Indigenous Australians
The Coalition | Labor | The Democrats | The Greens | Family First
The Coalition
Minister: Mal Brough (Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs)
Main policies include:
Increased spending in education and training
Community Development Employment Project
Work Skills Voucher
Federal Budget initiatives, totalling around $218 million in increased education and training funding, to support Indigenous Australians (announced May 2007) Includes: $15.1 million to convert around 200 Community Development Employment Project positions into jobs in the education sector
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Work Skills Voucher: $21.4 million over four years to fund projects aimed at attracting, engaging and supporting Indigenous adults in regional and remote communities to take up training opportunities in their local area.
June 2007: The Government announces its national emergency response to protect Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory as a result of the "Little Children are Sacred" report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sex Abuse.
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Labor
Shadow Minister: Jenny Macklin (Families & Community Services, Indigenous Affairs & Reconciliation).
November 23: Rudd said that a referendum on Aboriginal reconciliation, a separate Aboriginal treaty and a republican referendum would not occur in the first term of a Rudd Labor government, if at all. He said, instead, he will pursue practical outcomes for indigenous communities that "close the gap" between the living standards of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities.
November 6: Opposition indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said a Labor government would pay for 200 extra remote area teachers, build three new secondary boarding schools, upgrade remote health clinics and create four two-person sexual assault counselling teams to respond to cases in remote communities.
Main policies include:
- Indigenous Rangers Program
- Upgrade the Community Development and Employment Program
- Australian Federal Policing Plan
- Provide extra teachers for remote areas
Indigenous Rangers Program $90 million over five years to train and employ up to 300 new ranger as part of a broader Indigenous economic development program.
Labor intends to improve the Community Development and Employment Program (CDEP) to get more Indigenous people into non-CDEP jobs and give local business a chance to become economically viable.
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Australian Federal Policing Plan: Increase the number of Indigenous Australians into the ranks of the Australian Federal Police - as a part of a $200 million Australian Federal Policing Plan.
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Aboriginal people who hold down casual jobs to supplement their welfare payments could earn less than $4 an hour under changes introduced as part of the Federal Government's intervention in the Northern Territory.
Read the story - Changes "kill off incentive to work" published in The Australian on September 22.
Plan To Get Remote Aboriginal Children To Enrol In School: A Labor government will invest $30 million to provide teachers for the at least 2,000 Aboriginal children who are not enrolled in school - at all - in the 60 "prescribed communities" in the Northern Territory, it announced in July. The investment will fund an extra 200 teachers who are needed urgently to educate these 2,000 children.
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The Democrats
Spokesperson: Andrew Bartlett, Deputy Leader, Senator for Queensland (Family & Community Services)
Main policies:
Putting Our First Peoples First - Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage campaign
Aims to:
- achieve equality and parity in health
- ensure adequate and affordable housing
- provide better education and employment opportunities
Respecting Indigenous Australians campaign. Includes Indigenous Education.
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Indigenous Education campaign: Read more
Stolen Wages campaign: Read more
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The Greens
Spokesperson: Senator Rachel Siewert (Employment and workplace relations, Welfare, Indigenous affairs, Family and Community Services, Disabilities, Housing).
Indigenous Australians
The Greens Spokesperson: Senator Rachel Siewert
The Greens believe: "all Australians, including those living in remote communities, have an equal right to essential government services such as health, education, training, housing, community infrastructure, employment support, and policing".
Read the Greens policy on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
See Rachel Siewert on YouTube
Read their policies
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Family First
Spokesperson: Steve Fielding
Indigenous Australians
Family First
Family First believes it is a priority to rebuild the role of the family in indigenous communities. The party believes in working with communities to create partnerships with public and private sector leaders in key areas of service delivery; and that educational and employment opportunities are vital to the future living standards of Indigenous Australians.
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