Commonwealth funding of Indigenous Tasmanians

Senate Committee Findings

1.1        I note the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee’s report on the Commonwealth Funding of Indigenous Tasmanians. I believe that the inquiry has pointed out the fact that discrimination has occurred for decades for approximately 20,000 Indigenous Tasmanians recognised by the Commonwealth, but not by the Tasmanian State Government.

1.2        The report outlines that the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet provides most of the funding for Indigenous Tasmanians through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy.

1.3        The report emphasises that IAS funding is provided on the basis of need and organisations can submit an application to address areas in which the organisation identifies a need.

1.4        The report does not address how individuals can receive funding, if an organisation does not recognise the individual as Indigenous.

1.5        Official discrimination has denied resourcing to about 20,000 Indigenous Tasmanians and also denied them the right to stand for elected office in Indigenous bodies and the Land Council which would have given them a voice in the way Indigenous Affairs has been managed in Tasmania for the last decade.

1.6        I had a meeting with the Indigenous Affairs Minister last week and asked for a forensic audit of all the Commonwealth funds given by the Commonwealth to the Tasmanian State Government and Tasmanian indigenous organisations.

1.7        He agreed to give me a briefing from the Department which detailed the exact figures and admitted that even he didn’t know how much had been spent by the Commonwealth on Tasmanian Indigenous funding.

1.8        So if the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister can’t tell you how much money was spent in Tasmania, you know that you are in trouble with your accounting system, and we need to fix that system.

Senator Jacqui Lambie
Senator for Tasmania

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