Indigenous Affairs

Sally McNicol and James Haughton

This article considers Indigenous-specific measures across portfolios in the Budget 2023–24, and other measures relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Measures covered include health, safety, culture, land and waters and housing and infrastructure. Unless otherwise stated, all page references are to Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2023–24.

The budget measure ‘Delivering the referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples in the Constitution through a Voice to Parliament’ (p. 85) is discussed in the Bills Digest for the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) Bill 2023.

Overview

The 2023–24 Budget includes a large number of measures specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as well as many general measures in which there are components focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people. Additionally, due to the demographic structure and socioeconomic position of Australia’s Indigenous population, many of the ‘cost of living measures’, such as ‘Strengthening Medicare’ (p. 147), the ‘Energy price relief plan’ (p. 86), and ‘Increase to working age payments (p. 199), will provide some relief to a large proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For example, the government’s budget fact sheet, Empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, states that the increase to the bulk billing incentive ‘will have a positive impact for the over 310,000 First Nations concession card holders’ (p. 5), or approximately 30% of the Indigenous population.

‘Big ticket’ budget items, including some previously partially announced, include:

additional funding to support the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, including $492.7m under the ‘Closing the Gap – further investment’ measure (p. 190–1)
greater detail on the $250m Central Australia Plan
$262.6m for First Nations Women’s Safety
around $0.5b in measures relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

Notwithstanding the significant budget commitments, total Commonwealth Indigenous-specific expenditure in portfolio budget statement (PBS) programs appears similar to the previous (October) 2022–23 budget year (approximately $5.36 billion – see Figure 1 below), not including funding for the Australian Electoral Commission to conduct the referendum. Given inflation since 2022–23, for some programs this may result in cuts in real expenditure.

However, expenditure from PBSs may not fully reflect actual Indigenous-specific expenditure.

Since 2013, the Commonwealth has not issued Indigenous Budget Statements, and since 2015, PBSs do not systematically report their Indigenous-specific expenditure where this expenditure is not a continuing, stand-alone program. For example, the $2 million First Nations’ community fund component of the ‘Hydrogen Headstart’ measure (p. 71) does not appear in the Portfolio budget statements 2023–24: budget related paper no. 1.3: Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water portfolio (p. 40); nor does the ongoing cost of National Indigenous Television (NITV) appear in SBS’s budget. This undifferentiated reporting means that Indigenous-specific expenditure across the Commonwealth budget cannot be fully estimated, and some of the apparent decline in funding from 2015 onwards in Figure 1 simply reflects non-reporting. In a Budget such as this year’s, where a significant number of measures have Indigenous-specific sub-components, this may result in a considerable undercount. It should also be noted that many measures which predominantly or disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, such as Income Management or the soon-to-be-replaced Community Development Program, are not technically Indigenous-specific, as they target geographic regions.

An alternative way of assessing the overall Indigenous budget is through the functional aggregates published in Budget strategy and outlook: budget paper no. 1: 2023–24: ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health’ (pp. 210–212) and ‘Social security and welfare: assistance for Indigenous Australians nec [not elsewhere classified]’ (Budget paper no. 1, pp. 213; 216). These capture a broader suite of measures, but do not capture some significant sectors, such as housing, education, and recreation and culture (including environmental measures). This aggregate increases by $281 million, from $4,002 million to $4,283 million, in the 2023–24 Budget (calculation by Parliamentary Library, see Figure 1 below).

However, there are also 4 significant reductions in Indigenous-specific budget lines this financial year, compared to the October 2022–23 Budget:

Payments to the Northern Territory (NT) under the National Partnership for Remote Housing fall by $212 million, from $323.7 million in 2022–23 to $111.7 million in 2023–24. This is partially offset by $75 million in this financial year for housing and infrastructure in NT homelands (announced in October 2022), for a net reduction of $162 million (Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2023–24, pp. 57–58) when compared to last year. No further expenditure on remote housing outside some specified communities has yet been announced.

It should be noted that the existing funding commitment fulfils the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP’s) election commitment (p. 8) of $100 million for homelands and for a new or extended Remote Housing National Partnership for the NT, with the ALP having allocated $211.6 million more to the National Partnership for Remote Housing over the years 2022–24 than did the previous government’s March 2022–23 Budget (Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, p. 54). However, the election commitment (p. 8) to spend an additional $200 million on remote housing, including outside the NT, may be contingent upon the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill passing. Other spending on housing and infrastructure, allocated through Commonwealth budget measures rather than National Partnership Payments (NPPs), is included for ‘Central Australia’ (p. 83), Mutitjulu community, Booderee, Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Parks (pp. 79–80), and Wreck Bay Village in Jervis Bay (p. 191), over a number of years (see discussion below).
In the Education portfolio, ‘School Support for Closing the Gap measures’ declines by $56.8 million, from $79.1 million to $22.3 million (Portfolio budget statements 2023–24: budget related paper no. 1.5: Education portfolio, p. 45). This is offset over the Forward Estimates by increased support for Central Australian schools ($40.4 million over 2 years, p. 83) and increased support for the Clontarf foundation ($32.8 million over 2 years (pp. 100–101) and the Indigenous Boarding Providers Program ($21.6 million funded by the NIAA) (p. 191).
Total expenditure by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) in 2023–24 falls by $49.8 million, from $2,645 million to $2,595 million. This reduction comes largely from the Jobs, Land and Economy program, which falls from $1,307 million to $1,237 million. Portfolio budget statements 2023–24: budget related paper no. 1.13: Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio indicates (p. 202) that this is because expenditure from the Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA) will reduce from $418.0 million to $298.9 million. As the NIAA annual report has not yet been published, and the newly established Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation (NTAIC) is yet to issue financial reports, it is not clear if this decrease simply reflects a transfer of grant and other ABA expenditure ‘off-book’ from the NIAA to the NTAIC, or an actual reduction in ABA-related expenditure.
Payments made to Indigenous Business Australia have fallen by $18.7 million, from $78.5 million to $59.8 million, offsetting the $20 million increase across 2 years to Aboriginal Hostels Ltd (the other major change in Commonwealth Indigenous-sector Corporate Entities funding) (Prime Minister and Cabinet PBS, pp. 25; 161)

These 4 items total $287.3 million in reductions compared to last year’s October Budget. As a result, the government had considerable ‘fiscal space’ for new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander measures, such as an increase of $103.6 million in the ‘First Nations Health’ program (Portfolio budget statements 2023–24: budget related paper no 1.9: Health and Aged care portfolio, p. 53), without greatly increasing spending in the sector overall in this financial year. However, the impacts of inflation may mean that some programs are facing real declines in funding.

In real terms (see Figure 1 below), discounting underreporting, spending on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs has only just returned to the level it was at in 2012–13, before the funding cuts associated with consolidation of programs in the Indigenous Advancement Strategy in the first Abbott budget. A number of National Partnerships are currently due to expire during the forward estimates period, leading to the decline in forward estimates years in the graph below.

Figure 1 Nominal and Real Indigenous-specific Commonwealth spending from 2012 to forward estimates

Source: Parliamentary Library calculations from departmental PBSs for those years’ final budget estimates, current forward estimates (e).

The Indigenous-specific subcomponents of many measures (see Table 2 below) indicate whole-of-government inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ priorities in many portfolios. The Budget also demonstrates ongoing commitments to the Closing the Gap reform process begun under the Morrison Government, including the Closing the Gap Outcomes and Evidence Fund and NIAA’s own Evaluation program. New funding has been targeted to some key Indigenous concerns and Closing the Gap drivers such as cancer and smoking, women’s strength and safety, language and education, and land and heritage protection. However, the Budget does not include any large new measures directly targeting some significant Closing the Gap outcomes which remain off track, such as suicide rates (see p. 13), incarceration rates (outside Central Australia, p. 83) or children in out-of-home care, although some smaller relevant programs, such as Custody Notification Services (p. 191) and the Time to Work program (p. 105), have been extended.

Since the Budget was handed down, the Attorney-General has also announced an additional $21 million in funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, to be met from within existing resources of the Attorney General’s Department, to accommodate rising costs.

Specific measures

The government’s budget fact sheet, Empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, sets out most Indigenous-specific measures (also see Table 1 below). The announcement also includes some of the Indigenous-specific components of broader measures. Further details of linkages between previously announced measures and the Closing the Gap outcomes is provided in the Commonwealth Closing the Gap Implementation Plan 2023.

National Agreement on Closing the Gap

The budget measure ‘Closing the Gap – further investment’ (p. 190) provides $492.7 million over 5 years from 2022–23 for a range of measures. Components include funding for water infrastructure, housing in the Northern Territory and Wreck Bay Village (Jervis Bay, ACT), the New Jobs Program trial (replacing the Community Development Program), and a range of employment, education, health and safety initiatives. The Closing the Gap Outcomes and Evidence Fund (managed by the Department of Social Services and linked to Closing the Gap targets 12 – relating to the reduction of family violence and abuse against women and children, and 13 – relating to the reduction of the rate of children in out-of-home care) has been extended by 2 years, to 31 December 2026.

In February 2023, the government announced $424 million additional funding to support outcomes under Closing the Gap. Much of those funds are included in the ‘Closing the Gap’ budget measure; however, some components are listed against different budget measures (for example, $68.6 million for family violence and prevention legal service providers is listed under the ‘Women’s safety – First Nations’ measure, p. 90).

In total, there appears to be $127.4 million in new money to support Closing the Gap over the forward estimates, with most of this to be provided to the NIAA in 2023–24 (p. 190).

Health

Significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health measures include:

$363.1 million in new health measures, including $238 million for cancer prevention and treatments (p. 135)
$141.2 million over 4 years to expand the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program to prevent the uptake, and reduce the prevalence, of vaping by Indigenous Australians under the ‘Vaping regulation reform and smoking cessation package’ (p. 154; see the Budget review article Tobacco and vaping control measures for discussion of this measure).

Other health measures that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are listed in Tables 1 and 2 below.

The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) has welcomed the health measures in this year’s Budget, which includes funding for cancer, the highest identified priority in its pre-budget submission ($207.8 million over 3 years for a cancer package, pp. 20–22). However, it also pointed out a continuing $4.4 billion annual health funding gap.

Safety

Almost $0.5 billion has been committed for the safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children under 2 budget measures:

greater detail has now been provided on $155.9 million of the previously announced $250 million Central Australia package under the Better, Safer Future for Central Australia Plan, with the remaining $94.1 million to remain in the contingency reserve pending further work pending further design work with First Nations peoples (p. 83; also available on the Office of Central Australian Regional Controller webpage)
the ‘Women’s safety – First Nations’ measure (p. 90) provides $275.2 million over 5 years (and $4.0m in 2027–28), $206.6m of which is new money, including $68.6 million over 2 years for family violence prevention legal services. $194.0 million of this funding is to support the Dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan (Action Plan) under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (pp. 93–94). According to a budget media release:

The dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan is currently being developed through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Advisory Council on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence and will be in place by 1 August 2023.

As the Action Plan has not yet been finalised, $128.6 million of this funding is being placed in the contingency reserve.

Culture, language, arts and media

There are 2 funding commitments for languages and culture under the ‘Revive – national cultural policy and location incentive’ measure (p. 181):

$11.0 million over 3 years from 2022–23 to establish a ‘First Nations Languages Policy Partnership’, a commitment under Closing the Gap, and ‘to conduct a National Indigenous Languages survey to improve outcomes for First Nations peoples’ – this will be the fourth such survey to be conducted, with the previous 3 run by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), in 2005, 2014 and 2019
$13.4 million over 5 years from 2022–23 ‘to protect First Nations traditional knowledge and cultural expression and First Nations artists and related workers through the introduction of stand-alone legislation and artist mentorship and training programs’
In addition, as a national performing arts training organisation, the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) will receive additional operational funding in 2023–24 under the ‘Supporting Arts Training in Australia’ measure (p. 183).

Land and waters

A large commitment outside the NIAA is the $355.1 million measure ‘Protecting Australia’s iconic national parks’ (p. 79), which focuses on both conservation and infrastructure and services in the Booderee, Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Parks, and includes $92.8 million over 4 years for infrastructure and essential services to Mutitjulu community.
A number of other measures in the Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water portfolio, such as ‘National water reform – First Nations peoples’ water ownership’ (p. 75), ‘Natural Heritage Trust – project funding’ (p. 76), ‘Nature Positive Plan – better for the environment, better for business’ (p. 77) and ‘Sydney Harbour Federation Trust – infrastructure improvements’ (p. 81) also have explicit or implicit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, land and heritage components. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry measure ‘Strengthened and sustainably funded biosecurity system’ also includes $40.6 million for the Indigenous Rangers Biosecurity Program (p. 57).

Housing and infrastructure

The ‘Closing the Gap – further investment’ measure (pp. 190–191) includes funding provision for housing and repairs in the NT ($111.7 million in 2023–24) and Wreck Bay (Jervis Bay, ACT – $23.3 million over 4 years from 2023–24, and $45.1 million over 8 years to 2031–32). The latter responds to the High Court’s decision in Williams v Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council & Anor [2019 HCA 4], which found that housing in Wreck Bay was covered by the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT) and in consequence the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council was liable to repair certain houses (see the associated Bills Digest for the Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Amendment (Strengthening Land and Governance Provisions) Bill 2022 currently before the Senate).
The ‘Protecting Australia’s iconic national parks’ measure (pp. 79–80) provides over $140 million over 4 years from 2023–24 for essential infrastructure, including some housing, in Mutitjulu community and Booderee, Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Parks.

Other Indigenous-specific components and measures not discussed in this article that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are listed in Tables 1 and 2 below.

Table 1 Indigenous-specific budget measures not discussed above

Budget measure	*Page no. (Budget paper no. 2)*	Amount and timeframe
Support for First Nations Disability Advocates	203	$1.0 million in 2023–24
First Nations – supporting education outcomes	100	Savings of $4.2 million from the Building Boarding Schools on Country Program
Delivering the Referendum to Recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Peoples in the Constitution Through a Voice to Parliament	85	$364.6 million over 3 years from 2022–23 $20.0 million to progress Regional Voice arrangements
Permanent Residency and Citizenship Implications of the Love and Thoms High Court Case	160	$5.5 million over 4 years from 2023–24 (and $0.2 million per year ongoing)

Source: Australian Government, Budget Measures: Budget Paper no. 2: 2023–24

Table 2 Indigenous-specific components in broader budget measures not discussed above

Budget measure	*Page no. (Budget paper no. 2)*	Amount and timeframe for Indigenous-specific component/s of Budget measures (other measure components are not listed in this table)
COVID-19 Response	127	$57.3 million over 2 years from 2022–23
Enhancing National Strategies for Bloodborne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections	130	$6.6 million in 2023–24
Funding Pay Increases for Aged Care Workers	131	$58.9 million for indexation boosts to several funding programs (also refer the Library’s Budget review article Aged Care)
Implementing Aged Care Reform – home care	132–3	$15.7 million over 2 years from 2023–24
Reducing Harm Caused by Alcohol and Other Drugs in Australia	144	$3.5 million over 2 years from 2023–24
Urgent Health Supports for Flood affected Communities	153	$9.8 million in 2022–23
Improving the Effectiveness and Sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme	197–8	$7.6 million over 2 years from 2023–24
Supporting Media Sustainability and Building Media Literacy	183	additional funding (nfp) in 2023–24
Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – reprioritisation	67–8	$2.0 million from the partial reversal of the 2022–23 March Budget; to be redirected towards implementing the Government’s Nature Positive Plan: better for environment, better for business
Working with the Australian Resources Industry on the Pathway to Net Zero	169–170	$12.0 million over 3 years from 2023–24 – including consultation requirements for offshore projects, including with First Nations peoples
Foundation Skills Programs – redesign and pilot extension	107	To be met from within existing resources. Includes a specific focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
APS Capability Reinvestment Fund: 2023–24 projects funded under round one	189	$3.4 million over 2 years from 2023–24
Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce	99	$72.4 million over 5 years from 2022–23 total, with priority support for First Nations educators, and educators in regional and remote areas.
Supporting Transport Priorities	184	$43.6 million over 4 years from 2022–23, including for ‘First Nations road safety’

Source: Australian Government, Budget Measures: Budget Paper no. 2: 2023–24

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