Indigenous Affairs: health, culture and language, housing, justice and safety

Budget Review 2022–23 Index

Sally McNicol

The Indigenous Affairs Budget review articles summarise Indigenous-specific measures across portfolios and provide some assessment of the Indigenous impact of general budget measures. This article covers measures related to health, culture and language, housing, justice and safety, while another Indigenous affairs article covers measures relating to leadership, land, economic development and education.

Overview

Overall, there is limited new funding for health, culture and language, housing, and justice and safety, likely in part because a range of measures was announced on 5 August 2021 with the release of the Commonwealth’s Closing the Gap (CtG) Implementation Plan. These measures included additional infrastructure funding for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) ($154.4 million in new money, supplemented by $100 million from the Indigenous Australians’ Health Program – see Commonwealth CtG Implementation Plan, p. 24) and the introduction of the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme ($378.6 million). These measures were also described in the 2021–22 Mid–Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) under the cross portfolio Closing the Gap Package (pp. 214–216). All up, around $1.1 billion of funding commitments were made under the Commonwealth’s Implementation Plan, with around $460 million of this listed as new money in the MYEFO statement and the balance ‘already provided for by the Government’.

A Justice Policy Partnership (JPP) was also established in late 2021. This is a commitment under Priority Reform 1 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap to support formal partnerships and shared decision-making. The JPP is focused on the Closing the Gap outcomes 10 and 11 (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and youth are not overrepresented in the criminal justice system). JPP members include key Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as representatives from all Australian governments.

It should be noted that in the current Budget, measures relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not always explicitly aligned with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap or the Commonwealth’s Implementation Plan.

National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment

The National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment (NTRAI) was due to cease on 30 June 2022, but, following the release of its end of term review, has been extended for 2 years. Funding includes:

$173.2 million over 2 years from 2022–23 to extend services offered under the NTRAI to 30 June 2024
$7.5 million over 2 years from 2021–22 to transition the administration of the remote community store licensing scheme to the Northern Territory Government. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs’ Report on food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communities recommended establishing a national system of remote store licencing (recommendation 6, p.54), which the Government supported in principle in their response. The Government has asked the National Federation Reform Council’s Indigenous Affairs Taskforce to develop a national strategy for priority actions on food security in remote Indigenous communities, including consideration of what underpinning support a national stores licensing regime could deliver.
$3.0 million over 2 years from 2021–22 to support Aboriginal peak organisations to work with the Australian Government and Indigenous Australians to develop a strategy for future investment in the Northern Territory (Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2022–23, p. 156). This is in line with a NTRAI review recommendation (p. 9) that ‘future arrangements should provide Aboriginal representatives a role as shared decision-maker in the design, delivery and monitoring of policies and programs which are delivered to their communities’.

Funding for this measure has already been provided for by the Government.

Health

There are minimal new measures for Indigenous health in the 2022–23 Budget.

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) CEO, Pat Turner, expressed disappointment that there is no substantial increase to core funding for Indigenous community-controlled health services. The Chair of NACCHO, Donnella Mills, suggested that a review of funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is needed, citing work undertaken by Equity Economics for NACCHO that identified a $4.4 billion funding gap in Indigenous health ($5,042 per Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person), of which $2.6 billion was identified as the Commonwealth’s share. The Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Linda Burney, observed that ‘The gap will never be closed without extra effort on health and decent housing for Indigenous people. This budget contains no measures for either.’

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health expenditure has increased by $150 million since 2021–22, but is expected to decrease over the forward estimates ‘largely reflecting the temporary nature of the remote and Indigenous response components of the 2022–23 Budget measure COVID-19 Response Package’ (Budget strategy and outlook: budget paper no. 1: 2022–23, p. 154). Some continuing Indigenous aspects of the COVID-19 response relating to rapid antigen tests and immunisation are noted as part of COVID-19 Response measures on pp. 89-92, Budget paper no. 2.

There is provision for $8.6 million over 3 years to develop a Policy Partnership on Social and Emotional Wellbeing (Mental Health) (Budget paper no. 2, p. 110). This is a commitment under Priority Reform 1 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, intended to facilitate greater involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in policy direction and funding decisions.

The Health budget measure ‘Scholarships for Our Medical Workforce’ includes $13.9 million over 2 years for the expansion of the Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme to support up to an additional 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander undergraduate students in health-related disciplines (Budget paper no. 2, p. 112). According to the Closing the Gap Health Sector Strengthening Plan (p. 9) ‘there are only about 300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical practitioners, fewer than 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander allied health professionals, and only about 2,500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses’ across Australia. The (recently launched) National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan (2021–2031) aims to lift the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in the health sector from the current 1.8% to 3.4% (population parity) by 2031 (p. 6).

Other health measures include

$8.5 million over 3 years to extend culturally appropriate programs in 16 communities across the Northern Territory through the Red Dust program, focused on social and emotional wellbeing, sexual health, relationships, alcohol and other drugs, and Foetal Spectrum Disorder (Budget paper no. 2, p. 110)
$2.1 million over 2 years to extend the National Sepsis Program, and to undertake a national review of the impact of sepsis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Budget paper no. 2, p. 106)
$2.4 million, as part of $16.6 million to support local mental health services in response to the 2022 East Coast floods, for local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to deliver culturally appropriate, locally-designed mental health services in affected communities (Portfolio budget statements 2022–23: budget related paper no. 1.7: Health portfolio, p. 18)
an additional $1.2 million over 3 years through the National Indigenous Australians Agency under the Prioritising Mental Health measure (Budget paper no. 2, p. 108)
an additional $14.4 million to extend oral and hearing health measures under the NTRAI for 2 years to June 2024 (Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, p. 33)

Culture and language

Two significant cultural measures relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were announced in January 2022:

$20.2 million is allocated in 2022–23 to transfer copyright of the Aboriginal Flag to the Commonwealth (Budget paper no. 2, p. 160, announced on 25 January 2022). This followed protracted negotiations with the copyright holder, Harold Thomas, and several licensees. A 2020 Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Aboriginal flag had recommended that the Commonwealth should not compulsorily acquire the copyright for the flag.
$316.5 million is allocated over 5 years from 2021–22 to build Ngurra, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Precinct, in the Parliamentary Triangle in Canberra (Budget paper no. 2, p. 163, announced on 5 January 2022; funds ‘already provided for by the Government’). Ngurra, meaning ‘home’, ‘country’ or ‘place of belonging’ in the Ngunnawal language, will include a learning and knowledge centre, a national resting place to care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains and a new home for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

There are no new measures relating to Indigenous languages. This is unsurprising given a $22.8 million commitment over 4 years, including some ongoing funding, in the Closing the Gap Commonwealth Implementation Plan (p. 67; Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2021–22, pp. 214–215).

Funding of $11.0 million over 2 years will be provided under the environmental budget measure ‘Streamlining Environmental Protections and Modernising Indigenous Heritage Protections’ to continue reforms to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage protection regime (Budget paper no. 2, pp. 54–55). The Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Samuel review) and the Senate Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of the current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage protection regime and recommended substantial changes be made. Reforms continue to be of critical importance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with concerns about the adequacy of cultural heritage protections raised regularly. The measure includes $5.0 million to support the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance Partnership, established in November 2021, to canvass and develop options for cultural heritage reform during 2022.

Housing

The 2022–23 Budget contains one small measure relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing:

$7.7 million over 5 years from 2021–22 for the Indigenous Home Ownership Program Extension (Budget paper no. 2, p. 14). This receipt measure is paid for by re-profiling existing funding provided to Indigenous Business Australia for regional housing construction loans in the 2020–21 Budget (refer Housing section of the Indigenous Affairs 2020–21 Budget review brief).

The National Partnership for Remote Housing Northern Territory is due to expire in June 2023 (Budget paper no. 3, p. 54) with no replacement flagged.

The provision of sufficient and appropriate Indigenous housing remains of high concern, particularly in remote areas: around 1 in 5 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in overcrowded housing; in remote areas it is around 2 in 5 (Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2020, p. 10.6). The Close the Gap Campaign Report 2022 – Transforming Power: Voices for Generational Change calls for development of a national housing framework that delivers appropriate housing and strategies to reduce overcrowding, poor housing conditions and shortages in remote communities (Budget paper no. 2, p. 8).

A Housing Sector Strengthening Plan, a commitment under Priority Reform 2 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, is due with the Joint Council on Closing the Gap in April 2022. The plan must include actions relating to workforce, capital infrastructure, service provision, and governance.

Justice and safety

There is very little in the Budget relating to justice measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples:

$1.9 million is allocated to extend existing Commonwealth funding by 1 year for Custody Notification Services in Western Australia and the Northern Territory (providing culturally-appropriate health and wellbeing checks when an Indigenous person is taken into police custody) (Budget paper no. 2, p. 159). Funding for this measure will come from the existing Indigenous Advancement Strategy allocation.
$2.0 million is allocated over 2 years from 2022–23 for the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia to expand the Youth Engagement Program as part of the Kimberley Juvenile Justice Project in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions. The Youth Engagement Program provides case management, mentoring, court support and advocacy services to help young Aboriginal people to comply with bail conditions and court orders (Budget paper no. 2, p. 162).
$3.2 million is allocated in 2022–23 to extend the Time to Work Employment Services program for 12 months to provide continued in-person pre-employment services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners (Budget paper no. 2, p. 74).

The recently finalised Justice Policy Partnership (an action item under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap) and associated Work Plan have agreed an initial focus on children aged under 14 (p. 4).

The cross portfolio Women’s Safety package sets out measures to address family, domestic and sexual violence under the first phase of the new National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022–2032 (the National Plan). Information and analysis on the full set of measures can be found in the Women’s safety Budget review brief. Indigenous-specific measures include:

$27.8 million over 2 years to extend Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family safety services, and provide funding for up to 18 existing providers currently funded under the Third and Fourth Action Plans of the previous National Plan (2010–22) (Women’s budget statement 2022–23, p. 23). These services are being extended while the dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan for the National Plan is being finalised by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council on family, domestic and sexual violence (Women’s budget statement, p. 6).
$6 million to undertake an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Escaping Violence Payment place-based trial in Cairns, Queensland. The trial will be delivered by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led organisation (Women’s budget statement, p. 21; announced 22 February 2022).
$30.0 million over 5 years to build and maintain links between Safe and Supported: the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children and the National Plan and the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Their Children includes specific support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families through a Centre for Excellence, and a National Advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (p. 68; Women’s budget statement, p. 15).

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