-
No housing without jobs, says former Minister
Housing should not be provided to remote Aboriginal communities where people are unable to pay rent or service a mortgage, according to former Labor Minister Gary Johns. Writing in a paper released today by the Menzies Research Centre, Dr Johns argues that money spent on remote community housing, while “generous and well-targeted”, has resulted in […]
-
WA housing in need of urgent upgrades
According to a government audit, Aboriginal housing in outback Western Australia is in need of a $540 million upgrade. The audit found that over 90 per cent of the 2,400 houses that were inspected in remote Aboriginal communities in WA required urgent upgrade work. The costs of the upgraded averages out at more than $225,000 […]
-
Blueprint Presented.
The Close the Gap coalition has presented the Federal Government and Opposition with a set of National Indigenous Health Equality Targets to address the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. “The targets are specific, time-bound commitments that will keep us on track to close the gap,” says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander […]
-
New health services announced
Australian families will have access to a whole range of new health services – including a $150 voucher for teen dental care, a free health check for kids about to start school and a guide to kids’ health and development for parents under a new initiative announced by the Federal Government. New health services include: […]
-
Young Australians encouraged to enrol to vote
The Minister for Youth, Kate Ellis, is urging young people to ensure they are enrolled to vote as part of the Australian Electoral Commission’s national Enrol to Vote Week. http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/enrol_to_vote_week.htm National Enrol to Vote Week runs from July 28 to August 3. This year’s event highlights the importance of enrolment outside of federal election years, […]
-
NT govt pledges 11 million to Indig education
One week into its election campaign, The Northern Territory government has promised $11.7 million over five years to employ 20 early childhood educators. NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson says he wants to boost Aboriginal literacy and numeracy and also wants the educators to improve health standards and “general wellbeing”. The NT heads to the polls […]
-
PM holds community cabinet in Yirkalla
Surrounded by children from his community, Galarrwuy Yunupingu today handed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a petition on behalf of 13 of Arnhem Lands’s most senior traditional men calling for their “self-evident” rights to be recognised in the Constitution. In Arnhem Land for a historic cabinet meeting, Mr Rudd said the Government would “give attention to […]
-
Brough calls for independant review
Former federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough has joined the chorus for an independent review of how the Northern Territory Government spends federal grants. Accusations the NT Government annually misspends hundreds of millions of dollars meant for remote and regional Aboriginal communities, on Darwin centric projects, has been denied by Territory Treasurer Delia Lawrie. Brough […]
-
‘Historic’ opportunity on native title, McClellan
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClellan has described a meeting of commonwealth and state government ministers in Perth as an “historic opportunity” to advance the interests of Indigenous Australians. Ministers responsible for native title met today to discuss a planned overhaul of native title law, which Mr McClelland believes will make it simpler and more effective in […]
-
Indigenous Community Festivals for Education Expanded
The Minister for Education today announced that more Indigenous communities will have the opportunity to participate in community festivals in 2008. The Australian Government provides $3.05 million annually under the Community Festivals for Education Engagement program to support targeted events that encourage school attendance, retention and healthy lifestyles for all young Australians, in particular Aboriginal […]
-
New bill waters down Howard lease scheme
A bill was passed in federal parliament yesterday that will water down the Howard Governments controversial 99-year lease scheme for Aboriginal communities. The lease scheme was introduced by the coalition in the hope it would stimulate economic development in Northern Territory townships. The Tiwi Island township of Ngui however was the only community to sign […]
-
Protests mark intervention anniversary
The first anniversary of the Northern Territory intervention has been marked by protest in nine Australian cities. Among the protests was a call for the Federal Government to invest $1 billion to help fix problems in Aboriginal communities, and for a new national Aboriginal advisory body to be established. In Canberra, representatives from the Aboriginal […]
-
Calls for sensible approach to native title
While there has been great success in native title in Western Australia, the government still has a “conceptual problem” with native title over areas such as cities or mining areas, South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council CEO Glen Kelly said today. Mr Kelly was speaking in response to a speech by Deputy Premier, the […]
-
Budget delivers $332.8 million toward Indigenous health
The Australian Government is investing $334.8 million towards closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation. Measures include $101.5 million extra funding for maternal and child health services. By addressing health issues early in life, these interventions can deliver significant progress in closing the gap. These initiatives include: an additional […]
-
SNAICC Chairperson blasts budget
SNAICC Chairperson, Muriel Bamblett, AM, said today that, “after raising expectations that they would do whatever it takes to the close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children the government has not made the necessary commitments to early learning and childcare. We need to close the gap between the pre election promises and the progress.” […]
-
Health organisations to meet NSW Govt
Indigenous health organisations will meet with The Hon. Minister Paul Lynch, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Mr. Greg Aplin MP, Shadow Spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs, at Parliament House on Thursday April 10 to encourage the NSW Government to release their plans and timeframes to achieve Indigenous health equality in line with the Close the Gap […]
Read previous Government stories from our archives: