William Sanders

Citizenship and indigenous Australians : changing conceptions and possibilities

1. Introduction Nicolas Peterson and Will Sanders Part I. Historical Conceptions: 2. Nineteenth century bureaucratic constructions of indigenous identities in New South Wales Marilyn Wood 3. From nomadism to citizenship: A. P. Elkin and Aboriginal advancement Geoff Gray Part II. Contemporary Conceptions: 4. Indigenous citizenship and self-determination: the problem of shared responsibilities Tim Rowse 5. Welfare colonialism and citizenship: politics, economics and agency Nicolas Peterson 6. Representation matters: the 1967 referendum and citizenship Bain Attwood and Andrew Marcus 7. Citizenship and the CDEP scheme: equal rights, difference and appropriateness Will Sanders 8. Citizenship and the logic of resource development: indigenous responses to mining in the Gulf country David Trigger Part III. Emerging Possibilities: 9. Whose citizen? Whose country? Peter Read 10. Citizenship and legitimacy in post-colonial Australia Richard Mulgan 11. International law context Garth Nettheim 12. Sovereignty Henry Reynolds.

The CDEP scheme: Bureaucratic politics, remote community politics and the development of an aboriginal ‘workfare’ program in times of rising unemployment

Abstract This paper analyses the development of an Aboriginal ‘workfore’ program which operates in remote communities, the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme, from its conception back in the mid 1970s through to the present day. It identifies a number of distinct periods in the development of the program; a period of debate surrounding its conception, an initial pilot period of operation beginning in 1977 in which the scheme endured both significant criticism and severe budgetary and administrative problems, a period of review and hesitation from 1980 to 1983 and a period of expansion and success since 1984. These changing fortunes of the CDEP scheme are explained through reference to three underlying forces which have contributed to the development of the program over the years; bureaucratic politics, Aboriginal community politics in remote areas and the the rising levels of unemployment in the Australian community more generally.

Reshaping governance in Torres Strait: The Torres Strait regional authority and beyond

Getano Lui (Jnr) suggested in his 1993 Boyer Lecture that it was time to ‘build a new framework’ for the Torres Strait and that this might be negotiated in time for the centenary of the Australian Constitution in 2001. This paper examines possibilities for reshaping governance in Torres Strait, particularly the idea of Torres Strait regional government. It does so in the light of the history of settlement and contemporary population characteristics in the Strait and also the history and development of local and regional structures of political representation. It pays particular attention to events leading up to the establishment in July 1994 of the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TRSA) within the Commonwealth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ASTIC). Under the labels of other authorities, the marine environment, constituency and confederal representation, it also examines some key issues which are likely to arise in attempts to move beyond the present structures towards fuller regional g...

Participation and representation in ATSIC elections: a ten-year perspective

This paper examines participation and representation in ATSIC elections over the 10 year period since 1990. It attempts to identify patterns of participation and representation that seem to be emerging and what these might suggest about ATSICs operation. By examining numbers of nominees compared to positions available, the paper suggests that ATSIC elected office has been fairly keenly and consistently sought and competed for by Indigenous people, though there may have been some slight initial reticence in the 1990 elections. By examining voter numbers and voter turnout, the paper suggests that voter participation nation-wide rose slightly from 1990 to 1996 and then largely stabilised in 1999. It also suggests that there have been significant variations from this national pattern at State and Territory levels and it explores some reasons for this. The paper also examines voter numbers and voter turnout at the ATSIC regional level since 1993 and finds that there has been much higher voter turnout in the sparsely settled regions of northern Australia and much lower voter turnout in the southern and urban areas. This is explained in terms of ATSIC program and expenditure priorities and in terms of polling place access. The final two sections of the paper examine the representation of women and Torres Strait Islanders among ATSIC elected representatives. Both are seen as significant issues which should be of some ongoing concern within ATSIC, alongside the issue of the southern/northern difference in voter participation.

Torres Strait Governance Structures and the Centenary of Australian Federation: A Missed Opportunity?

In his 1993 Boyer lecture, Getano Lui Jnr called for a change in the status of Torres Strait governance structures within the Australian federation, nominating the centenary of Federation on 1 January 2001 as a possible time for change. In 1996, the Commonwealth Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs initiated a parliamentary committee inquiry into greater autonomy for the people of the Torres Strait, which reported favourably in 1997. This report was not, however, greeted all that favourably by Torres Strait Islanders and it now seems unlikely that any significantly new governance structures for Torres Strait will be in place by the centenary of Federation. This paper attempts to explain why.

Coombs’ Bastard Child: The Troubled Life of CDEP

In the mid 1970s HC Coombs was a major promoter of the idea behind the CDEP scheme: that rather than pay lots of Aboriginal people in remote areas unemployment benefits it would be more constructive for them to be employed part-time by local Indigenous organisations to undertake socially useful tasks. From this simple idea was born one of the most significant and, in time, one of the largest Indigenous-specific programs Australia has seen, the Community Development Employment Projects scheme. The birth was not easy and neither has been the subsequent life of what I have called, with great licence, Coombs’ bastard child.

Coombs' bastard child: The troubled life of the CDEP Scheme

In the mid 1970s HC Coombs was a major promoter of the idea behind the CDEP scheme: that rather than pay lots of Aboriginal people in remote areas unemployment benefits it would be more constructive for them to be employed part-time by local Indigenous organisations to undertake socially useful tasks. From this simple idea was born one of the most significant and, in time, one of the largest Indigenous-specific programs Australia has seen, the Community Development Employment Projects scheme. The birth was not easy and neither has been the subsequent life of what I have called, with great licence, Coombs’ bastard child.

Changing Scale, Mixing Interests: Generational Change in Northern Territory Local Government

This article examines recent local government reform in the Northern Territory from two perspectives. The first is a quantitative perspective on population and finances, which focuses on the mixing of diverse interests in the recent changes. The second is a more observational perspective gained from working with one pre-reform local government and the larger local government that has replaced it. The article argues that the recent changes are generational in nature in three distinct and significant ways. It also argues that the greater challenge for the new local governments may be their vast geographic scale, rather than their mixing of diverse interests.

Sustainable governance for small desert settlements: learning from the multi-settlement regionalism of Anmatjere Community Government Council

In light of some basic desert demography, this paper examines governance patterns for small desert settlements. It traces policy histories which led to the emergence of highly localised, single settlement governance arrangements during the 1970s and ’80s. It also identifies the many pushes since within the Northern Territory local government system for more regional, multi-settlement governance structures. The paper goes on to examine the history of one such regional, multi-settlement arrangement in central Australia, the Anmatjere Community Government Council established in 1993. The paper details our work with this Council over the last 4 years on ‘issues of importance or concern’ to them. The paper aims to learn from the ACGC experience in order to inform the more radical restructuring of Northern Territory local government currently underway towards larger multi-settlement regionalism. It concludes with four specific lessons, the most important of which is that regionalism must build on single settlement localism.

Is Homeownership the Answer? Housing Tenure and Indigenous Australians in Remote (and Settled) Areas

This paper examines the relevance of recently floated policy ideas for extending homeownership to remote Aboriginal Australians. It argues that while the housing tenure system in more densely settled Australia is dominated by homeownership, this is not, and cannot realistically be expected to be, the case in remote areas. The paper uses data from the 2001 Census, organized by remoteness geography, to demonstrate the different character of the housing tenure system in remote Australia. The paper argues that homeownership in remote Aboriginal communities is a somewhat unrealistic policy goal, given the underlying income and employment status of Indigenous people in these communities. The paper also argues that there are better measures of Indigenous housing need and disadvantage in Australia than low homeownership rates. It briefly reports on one past failed experiment in Queensland to introduce homeownership to a remote Aboriginal community.