of Social Sciences College of Arts & Social Sciences The Australian National University June 2019 Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research caepr.cass.anu.edu.au CAEPR LINKS Overcoming Indigenous Click here to open bookmarks, and to access quick links to the exclusion: Very hard, CAEPR website, including: • Discussion Papers plenty humbug • Working Papers • Research Monographs ND Westbury and MC Dillon • Topical Issues Neil Westbury has worked in Indigenous affairs since the early 1970s in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Victoria and the ACT. He is a former • Census Papers General Manager of Reconciliation Australia, former Director on the Indigenous Land Corporation, is currently Chair of the Machado Joseph Disease Foundation and a Director of Traditional Owners Funds Limited in Policy Insights: Special Series Victoria. He was formerly a Visiting Fellow at CAEPR. No.1/2019 Michael Dillon has worked for Indigenous communities in the Kimberley, and DOI 10.25911/5cff8369abd6d in senior bureaucratic roles related to Indigenous affairs in the Northern ISBN 978-1-925286-39-7 Territory and the Commonwealth. He has been an adviser to a number of Federal Ministers for Indigenous Affairs, was former CEO of the Indigenous An electronic publication downloaded Land Corporation, and is currently a Visiting Fellow at CAEPR. from <caepr.cass.anu.edu.au>. For a complete list of CAEPR publications, see Abstract <http://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/rese The systemic and structural issues that underpin the longstanding policy arch/publications>. failures of governments in Indigenous Affairs are central to the nation’s future. The strategic policy choices facing both policymakers and Indigenous Centre for Aboriginal Economic interests are complex and challenging. Policy Research Our aim is to provide a high level and accessible overview of the policy and Research School of Social Sciences political forces which operate in the Indigenous policy domain. We begin with College of Arts & Social Sciences an analysis of the lessons of the last 30 years which emerged from the The Australian National University nation’s experiment with a legislated Indigenous voice from 1990 through to the mid 2000s when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Front cover image: (ATSIC) came into existence, and was ultimately dismembered and Terry Ngamandarra Wilson, Gulach disbanded. We then turn to the current national debate on future Indigenous (detail), painting on bark, private policy around the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the proposals for a collection © Terry Ngamandarra, constitutionally entrenched national Indigenous Voice to Parliament and a licensed by Viscopy, 2016 truth telling process termed a Makarrata. We draw on the emerging literature on political settlements to develop the Suggested citation: argument that Indigenous exclusion is deeply structural in nature, and will not Westbury N and Dillon MC (2019), be easily reversed by a single policy or constitutional change. We examine a Overcoming Indigenous exclusion: number of case studies of systemic exclusion. It will require systemic reform, very hard, plenty humbug, Policy which given the risks will need to be pursued incrementally and sustained Insights Paper 1/2019, Centre for over time. We provide a high level overview of the steps leading to the current Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, state of play in constitutional recognition of Indigenous peoples in Australia, Australian National University, and make various suggestions for the design of the proposed Indigenous Canberra. Voice, drawing in the first instance on the lessons from the nation’s experience with ATSIC. We conclude that while greater inclusion in key national institutional frameworks will be challenging, it is also the only way forward that is truly in the national interest. Policy Insights Paper No. 1/2019 | Westbury, Dillon iii Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research caepr.cass.anu.edu.au Acknowledgments The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful comments of Will Sanders, Frances Morphy, Bill Gray and Fred Chaney on earlier drafts. While we have not taken on board all their suggestions, they have certainly helped us to make a stronger argument. Responsibility for the views expressed are of course ours alone. We would also like to particularly thank Denise McFayden for sub-editing and Hilary Bek from HB Editing Services for sub- editing and production services. It is also important to note this work was completed prior to the outcome of the Federal election held on 18 May 2019. Finally, we both owe a significant debt to the Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues we have worked with over the span of our careers. Nugget Coombs, whom each of us worked closely with at different times, has been a particular and long- standing inspiration. Nugget combined an interest in ideas and a mastery of administration and policy with a deep appreciation of the importance of placing the nation on an ethical and just foundation. Above all, this Policy Insights paper is inspired by the extraordinary resilience of the many Indigenous people we have worked with across Australia. Their contribution to the nation has been systematically ignored and under-appreciated. Their potential further contribution to the nation has been and continues to be systemically constrained. It would be national tragedy if the nation were not able to remedy this in the future. Policy Insights Paper No. 1/2019 | Westbury, Dillon iv Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research caepr.cass.anu.edu.au Acronyms ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions ADC Aboriginal Development Commission AIHW Australian Institute of Health and Welfare ALP Australian Labor Party ALRA Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cwlth) ANAO Australian National Audit Office ATSIC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission ATSIS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services ANU Australian National University CDC Commercial Development Corporation CDEP Community Development Employment Projects CEO Chief Executive Officer COAG Council of Australian Governments DAA Department of Aboriginal Affairs FCAATSI Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders GST goods and services tax IBA Indigenous Business Australia LNP Liberal National Party (Coalition) MPRC Murdi Paaki Regional Council NAC National Aboriginal Conference NACC National Aboriginal Consultative Committee NACCHO National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation NDIS National Disability Insurance Scheme NTA Native Title Act 1993 NGO non government organisation NAIF North Australia Infrastructure Facility RDA Racial Discrimination Act 1975 TSRA Torres Strait Regional Authority UN United Nations US United States of America Policy Insights Paper No. 1/2019 | Westbury, Dillon v Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research caepr.cass.anu.edu.au Contents Series note ii Abstract iii Acknowledgments iv Acronyms v Foreword vii Preface viii 1. The Indigenous Policy Challenge for the Nation 1 2. Lessons from ATSIC 20 3. Policy Responses to Indigenous Exclusion 35 4. Future Directions in Indigenous Policy 59 References 84 Policy Insights Paper No. 1/2019 | Westbury, Dillon vi Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research caepr.cass.anu.edu.au Foreword As the new Director of the ANU’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), I am keen to see the Centre continue to make a constructive and engaged contribution to the key policy issues facing the nation in relation to First Nations peoples. Since it was established almost 30 years ago, the Centre has evolved into a powerhouse of policy-relevant research, and CAEPR researchers have made significant contributions to the Indigenous affairs policy domain in fields as diverse as land