Standing Committee on Social Issues

Debate resumed from 3 June 2009.

The Hon. GREG DONNELLY [2.30 p.m.]: I am pleased to be able to speak on the final report of the Standing Committee on Social Issues inquiry into overcoming indigenous disadvantage in New South Wales. This report is the culmination of an 18-month inquiry during which the committee received 105 submissions, conducted 13 public hearings, and held two public forums, three roundtable discussions and three informal discussion sessions. In order to hear from a wide range of people the committee visited Redfern and Bidwill in Sydney and Kempsey, Dubbo, Nowra, Griffith, Armidale and Broken Hill. The committee greatly appreciated the efforts of all those who came along and contributed to the inquiry. Without that participation the committee would not have been able to examine, as it was able to, the range of issues that must be considered when looking at indigenous disadvantage in New South Wales.

As a committee member listening to the heartfelt evidence of the witnesses I confess that my feelings were often conflicted. I would ask myself rhetorically: Why can these issues not be addressed and resolved once and for all? Is it not possible for indigenous communities to do more to help themselves? Why is it that as a white Australian I am not doing more myself to help my black brothers and sisters? Who is at fault and what are we doing about it? The questions kept coming, one after another. The committee heard about and saw a lot of the problems in Aboriginal communities. Nobody doubts that they exist and we are well familiar with them. However, time and again we heard stories and anecdotes of individual and community achievements and successes, spoken about with pride and hope. The human spirit and the ancient wisdom of the indigenous culture were there to be seen by all except those with the hardest of hearts. Throughout the inquiry the committee was told repeatedly that there was no silver bullet to overcome indigenous disadvantage. The issues the committee has addressed in the interim report and the final report are not new. The solutions to them also are not new. They involve indigenous and non-indigenous Australians working together, hard work and a long-term approach.

This final report addresses the themes underlying those issues for consideration. The main themes address the questions of accountability and responsibility, genuine partnerships, service delivery and cultural resilience. The report reflects on the Murdi Paaki Council of Australian Governments [COAG] trial, the Northern Territory Emergency Response and the relevance of international programs and initiatives in considering these issues. While this final report has been primarily about what governments can do, we all have a responsibility to make changes to the way in which we respect and work with each other and view the Australia in which we live and which we share. Long-term change in the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous people is everyone's responsibility and challenge. Governments at all levels have the primary responsibility to ensure that things happen and that policy and programs are financed and implemented. However, governments must not allow political or economic cycles to be the excuse for nice words but little or no implementation.

Genuine partnership between government and Aboriginal communities is fundamental to that approach. However, the committee heard from Aboriginal communities that they do not consider themselves to be genuine, equal partners in the design and delivery of programs and services. Evidence has often shown that localised solutions are the most appropriate and have the greatest chance of making an impact on indigenous disadvantage in a community. Coordination of services at the local level brings multiple benefits. For example, when there is a more culturally appropriate approach to indigenous communities there is less chance of duplication of services and indigenous ownership of the process will be heightened. Therefore, the committee recommended that New South Wales Government agencies engage Aboriginal communities to identify local problems and solutions and to tailor accordingly the programs that are delivered in a community.

Aboriginal communities should be asked what they need, or be able to say what they need, knowing that they will be listened to. They should have ownership of the strategies put in place to address disadvantage. If Aboriginal communities are to be responsible for meeting the objectives they set, they must be supported by Government and provided with relevant training and infrastructure so that they have the resources they need to achieve the outcomes. Being able to demonstrate success is important for a program to receive ongoing funding. However, there is tension between traditional measures of success and flexibility in measuring the outcomes that programs in Aboriginal communities are hoping to achieve. Ongoing work must be done to address this tension.

The effect of short-term funding associated with pilot programs leads to uncertainty and inefficiency as communities and organisations spend a significant amount of time attempting to meet accountability requirements and to identify new sources of funding. The committee therefore recommended that to militate against the effects of short-term funding the Government should commit to funding programs that have successfully completed a pilot for a minimum of five years. Constantly applying for funding is a considerable drain on the already stretched resources of both government departments and applicants. To facilitate the communities' sourcing of funds the committee recommended that the Government develop a whole-of government website containing comprehensive information on the funding sources that are available.

The criteria under which funding is available also can be a problem for some Aboriginal service providers. Strict criteria that are not sufficiently flexible to enable Aboriginal communities to address self-identified need for programs within their communities are an impediment to a true and equal partnership between communities and government. The committee therefore recommended that the Government, in consultation with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Aboriginal communities, review funding criteria for services to Aboriginal communities to provide greater flexibility and to promote programs that focus on Aboriginal communities' identified needs.

To halt the cycle of over-consultation and consultation fatigue that is felt by Aboriginal communities, the committee recommended that the Government require government departments and agencies that are involved in the delivery of services to Aboriginal communities to use representative structures that have been established by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs Two Ways Together partnership community program and engagement strategy.

The regional presence of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs will be critical to the success or failure of that program and engagement strategy. The committee is concerned that the 40 part-time partnership community officer positions that were announced during the inquiry will not be sufficient, and recommended that the number of positions be increased to adequately support the new structure. The committee also recommended that the Government should provide additional funding to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to implement this recommendation. While governments cannot dispense resilience, the way in which governments use resources can make a difference to cultural resilience. The goal of promoting resilience through projects that demonstrate and promote understanding and respect for culture is as meaningful and important as are other more tangible goals such as the provision of a building for dispensing medical services.

The framework to address indigenous disadvantage is there: the State Plan, Two Ways Together and the Interagency Plan to Tackle Child Sexual Assault in Aboriginal Communities 2006-2011. The tools are also there: Aboriginal community organisations, elders, government and non-government agencies, policies and programs. Following the national apology there is fresh hope that this country will redouble its efforts to attend to the issues that need and deserve our urgent attention. I am sure we all share that goal.

I appreciate that the New South Wales Government has responded to the committee's recommendations and I will leave it up to the committee's chair, the Hon. Ian West, to provide some reflections on that response. I take this opportunity to thank my fellow committee members for the way in which they all participated in this inquiry. I am sure that I speak on behalf of them when I say that we all now have a deeper understanding of issues and challenges facing our indigenous brothers and sisters and share a heightened sense of obligation in respect of doing more to address what needs to be done. I particularly thank the chair, the Hon. Ian West, for sensitively and thoughtfully guiding the committee through this inquiry.

I also thank members of the committee secretariat for their efforts in supporting the inquiry process and preparing this final report: Rachel Simpson, Simon Johnston, Glenda Baker, Lynn Race, Victoria, Pymm, Teresa Robinson and Elizabeth Galton. Particular thanks go to Emilia Lukeman and Chelsea Perry, Macquarie University students who undertook an internship with the committee during the second stage of the inquiry and made valuable contributions. I commend this report to the House.

The Hon. IAN WEST [2.39 p.m.]: I thank the members who have spoken in this debate for their kind words and note the unanimous support for the recommendations and their implementation, and the universal hope for a positive outcome from our interim and final reports. The committee is pleased that many of our recommendations are already being implemented. However, there is no doubt that the indigenous community's scepticism and cautious positive response to the chances of the recommendations being fully implemented are somewhat understandable, taking into account the past few hundred years of history. No doubt many in the indigenous community may expect this to be just another report that will gather dust on a shelf. I quote Mr Jack Beetson, the Chief Executive Officer of Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council, in my report and I quote him again here:

How many times do Aboriginal people have to keep telling? People keep asking and we keep telling, but nobody is listening to what we are saying and that is frustrating.

It is encouraging that the Executive Government has taken on board and embraced the committee's recommendations and responded to our final report presented to this House on 27 May 2009. It is now a question of whether these final recommendations will ever be fully implemented. I also commend the Minister's input and response to our inquiry. Minister Paul Lynch has been positive and supportive of our recommendations. The Minster is extremely well respected for his knowledge and deep commitment to the portfolio of Aboriginal Affairs. I know that Minister Lynch is fully committed to his portfolio—instinctively, intellectually and as the Minister.

The Government has committed itself in words, intent and resources. The indigenous community has been waiting for action, as we know, for far too long. All the elements are there for a real and meaningful partnership between the New South Wales Government and the first Australians. Hopefully, that meaningful partnership will extend across the length and breadth of New South Wales. Outcomes will be marked by more than simply a reduction in the 17-year life expectancy gap. There is a need for real, focused, radical change in the way governments interact with indigenous communities, and the response from the Government clearly indicates that it understands that issue.

The indigenous community has enormous talent, drive and will to succeed. What is needed now is a genuine connection and a drive by government agencies and the Premier and Cabinet to make sure the recommendations and the response from Executive Government, the Premier and Minister Lynch are implemented. It is important for all Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous, to appreciate and understand Aboriginal history and culture. It is what makes this country so special and unique. The committee hopes the Government and the indigenous community can work together through meaningful partnership to make a brighter future.

There must be a long-term focus and concerted effort by the Government. No-one can simply afford to wait around and expect this to happen magically. Overcoming indigenous disadvantage must be an integral part of the core business of every government department. That was central to our recommendations and was encompassed and agreed to in the response from the Executive Government through the Minister. These issues are dealt with comprehensively throughout the report, particularly in recommendations 1 to 9, which deal with the framework in which the State Plan and Two Ways Together should operate.

Recommendation 3 is key to a real commitment to a partnership with indigenous Australians, a partnership wherein the government of the day is both responsible and accountable for service delivery for indigenous Australians. Recommendation 3 requires the Premier to give a report to Parliament on the first sitting day of every year about the progress in overcoming indigenous disadvantage. The Government has indicated that this is a national responsibility of the Prime Minister—and currently the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is required to give such a report to Federal Parliament. I encourage the Premier to provide such a report to our Parliament as well.

No doubt the indigenous community will be watching these reports with a very keen eye. In the final analysis it will be the indigenous community, not the government of the day, that will be the judge of any commitment to overcoming indigenous disadvantage and closing the gap. As has been said before ad nauseam, any attempts to improve the lives of indigenous Australians must involve a real meaningful partnership, one in which both government and the indigenous community have clearly delineated roles. Time and again we have seen the imposition of government policies and programs over the real wishes, desires and concerns of indigenous people leading to the failure of previous government initiatives.

This Government's response has a clear focus on the value of working in meaningful partnerships. The Government's Partnership Community Program has demonstrated this. Through this program, project officers are supporting communities across the State to develop local governance bodies to work with government agencies. As the committee has identified, local indigenous communities must be the clear focus for the Government, and the Government acknowledges this. Each program or policy we employ must have a local focus and not be a broad-brush, one-size-fits-all approach as we have seen so many times in the past. Our actions will be multifaceted, concise and respectful of the individual situation of each community—responses and action based on the fundamental tenets of respect for and the dignity of the indigenous community, with a real commitment to improving the lives of disadvantaged indigenous members of our community through partnership not paternalism.

The prime driver in this partnership will be the Government and the prime motivator will be a real commitment. The Government currently provides the framework to address indigenous disadvantage through the State Plan and Two Ways Together. The tools are also there, as we have indicated—Aboriginal community organisations, elders, government and non-government agencies, policies and programs. The onus is now on the Government to drive these initiatives so this State can lead the way in overcoming indigenous disadvantage in Australia. Let us envisage that when Federal Parliament sits next year and the Prime Minister gives his annual report on this issue he can say that New South Wales is providing the example for real partnership, real dialogue, real improvement and real outcomes.

From participating in this inquiry it is clear to me that the indigenous community is one of personal pride and strength in the face of adversity and has a cultural resilience to be proud of. If there is any chance of fulfilling the goals that have been espoused by the committee in its recommendations it lies in the Government's responsibility for ensuring implementation. Although this physical document will inevitably just gather dust on a shelf, all members of the committee are adamant that the recommendations it contains must be implemented. On behalf of the committee I thank the Government and, in particular, Minister Paul Lynch for their positive response to our recommendations. The committee looks forward to the full implementation of the recommendations in the shortest time frame possible. I commend the report to the House.

Question—That the House take note of the report—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.