Budget Review 2021–22 Index
Sally McNicol and James Haughton
These Indigenous Affairs budget briefs summarise
Indigenous-specific measures across portfolios, and provide some assessment of
the likely effects of relevant general measures on Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. For consistency with previous
budget briefs and with reporting frameworks such as the Overcoming
Indigenous Disadvantage reports, measures are grouped into the (former) Council
of Australian Governments (COAG) ‘Building
Blocks’. This brief covers measures relating to health, governance and
culture (including land and environmental measures) and housing, while another Indigenous
affairs brief covers measures related to education, employment, and community
safety. All page references are to Budget
Measures: Budget Paper No. 2 2021–22 unless otherwise specified.
Overview
A number of Indigenous-specific measures were announced in
the Health and Aged Care portfolios, including $96 million across forward
estimates for various mental health measures, prioritisation of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander elders in the $630 million package for aged care in
regional and remote areas, and extensions across the forward estimates of the
National Partnership Agreements on Trachoma Control and the Rheumatic Fever
Strategy which were to expire this year (Federal
Financial Relations: Budget Paper No. 3 2021–22, pp. 31–33). However
net Indigenous health funding rises by only $5 million in 2021–22 (from $975
million to $980 million) then by $31 million in 2022–23, to $1.01 billion,
rising further in subsequent years (Budget
Strategy and Outlook: Budget Paper No. 1 2021–22, p. 198).
Perhaps the largest new measure is the Commonwealth’s
commitment, after many years of study
and limited
remediation, to full rehabilitation of the Rum Jungle former uranium mine
site (p. 143). While a figure is not published for commercial reasons, cleanup
costs have been estimated at $200
million.
Health
Of the $2.3 billion Mental Health measure (over four years)
for the National
Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, $79.0 million is earmarked
to implement initiatives under the renewed National
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy (p. 119). This includes: $23.8 million to establish
regional suicide prevention networks; $27.3 million for regionally-based,
culturally-sensitive, co-designed aftercare; and $16.6 million to develop and
evaluate a culturally appropriate 24/7 crisis line (Health
Portfolio Budget Statements 2021–22,
p. 24).
The Mental Health measure also includes $9.2 million to
quantify the prevalence of mental health problems in the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander population, and $8.3 million to increase the number of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workers through 40
additional mental health-specific scholarships, and train health care workers
to provide culturally appropriate treatment (Health
Portfolio Budget Statements 2021–22,
p. 25).
The ‘Aged Care – Government response to the Royal Commission
into Aged Care Quality and Safety – governance and regional access’ measure
allocates $630.2 million to improve access to quality aged care services for
consumers in regional, rural and remote areas, including those with Indigenous
backgrounds and special needs groups (p. 99). For a definition of ‘special
needs groups’ see the Parliamentary
Library’s quick guide to Aged Care, and for further details on this
measure, see the Library Budget brief ‘Aged care – access; and care and support
in the home’. Indigenous-specific recommendations in the Final Report of the
Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety were focussed on ensuring
that Aboriginal and Torres Strait people receive ‘culturally respectful and
safe, high quality, trauma‐informed, needs‐based and flexible aged
care services regardless of where they live’ and developing a workforce that
can support this (Vol
3A, chapter 7, pp. 237–270). These recommendations
(47–55) have been accepted by the Australian Government.
The Government has confirmed that the Closing the Gap
National Partnership Agreements on Rheumatic Fever Strategy and Improving
Trachoma Control will be extended, totalling $31.1 million over four years from
2021–22. This is not new money (p. 105). Australia is the only
OECD country with endemic trachoma, and one of an increasingly
short list of countries not to have eliminated
the disease. In Australia, researchers say progress
has been made, but
the elimination target is now 2022 (previously 2020). Aboriginal Health
Services say that Rheumatic
Heart Disease continues to take a high toll on remote Aboriginal
communities. Full eradication of rheumatic fever will require significant
investment as it requires addressing overcrowding (Wyber
et al, pp. 292–3, 313–315 estimates full eradication costs at
approximately $4.3 billion over ten years, including $2.9 billion for new
housing, $514.3 million in setup and infrastructure costs, and $890 million in
other ongoing costs).
Other Indigenous health measures include:
- $11.2 million under the COVID-19 Response Package — guaranteeing
Medicare and access to medicines — extension measure (p. 105) to continue the remote
response to COVID-19 to support regional and remote Indigenous communities,
initiated on 25 March 2020
- $7.5 million in 2021–22 (and $1.5 million per year ongoing) under
the Preventative Health measure to support the continued operation of the
National Cancer Screening Register, including alternative delivery pathways for
bowel cancer screening kits to Indigenous populations (p. 121)
- $22.6 million under the Primary Care measure to redesign the
Practice Incentives Program — Indigenous Health Incentive (p. 122)
- The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Grant
Opportunity Outcomes (see Health
Portfolio Budget 2021–22 Stakeholder Pack) include $10 million awarded to
the Menzies School of Health Research for a National
First Nations Research Network. The Network will be led by Indigenous
people for Indigenous people, nurture culturally safe environments, connect
expertise, and is intended to ‘catalyse research methods, training and
development’.
-
The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Grant Opportunity
Outcomes measure (see Health
Portfolio Budget 2021–22 Stakeholder Pack) will provide:
- $1.2
million to the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Limited
for research on Improving the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander men in South Australia under Primary Health Care
Research Grant Opportunity
- $1.4
million to Monash University for benchmarking for healthy stores in remote
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities under Maternal Health and the
First 2000 Days; Exercise and Nutrition; Early Childhood Grant Opportunity and
- a
new funding round for $15 million over 4 years from 2021–22 for Indigenous-led
research that translates existing knowledge to ensure Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander mothers and babies have access to culturally-safe care during
pregnancy, birthing and the post-natal period.
Basketball Australia will use some of the $5 million
provided to deliver the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 to
encourage more Indigenous women to get involved in the sport.
Governance, leadership and culture (including
land and environmental measures)
The Budget provides $28.1 million over five years from
2020–21—$23 million of which is new money over the forward estimates period—and
$6.0 million per year ongoing under the ‘Indigenous Visual Arts Industry
Innovation & Growth Funding Package’ measure (p. 150). The measure delivers
the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Action Plan announced
in September last year, and provides additional funding for the Indigenous
Visual Arts Industry Support program, as well as supporting Indigenous arts
centres and fairs through the impacts of COVID-19. Partial funding for this measure
was provided in 2020–21.
Under the ‘COVID-19 Response Package – additional arts
sector support’ measure, part of the $11.4 million provided in 2021–22 to
support tourism in regional areas (pp. 148–9) will be directed to the Indigenous
Visual Arts Industry Support program. Other recipients include the Regional
Arts Fund, Festivals Australia program and community museums,
galleries and historical societies through the Australian Museums and Galleries
Association.
One of the recommendations of the Final Report of the
Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition Relating to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Peoples (2018) was to ‘consider the establishment,
in Canberra, of a National Resting Place, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander remains which could be a place of commemoration, healing and
reflection’ (p. xviii). In 2021–22, $4.7 million of Indigenous Advancement
Strategy (IAS) funding will be used to prepare a business case for the establishment
of the Ngurra Cultural Precinct in Canberra (p. 176). The precinct will include
a National Resting Place for the respectful holding of repatriated ancestral
remains.
The Oceans
Leadership Package (p. 59) includes $11.6 million over four years
from 2021–22 to incorporate Sea Country into Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in
nine locations and for more Indigenous Ranger jobs. The funding is split
between the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA, $0.8 million (p.
59)) and the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE, $10.8 million
(DAWE Portfolio
Budget Statements 2021–22, p. 34)). This measure builds on the 2020–21
Budget measure Supporting Healthy Oceans. The expansion of IPAs to
include Sea Country aligns with the recognition of traditional owner rights
over Sea Country in the Blue Mud Bay
High Court case and the subsequent
extension of the remit of the Indigenous Land Corporation in 2018 to become
the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.
Funding of $0.5 million is being provided over two years
from 2021–22 for to support better Indigenous involvement in Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) processes (p. 58).
This funding is part of the $29.3 million initial response to the Independent Review of the
EPBC Act 1999. The Review was required to consider Indigenous peoples'
knowledge and role in the management of the environment and heritage. Four of
the 38 recommendations of the Final
Report relate specifically to Indigenous culture and heritage, with three
of these for immediate implementation. The measure builds on the 2020–21
Budget measure titled Maintaining the Timeliness of the Environmental
Assessment Process.
After making a loss in its last reporting period during the
COVID-19 recession, in this period the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Land and Sea Future Fund has significantly exceeded its performance targets,
returning 11.7% against a benchmark of 3.1% (Budget
Paper No. 1, p. 349).
Other land and environmental management measures include:
Housing
No new money has been announced for Indigenous-specific
housing in the 2021–22 Budget. The five-year National
Partnership for Remote Housing Northern Territory is due to expire on 30
June 2023.
The new Family Home Guarantee initiative is designed to
support single parents with dependants to enter or re-enter the housing market
with a deposit of as little as 2 per cent. The Government estimates that around
125,000 families would be eligible for this measure (Budget
2021–22: Women’s Budget Statement, p. 62). Indigenous family households
may benefit from this measure, because they are 2.5
times more likely to be lone-parent families than non-Indigenous family
households (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016 Census data) and up to 78% of
one-parent Indigenous households have yearly incomes below the $125,000
cut-off level for the initiative (Parliamentary Library calculation based
upon ABS 2016 Census data). However, many may not be able to take advantage of
the measure, due to lack of savings and/or income to service the loan. There
will be 10,000 guarantees available over the four years of the initiative.