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Australia hides a 'failed state'

INDIGENOUS Australia is a "failed state" within the nation, two former federal public servants conclude in a scathing critique of how the country deals with Aboriginal affairs.

They say that just as Australia tells Pacific countries they should reform their governance practices, so Australia "must itself get serious about this within its own borders if indigenous disadvantage is not to continue to worsen and adversely affect our national reputation and self-confidence".

They also call for an indigenous policy reform commission to drive sustained, national change.

Neil Westbury and Michael Dillon were both senior officials in the Prime Minister's department and they have most recently worked in the Northern Territory administration.

In a chapter for a forthcoming book, they call for changes in the way programs are delivered, and point to the difficulties imposed by the operation of the federal system. They also highlight the problem of the "progressive disengagement" of governments from direct involvement in remote Australia, and the need to acknowledge indigenous cultural perspectives in designing and delivering programs.

The existence of parallel delivery of services for indigenous and other citizens, while once warranted, may now be a major reason for indigenous people getting lesser services, they argue.

Federal financial relations operate to disadvantage remote regions because they do not adequately assess the needs for capital in these areas. In remote Australia, basic services normally provided by government are either not delivered or only partially provided.

"It is clear that to the extent that Australian institutions do not engage with indigenous citizens and fail to recognise the differing cultural perspectives that apply when implementing their policies and programs, they are thus doubly ineffective in addressing disadvantage."

They say a comprehensive reform agenda is beyond the capacity of federal, state and territory ministers for indigenous affairs. A fundamental long-term strategy requires the commitment of the Prime Minister, premiers and chief ministers, and should be done through the Council of Australian Governments.

Meanwhile, allegations that hundreds of Victorian Aborigines had wages and entitlements stolen from them over decades must be urgently investigated by the State Government, a federal parliamentary committee says.

Indigenous Victorians suffered government controls over their employment and pay in a similar way to Aborigines in other states where it has been proved that wages were stolen, evidence to the committee suggests. These controls included rules that "half-caste" boys be made apprentices or sent to work on farms, while girls be sent to work as servants.

Aboriginal workers could have their terms of employment dictated by the Victorian Government, while their wages could be paid to a guardian who was meant to use the money for the benefit of the person or their family.

With ANNABEL STAFFORD

from todays 'the age'