Options for the future of Indigenous Australia

The Australian Parliament has recently apologised to the Stolen Generations and the Government has committed to closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage within a generation. But how do we create an Australia where all Indigenous people have the same range of opportunities and choices available to them as non-Indigenous Australians? And how can we meaningfully engage Indigenous Australians in creating the policies to move us towards that Australia?

How can we build a society which welcomes the contributions of Indigenous Australians to the nation’s strengths and diversity, where Indigenous Australians benefit from the best of all that broader Australian society has to offer them, yet also sustain a meaningful and enriching connection with their heritage?

How do Indigenous Australians want their cultures to be recognised and celebrated in the broader Australian identity and society? How can mainstream Australia be engaged in realising that vision?

How can government, the corporate sector, non-government sector and community groups such as volunteers engage better with Indigenous society in an ongoing way to build a stronger Australia? And how can we improve the capacity for Indigenous citizens to independently surmount the barriers of disadvantage?

There are appalling levels of disadvantage in remote Australia. The harsh climate and huge distances that make this country unique present real difficulties for service provision in remote areas. Given the rapid expansion of the Indigenous population Australia wide, and its extreme youthfulness, the challenge is more acute than ever.

Addressing the significant housing shortfall is a major starting point. What new approaches to the implementation of housing programs can overcome the problems of harsh climates and remoteness?

Where significant populations exist in remote Australia, we need the infrastructure to support communities – schools, shops and health services for a start. How should government make decisions about where this infrastructure is built for maximum effect? And how can we maximise the training and employment from these decisions?

The media spotlight is largely on the remote, yet three quarters of Indigenous Australians live in urban and regional Australia and also face significant disadvantage. How can we rectify this situation?

What sort of targeted initiatives have the best hope of achieving lasting change and reform in Indigenous communities in light of the demographic changes unfolding? How can we move beyond crisis interventions to a more sustainable footing? What should we realistically expect these initiatives to have achieved by 2020?

Education is a fundamental pre-condition to a person being equipped to choose the kind of life they want to live. If young Indigenous Australians have no comprehension of the wider world, they cannot make an informed decision about how to engage with that world. How can we improve the educational outcomes for young Indigenous Australians so that they can make these choices?

It could be argued that across broader Australian society, there exists a great deal of goodwill towards eliminating the appalling disadvantage experienced by Indigenous Australians. Yet at the same time, there remains uncertainty about how ordinary Australians can meaningfully engage with and recognise Indigenous Australia. This period immediately after the apology is the perfect time to be setting an agenda on these issues.

Background paper

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