Footnotes

Chapter 1 - Introduction

[1] ABC Online, 15 July 2008; http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/15/2303835.htm; http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2304590.htm; Accessed 13 November 2008.

 

Chapter 2 - The Commonwealth Grants Commission

[1]        The Commonwealth Grants Commission also distributes Health Care Grants using the same methodology. For convenience this report will refer to the distribution of GST revenue as encompassing both types of grant.

[2]        Commonwealth Treasury, Reform of Commonwealth-State Financial Relations. www.treasury.gov.au/documents/196/PDF/round5.pdf accessed 14 November 2008.

[3]        Intergovernmental Agreement on the Reform of Commonwealth-State Financial Relations 1999, clauses 7& 8. http://www.coag.gov.au/intergov_agreements/docs/reform_of_comm-state_financial_relations.cfm. accessed 13 November 2008.

[4]        Ibid.

[5]        Commonwealth Grants Commission, Annual Report 2007-08, (Canberra 2008), p.3.

[6]        The terms of reference for the Grants Commission's 2008 Update are at attachment B of the CGC Annual Report, 2007-08. The terms of reference may specify that particular agreements between the Commonwealth and a State or Territory should not influence per capita relativities. For example Commonwealth funding to deliver the Northern Territory Emergency Response is excluded from consideration in deriving State and Territory relativities.

[7]        Commonwealth Grants Commission, Report on State Revenue Sharing Relativities 2004 Review, p.x. Note that the CGC uses ‘States’ to include Territories unless an alternative meaning is specifically indicated.

[8]        Commonwealth Grants Commission, Submission 3, p.2.

[9]        Commonwealth Grants Commission, Discussion Paper CGC 2001/7, Interpretation of the Terms of Reference for the 2004 Review, and Issues of Concepts and Methods.(Canberra 2001),  p.3, para 10.

[10]      ibid., p.3. para 12.

[11]      Cliff Walsh & Bob Searle, Current and Prospective Financial Arrangements between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments – Report prepared for the NTER Review Board (October 2008), p.iv, Box (i) Untied (GST/CGC) Grants. Note that Mr Searle is a former secretary of the CGC.

[12]      ibid., p.iv, Box (i) Untied (GST/CGC) Grants.

[13]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Submission 3, p.2.

[14]      Mr John Spasojevic, Secretary, Commonwealth Grants Commission, Committee Hansard, 11 November 2008, p.1.

[15]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Report on State Revenue Sharing Relativities 2004 Review (Canberra 2004), p.81.

[16]      The CGC uses the term disability to describe "an influence beyond a State's control that requires it: (a) to spend more (or less) per capita than the Australian average to provide the average level of service; or (b) to make a greater (or lesser) effort than the Australian average to raise the average amount of revenue per capita." Commonwealth Grants Commission, Report on State Revenue Sharing Relativities 2008 Update, p.122.

[17]      ibid., p.82, 83.

[18]      ibid., p.84.

[19]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Report on State Revenue Sharing Relativities 2008 Update, (Canberra 2008) p.111.

[20]      An equal per capita figure would result in each state and territory receiving a share from the pool exactly proportional to its population.

[21]      op cit., 2008 Update, p.111.

[22]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Submission 3, p.3.

[23]      Alan Morris, Chairman, Commonwealth Grants Commission, speech at Charles Darwin University 2003, quoted NT Government, Submission 6, p.ii.

[24]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, 2008 Update, op cit, Attachment E, p.112, table E-3 – Difference between equalisation and equal per capita distributions, dissected by source. Tables E-3 & E-4 show the contribution of each revenue category to the redistribution in cash terms and proportionally. The figures in this section relate to '...the latest estimates of the 2007-08 pool'. ibid., p.111.

[25]      ibid., p.115, tables E-5 & E-6. See Appendix 4.

[26]      ibid., p.114.

[27]      ibid., p.114.

[28]      ibid., p116, table E-7. See Appendix 4. This also represents approximately 23% of the total estimated revenue of $3.78 billion for the Northern Territory in the budget for 2008-09.

[29]      Includes climate, natural hazards and water availability among other factors.

[30]      Other socio-demographic composition influences includes 'the effects of age, sex, cultural and linguistic diversity, income and the cross border use of services'.

[31]      A slightly earlier measure of the Indigenous populations gives the following numbers and relativities for 2004; NT – 59,941 people representing 29.7% of the population; WA – 22,357/ 3.5%; Qld 0 33,544/3.4%. Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, Expenditures on Health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 2004-05, Health & Welfare expenditure series No 33, , Canberra 2008, table 1.1, p.2.

[32]      Almost all of the Northern Territory, with the exception of the area immediately around Darwin, extending out approximately 50 kilometres from the city, is classed as remote or very remote. The remote classification refers to Katherine, Alice Springs and the northern region beyond the approximate 50 km inner circle around Darwin; the rest of the Territory is classed as very remote.

[33]      These figures are derived from Australian Bureau of Statistics based on the 2006 Census:

          http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/794D620169DD1A89CA256DEA00053A6E?Open

          http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4705.0Main+Features12006?OpenDocument

          Accessed 10 November 2008.

[34]      Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, Expenditures on Health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 2004-05, Health & Welfare expenditure series No 33, Canberra 2008, table 1.2, p.5.

[35]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Update Report 2008, op cit, Working Paper 1, Treatment of Australian Government Revenue Payments, p.1. This paper deals with the treatment of SPPs in some detail.

[36]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Update Report 2008, op cit, Attachment E, p.112.

[37]      ibid., p.2. For comparison the next highest above-average relativities were, Tasmania, 1.53 and South Australia, 1.21., NSW, Victoria, Queensland & Western Australia all received less than an equal per capita share.

[38]      Barry Hansen, President NTCOSS, Committee Hansard, Darwin, 30 October 2008, p.CA 22.

[39]      Northern Territory Shelter, Submission 2, p. 3.

[40]      Central Land Council, Submission 7, p.2.

[41]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Submission 3, p.2.

[42]      ibid., p.2.

[43]      A further complication is that the CGC "...uses different data sources to derive the 'actuals' for the most recent year and the preceeding four financial years in the assessment period...because data for the most recent year is not finalised  prior to the release of the annual update of relativities". NT Government, Supplementary submission, p.6.

[44]      NT Government, Supplementary submission, p.5.

[45]      This is one of the areas of expenditure referred to specifically in the NT COSS submission, p.4.

[46]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Working Paper 2008, Services to Indigenous Communities, Table 4, p.5.

[47]      Advice from Commonwealth Grants Commission; NT Government, Supplementary submission, p.4.

[48]      Commonwealth Grants Commission, Submission 3, p.2.

[49]      ibid., p.3.

 

Chapter 3 - Services to the Indigenous Population of the Northern Territory

[1]        See, Parliamentary Library, Commonwealth Indigenous Specific Expenditure 1968-2008, Table 7.

[2]        FahCSIA, Annual Report  2007-08, following p.81 Note that the CDEP figure is for the period December 2007 to June 2008 because of changes to portfolio responsibility. The full year expenditure was $364 million.

[3]        Final Budget Outcome 2007-08 (September 2008), pp. 72-76. This figure is above a per capita distribution of SPPs. A small proportion of SPP payments go through the Territory government to end recipients – local government or private schools for example. The majority are administered by the Territory.

[4]        ibid., pp.72-76.

[5]        FaHCSIA, Submission of Background Material to the Northern Territory Emergency Response Review Board, (August 2008), Tables 2 and 3, p.44 & 45

[6]        NTER Review Board Report, p.50.

[7]        NTER Review Board Report, p.55.

[8]        NTER Review Board Report p.50.

[9]        NTER Review Board Report p.55.

[10]      Tiwi Land Council. Submission 5, p.2.

[11]      Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Submission 10, p.2-3.

[12]      Rolf Gerritsen, ABC Radio, PM, 15 July 2008.

[13]      Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Submission 11, p.2. Comparisons are made with major regional cities having similar or larger populations – Geelong, Townsville and Wollongong.

[14]      ibid., p.2.

[15]      Government of the Northern Territory, Indigenous Expenditure Review 2006-07, October 2008, p.2.

[16]      Indigenous Expenditure Review 2006-07, p.3.

[17]      Central Land Council, Submission 7, p.3. See also, Mr Hansen, President NTCOSS, Committee transcript, Darwin, 30 October 2008, p. 21; NTCOSS submission, p.8; NT Shelter submission, p.4.

[18]      Indigenous Expenditure Review 2006-07, p.7.

[19]      ibid., p.8.

[20]      ibid., p.i.

[21]      CAEPR, Submission.3, p.4.

[22]      Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, Expenditures on Health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 2004-05, Health & Welfare expenditure series No 33, , (Canberra 2008), p.22, table 2.12. The ratio of Indigenous to non-Indigenous per capita health expenditure was 3.35:1.

[23]      Expenditures on Health, op cit, pp.7-8. Tables 2.1 & 2.2. 30.6% of non-Indigenous expenditure on health relates to private provision compared with 7% for Indigenous Australians.

[24]      AIHW/ABS, The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Islander Peoples 2008, p.188.

[25]      SCRGSP, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2007, Productivity Commission, Canberra, 2007

[26]      SCRGSP, Report on Government Services Provision 2008, Indigenous Compendium, Productivity Commission, Canberra 2008.

[27]      AIHW/ABS, The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Islander Peoples 2008. The committee also notes the comment of Professor Jon Altman in his submission to the committee that, '... 2008 has seen an historically unprecedented number of reviews in indigenous affairs policy'.

[28]      SCRGSP, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, op cit p. iii. This report includes many examples of "things that work".

[29]      SCRGSP, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, Foreword, p.3.

[30]      ibid., p.11.

[31]      AIHW/ABS op cit., p.184-5, quoting a study that shows significant improvements in Indigenous life expectancy in the Territory in the period 1967-2004.

[32]      SCRGSP, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, p.12, Box 1.2.

[33]      AIHW/ABS, op cit, p.184.

[34]      SCRGSP, Report on Government Services 2008, Indigenous Compendium, tables 4A.42 to 4A 52 show that Indigenous students at years 3,5 & 7 perform significantly worse against the standard reading, writing and numeracy benchmarks than the average of all students in other States and Territories, that the gap increases with age and that the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students is significantly wider in the Territory.

[35]      SCRGSP, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, Overview. Participation in CDEP tends to increase labour force participation and reduce unemployment outcomes.

[36]      J Taylor, Social Indicators for Aboriginal Governance: Insights from the Thamurrurr Region, Northern Territory, CAEPR Monograph 24, 2004 & J Taylor & O Stanley, The Opportunity Cost of the Status Quo in the Thamarrurr Region, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), Working Paper 28/2005. These reports arose out of a COAG program.

[37]      The Opportunity Cost of the Status Quo in the Thamarrurr Region, Foreword.

[38]      ibid, p.xii. The report notes that funding for those actually attending school is slightly higher than the Territory average but the attendance rate is very low and expenditure per child of compulsory school age in Thamurrurr is 47% of the average.

[39]      Taylor & Stanley, op cit, p.6, 7.

[40]      Taylor & Stanley, op cit, p.7. These figures are calculated for the Daly statistical area, which includes Thamurrurr.

[41]      Taylor & Stanley, op cit, p.8.

[42]      Taylor & Stanley, op cit, p.8.

[43]      Tiwi Land Council, Submission 5, p.2.

[44]      FaHCSIA, One Year On, June 2008, pp.3-4

[45]      Dillon & Westbury, op cit, p.187. 

[46]      CAEPR, Submission 10, p.1.

[47]      CAEPR, Submission 10, p.1.

[48]      NTER review, p.19.

[49]      NT Government, submission, p.iv estimates that $2.85 billion is required. The Central Land Council submission, p.2, quotes figures of $2 million for 'housing and infrastructure backlogs and a further $600 million...to fund unmet service and repairs and maintenance needs'.

 

Chapter 4 - The Way Forward

[1]        CAEPR, Submission 10, p.2.

[2]        FaHCSIA, Submission of Background Material to the Northern Territory Emergency Response Review Boar, (August 2008), p.13.

[3]        A recent paper from CAEPR, J C Altman, N Biddle & B H Hunter, How Realistic are the Prospects' Closing the Gap' in Socioeconomic Outcomes for Indigenous Australians, emphasises the importance of long term commitment and a willingness to adopt fundamentally new approaches where necessary if disparities are to be reduced.

[4]        FaHCSIA, Submission of Background Material to the Northern Territory Emergency Response Review Board, (August 2008), p.7. Total funding for the NTER from the Commonwealth is nearly $1.4 billion over 5 years. $466.6 million was expended in 2007-08 and $460 million is committed for 2008-09. Details of actual and proposed expenditure are in Tables 2 and 3, p.44 & 45 of this submission.

[5]        ibid., p.10.

[6]        Council of Australian Governments,  http://www.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2008-10-02/index.cfm#child  Accessed 20 November 2008.

[7]        NT Government, Budget Overview 2008-09,p.8. In 2008-09 $57.6 million will be spent on this program.

[8]        CAEPR, Submission 10, p.2-3, quoting the Commonwealth Grants Commission, Report on Indigenous Funding 2001.

[9]        Mr Bernie Yates, Deputy-Secretary, FaHCSIA, Community Affairs, Committee Hansard, 11 November 2008, p.12.

[10]      Mr Bernie Yates, Deputy-Secretary, FaHCSIA, Community Affairs, Committee Hansard, 11 November 2008, p.12.

[11]      Closing the Gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, Budget Statement, the Hon Jenny Macklin, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.13 May 2008, p.37.

 

Coalition Senators' Dissenting Report

[1] NTCOSS, Submission 4, p. 2.

[2] Hansard, Darwin, 30 October 2008, p. 2.

[3] CGC update Report 2008, Working Papers, vol 3, no 10, p.3, para 15

[4] CGC update Report 2008, Working Papers, vol 3, no 10, p.7.

[5] Cliff Walsh and Bob Searle, Current and Prospective Financial arrangements Between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments, October 2008, p. 12.

[6] Hansard, Canberra, 11 November 2008, p. 4.

[7] NTCOSS, Submission 4A, pp. 2-3.

[8] The Opportunity Cost of the Status Quo in the Thamarrurr Region, 2005, Foreword.