Make Indigenous Poverty History Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Target 10: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into mining and land use agreements and reverse the loss of environmental and cultural resources

• Indicator 27:  Mining agreements are formulated with free and prior informed consent of the Traditional Owners.
  
  
• Indicator 28: That Mining agreements have clear and obvious benefits to communities, now and in the future.  
  
  
• Indicator 29: That Land Rights are protected and not watered down.

Target 11: By 2015 to provide adequate and safe housing

• Indicator 30: Significant increase in the rate of home ownership to equal that of non – Indigenous Australians. 
  
  
• Indicator 31: Provision of new housing to ensure a reduction in the rate of overcrowding to zero. 

Target 12: By 2015 to create safe environments in which to live

• Indicator 32: A reduction in the incidence of violence: assaults and murder.
  
  
• Indicator 33: A reduction in the number of child abuse substantiations.

MINING

A large proportion of mines in Australia are close to or on Aboriginal lands. In the past Aboriginal people have not benefited from the development of mining on their lands. Their sacred sites have been demolished and their land has been forever changed.

The Federal Government claims that: “A legislative and commercial framework has been established to provide employment opportunities and other benefits for Indigenous people and increase the protection and environmental management of land of cultural significance to Indigenous people.” (http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/indg_mining.html)

However Non – Government Organisations (NGOs) who are monitoring the impacts of mines are less positive about the environmental, social and economic effects that mining has on communities. For example The Minerals Policy Institute commenting on the release of the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee’s report ‘Regulating the Ranger, Jabiluka, Beverley and Honeymoon uranium mines’ said

“The report shows that both the company and Federal Government regulators have allowed hundreds of contamination incidents to go unreported and unmitigated to the detriment of the World Heritage Area” http://www.mpi.org.au/campaigns/protected/senate_wha/

We must ensure that mining:

• Does not desecrate the sacred sites and traditional lands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• That mining operations only proceed with the free and informed consent of the traditional owners.
• Does not cause environmental degradation.
• Does not impact negatively on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
• Provides economic, social and cultural empowerment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. 

Land Rights

In 2005 the debate about Land Rights in Australia has intensified as commentators link changes in land rights to development options for Aboriginal communities. There are several concerns about this.  The Prime Minister says that:

“I believe there is a case for reviewing the whole issue of Aboriginal land title, in the sense of looking more towards private recognition … I certainly believe that all Australians should be able to aspire to owning their own home and having their own business.” http://www.antar.org.au/

Others are concerned that this is an attempt to water down the Land Rights Act and diminish the power of the Land Councils.

There is particular concern about the direction debate in the absence of a representative body to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander views are properly heard.

Oxfam Australia recently released a report on this debate in order to inform the public. It is available at http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/indigenous/index.html

HOUSING

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to be renting than purchasing or owning a home. Inadequate housing such as overcrowding and inadequate utilities can adversely affect people’s health and wellbeing.

In 2002 there were an estimated 165,700 Indigenous households of which 30 % were home owners or purchasers, 38 % were renters or some form of social housing and 28 % were private or other renters. This is compared to all Australian Households where 70 % were home owners or purchasers, 6 % were renters of social housing and 21 % were private or other renters (ABS AIHW 2005)

Indigenous peoples are less likely to own their own home in urban centres than in remote areas. This also reflects the type of tenure available to people on traditional Indigenous lands.

According to the 2002 NATSISS social survey the Census is not accurate. In fact 70 % of Indigenous people live in rental accommodation in 2002 (HREOC).

Housing and Overcrowding

A measure of overcrowding is the availability of bedrooms for household residents.
The Steering Committee for Government Service Provision has reported that Indigenous peoples were 5.6 times more likely to live in overcrowded houses than non – indigenous people. This rate rises to 18.8 times the non – indigenous rate in very remote areas.

Households requiring an extra bedroom, by Indigenous Status and remoteness 2001 (SCRGSP 2005)

VIOLENCE

According to the ABS Indigenous women are 28.3 times more likely to be hospitalized for assault than non – Indigenous women. Deaths from assault are also higher.

Indigenous people are six times more likely to be murdered than non indigenous people. (SCRGSP 2005). In the Northern Territory the leading cause of death for Aboriginal women is homicide (Bell in a speech to HREOC forum16/09/2005). That is an outrageous statistic; more of our women are being murdered than are dying from illness or even through car accidents.

From 1999 – 2000 to 2002 – 2003 domestic altercation was the major motive (42.5 per cent ) for most Indigenous homicides and continued to be throughout the four year period. Most Indigenous homicides involved persons who were unemployed at the time of the homicide. In 2002 / 2003 91.2 per cent of both victims and offenders were unemployed. There has been a decline in the proportion of Indigenous homicides where both victim and offender were drinking from 72.5 per cent in 1999 – 2000 to 64.7 per cent in 2002 – 2003 (SCRGSP 2005)

According to the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision violence and criminal behaviour are part of the cycle of disadvantage. The ABS 2002 NATSISS demonstrated the interrelationship between victimization and other areas of social concern.

The proportion of Indigenous people who reported being a victim of violence increased from 13 per cent to 23 per cent between 1994 and 2002. Both Indigenous men and women experienced more than double the victimization rates of other women and men in 2002 (SCRGSP 2005).

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

In 2003 – 2004 the rate of Indigenous Children who were the subject of a substantiation was three times the rate for other children (excluding NSW which could not provide substantiation data) (SCRGSP 2005).

UNICEF has reported that Australia’s Indigenous children are amongst the most vulnerable to abuse and early death. A key cause of this abuse is the prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse amongst Indigenous adults.

The number of substantiations per 1000 Indigenous children has increased in most jurisdictions and is higher than for non – Indigenous children.

IMPRISONMENT AND DETENTION RATES

Over representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system is well documented. The 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody identified links between the formal education system, child welfare practices, juvenile justice, health and employment opportunities as contributors to the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal people in police and custodial facilities (SCRGSP 2005).

RESOURCES

UNICEF - http://www.unicef.org/

Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2005 - Indigenous Report
Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (SCRGSP)
Productivity Commission, Canberra.
http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/indigenous/keyindicators2005/index.html

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2002, Linacre, S, Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2004. Catalogue Number 4714.0
http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/4F382B35C996604BCA256EBC000170BA?Open

Mining
http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/indg_mining.html
www.mpi.org.au

Land Rights - http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/indigenous/index.htmlhttp://www.treatynow.org/

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