Aboriginal affairs

The NSW government has awarded 19 Aboriginal groups $860,602 to fund projects that support the continued teaching of Aboriginal languages in the state.

The South Australian government is reportedly planning a process to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

A law firm estimates up to 6000 NT members of the Stolen Generation are eligible for a class action launched against the federal government this week.

Current environmental laws do not fully support the rights of Indigenous Australians in decision-making, reflecting a ‘culture of tokenism and symbolism’ rather than inclusion, the review found.

A parliamentary committee has called on the federal government to partner with state and territory governments as well as First Nations people to develop a strategy to tackle long-standing food security issues in remote Indigenous communities.

Priority actions under the plan include transferring claimable Crown Land to Local Aboriginal Land Councils, and increasing Aboriginal people’s skills and economic participation through government contracts.

A new report highlights the need for a ‘bottom-up’ approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in decision-making and policy design, to improve life outcomes for their communities.

The latest audit found NIAA’s administration of the two IAS programs has been ‘largely effective’ but highlighted a range of issues that need to be addressed.

Aboriginal affairs minister Gabrielle Williams and assembly co-chairs Geraldine Atkinson and Marcus Stewart will meet virtually to begin the negotiations, which they have said would mark a ‘historic moment’ on Victoria’s path to Treaty.

All state and territory governments have signed up to the targets set out by the historic National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

Ray Griggs notes the threat to remote Indigenous communities has not changed, and it’s just that the measures taken early on in Indigenous communities were effective.

The Productivity Commission has published a draft Indigenous Evaluation Strategy to help all federal government agencies improve the evaluation of policies and programs affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Current approaches by governments to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not good enough, according to PC chair Michael Brennan. “It […]