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Aboriginal Politics Hits Crisis in Australia

By Belinda Goldsmith

18 June 2003 - A crisis in Australia's key indigenous group is spilling over into other areas of black politics, hampering Aborigines from tackling horrifying rates of disease, abuse and neglect, a new report said on Wednesday.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was set up in 1990 to be run by Aborigines as the primary deliverer of programs and services to indigenous communities, which remain the most disadvantaged group in Australia.

But a government-commissioned report found ATSIC was failing as it lacked vision, strategy and had insufficient understanding of government to drive a policy agenda.

"After more than 12 years, ATSIC has reached a crisis point in respect of its public credibility and with its indigenous constituency," said the report, compiled by an independent panel.

"Great concern is being expressed that this is spilling over from ATSIC and adversely impacting on other areas."

The report warned that the commission -- set up amid international pressure for self-determination -- had to be radically changed to become a "positive force" or face irrelevance or oblivion.

A constant stream of reports have painted a bleak picture of Australia's 400,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, who make up about two percent of Australia's 20 million population.

Aborigines die about 20 years younger than other Australians and are battling endemic drug and alcohol abuse as well as high rates of imprisonment, unemployment and welfare dependency.

Campaigns to get an apology for past injustices inflicted on the nation's original inhabitants and to seek reconciliation between black and white Australians have so far failed with the conservative government firmly opposed to an apology.

The commission has been in the spotlight due to legal action against its chairman Geoff Clark, fighting assault and rape claims. Indigenous Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock, who recently decided to strip ATSIC of its A$1.1 billion ($750 million) budget, said the government needed to review the legislation that set it up if the group was to have an effective voice.

"Indigenous Australians are not being adequately represented or empowered at present," Ruddock told reporters.

He refused to rule out scrapping ATSIC but acknowledged the report noted there was also overwhelming support for an effective national indigenous body while the delivery of its services should be handled locally.

The report will form the basis of more public consultations with a final report to be given to the government in September.

Australia's sole indigenous national politician, senator Aden Ridgeway, urged the government to adopt a regional model for ATSIC so services and decisions were made locally.

But Sam Watson, an Aboriginal activist from the eastern city of Brisbane, was not convinced ATSIC could regain people's trust.

"If they closed ATSIC down tomorrow, it would be one of the best things that ever happened to the black community," he said.

Source: Reuters

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