Australian Indigenous

This section of the Bulletin identifies recent reports and publications, including book chapters. If you are aware of material that would be appropriate for inclusion in this section please contact us.

• Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement national data reports 2003-04: state owned and managed Indigenous housing added 8 February 2005
• Data quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification, seven community services data collections added 6 January 2005
• Indigenous male offending and substance abuse added 2 March 2005
• Political visions: blindness prevention as a case study of community-government relations in Aboriginal health added 17 January 2005
• Regulating social problems: the pokies, the Productivity Commission and an Aboriginal community added 24 January 2005
• Report on Government services 2005 added 18 February 2005
• Sharing stories: exploring good practice for disability support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in rural and remote communities added 6 March 2005
• The economic value of wild resources to the Indigenous community of the Wallis Lake catchment added 22 March 2005
  

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2005)
Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement national data reports 2003-04: state owned and managed Indigenous housing.
Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

This report forms part of the Housing Assistance National Data Development Series and provides information from the 2003–04 Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement (CSHA) state owned and managed Indigenous housing data collection. The aim of the 2003 CSHA was to provide appropriate, affordable and secure housing assistance for those in greatest need. The report provides summary and performance indicator data which includes: affordability; match of dwelling to household size; low income; special needs; priority access to those in greatest need; direct costs per unit; occupancy rates; turnaround time and rent arrears.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Details of how to obtain the report (PDF - 286 KB) are available on the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2004)
Data quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification, seven community services data collections.
Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

This report examines the quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification data in seven community services data collections, and explores related issues. Analyses include, the extent to which Indigenous status was missing or not stated in each collection, and whether improvements have occurred over time. The identification of attributes associated with missing and not stated Indigenous status was intended to assist program managers to target efforts to improve the quality of Indigenous data. Variations in quality were also assessed according to particular client groups, for example by age, sex, service type and geographic location.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Details of how to obtain the report (PDF - 480KB) are available on the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website.

Brady M (2004)
Regulating social problems: the pokies, the Productivity Commission and an Aboriginal community. (Discussion paper no. 269/2004)
Canberra: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University

There are an estimated 300,000 problem gamblers in Australia, but it is unknown how many of these are Indigenous Australians, and published material on contemporary Indigenous gambling is lacking. This discussion paper provides evidence of gambling issues for Indigenous people, and reports on the first successful case - undertaken in South Australia in 1998 - of Aboriginal use of regulation to prevent the installation of electronic gaming machines. Details include how the Productivity Commission has dealt with Indigenous gambling, and conclusions from the South Australian case.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Details of how to obtain the report (PDF - 1.01MB - large file warning!) are on the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research website.

Gray MC, Altman JC, Halasz N (2005)
The economic value of wild resources to the Indigenous community of the Wallis Lake catchment. (Discussion Paper No. 272/2005)
Canberra: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research

This discussion paper develops and describes a research methodology used to estimate the extent to which wild resources provide economic benefits to an Indigenous community in coastal New South Wales. Activities associated with wild resources and their use include hunting, gathering, fishing, land and habitat management, species management and the maintenance of biodiversity. Economic benefits derived from the use of wild resources include: consumption of wild resources harvested; the use of wild resources as an input into something which is sold (e.g. a work of art); and employment resulting from connection with wild resources. Commissioned by the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), New South Wales (NSW) Government, the research objectives also included providing information to local government planners about the findings of any economic value of wild resources, and producing guidelines for local councils to help identify and value wild resources as part of coastal land-use planning decisions.

It was anticipated that the information provided would be of value to the NSW government’s Comprehensive Coastal Assessment process by quantifying one category of the economic value of natural resources in the study area. The Comprehensive Coastal Assessment process is concerned with collecting information on the value of different uses of coastal areas of NSW and developing decision-making tools and methods.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Details of how to obtain the report (PDF - 2.38MB large file warning!) are available on the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research website.

Kaplan-Myrth N (2004)
Political visions: blindness prevention as a case study of community-government relations in Aboriginal health. (Discussion paper No 10)
Melbourne: VicHealth Koori Health Research and Community Development Unit

This discussion paper is one in a series which summarise and discuss aspects of Indigenous health research. The paper outlines the history of eye health programs, including an overview of present blindness prevention initiatives in rural Victoria, and provides details of collaborative relationships between Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations and governments. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders including: Koori health workers; hospital liaison officers; nurses; policy analysts; executives of health services; health researchers; Koori bureaucrats; non-Aboriginal bureaucrats and politicians in regional, State and Commonwealth government.

Questions addressed in the discussion include:

• Who sets public health priorities?
• How do Koori communities participate in Aboriginal eye health?
• How is self-determination negotiated in Aboriginal health policy and programs?

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Details of how to obtain the report (169KB) are available on the VicHealth Koori Health Unit website.

National Disability Administrators (2004)
Sharing stories: exploring good practice for disability support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in rural and remote communities.
[Canberra]: National Disability Administrators

This report details the Sharing Stories project. The project was initiated by the National Disability Administrators to guide the development of a more effective national response to the planning, development, funding and delivery of services to rural and remote communities supporting Indigenous people with a disability. Nine organisations were selected on the basis that they showed elements of ‘good practice’ in providing support disability services. The organisations were based in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.

The key findings of the report detail:
• Perceptions of disability
• Kinship issues
• Socio-cultural issues
• Knowledge about rights and services
• Limited availability of services
• Limited access to services
• Lack of coordination between agencies and levels of government
• Workforce issues

Background information on disability among Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people is provided and a framework of best practice principles; innovative approaches from selected service delivery models to address these principles; lessons learned and implications for extended application of models to other service delivery environments are outlined.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

The report (PDF - 938KB) is available on the Northern Territory Government website.

Putt J, Payne J, Milner L (2005)
Indigenous male offending and substance abuse.
(Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice no. 293) Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology

This report compares Indigenous and non-Indigenous male offenders’ drug use, with the intention of identifying ways of preventing and responding to drug-related crime. It includes: details of socio-economic characteristics; offending and drug use histories; and an exploration of relationships between drugs and offending. Indigenous offenders reported higher levels of dependency on alcohol and cannabis than non-Indigenous offenders, and were more likely to attribute their offending to alcohol than to illegal drugs. It was concluded that the criminal justice system provides a unique opportunity for developing and implementing specific Indigenous interventions to reduce offending and drug use.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Details of how to obtain the report (PDF - 186KB) are available on the Australian Institute of Criminology website.



Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (2005)
Report on Government services 2005.
Canberra: Productivity Commission

This report on government services was produced by the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (SCRGSP). It includes separate information related to services for Indigenous people. The report has been published in two volumes: volume 1 contains information on education, justice and emergency management, and volume 2 contains information on health, community services and housing. The Indigenous health information provided in volume 2 refers to government policies and strategies, performance indicators, and statistics, including comparisons with the non-Indigenous population.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Details of how to obtain the report are on the Review of Government Service Provision website. The report and supporting tables are also available on CD-ROM.

Last updated: 31 March, 2005