Aboriginal People - Addressing Dependency in Australia

Cedric Wyatt

Most Australians see Aboriginals as living off the welfare system. This paper discusses the issues facing Aboriginal people and policy makers in addressing the problem of dependency, which has undermined their efforts to be self-determining.

Historically, the relationship between the government and Aboriginal people has been a progression from exclusion to dependency. Since the 1980s, in particular, there has been a rapid expansion in the financial resources available across a range of government agencies.

The results have been an increasing dependence of Aboriginal people on the welfare state, and the proliferation of government programmes and policies, resulting in fragmentation, overlap and inefficiencies in programme delivery. Overcoming dependency is critical to the future of the Aboriginal people and this paper takes the opportunity to reflect on past efforts and to consider new initiatives.

The two key strategies being developed by the Western Australian Government are to see all of government involved in services to Aboriginal people, rather than marginalised sections of government providing sub-standard services, and to assist the re-development of Aboriginal independence at a grass-roots level. A key initiative for the economic and social advancement of Aboriginal people is the productive use of the land they hold.