Finding the Keys to Unlock Successful Aboriginal Community Governance: Case Studies of Three Aboriginal Councils in North Queensland, Australia
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: In Australian Indigenous policy, the 1970s heralded the beginning of a shift from paternalistic policies of assimilation and integration to an approach that sought to facilitate greater self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. New Indigenous representative and service delivery organizations emerged at the national level, culminating in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), and at the regional level. At the local level, administration of Indigenous populations by church missions and state government authorities gave way to new corporate models for Indigenous community governance, with structures ranging from small, incorporated associations to full-fledged local governments. A significant diversity of Indigenous governance models has evolved in the past three decades, the product of an enthusiasm for policy experimentation and the fragmented government involvement in Indigenous affairs that is characteristic of Australia’s federalism. Despite this diverse and lengthy experience of Indigenous governance development, there remains little consensus about the optimal governance structures and processes for Indigenous people to achieve their aspirations and determine their futures. Indeed, the continuing high levels of disadvantage of Australia’s Indigenous population has prompted a reassessment in recent years of policy frameworks that emphasized the devolution of decision making and service delivery to Indigenous organizations. Governments have withdrawn support for national and regional representative bodies—the abolition of ATSIC being the most notable example—and developed new policy frameworks that emphasize direct partnerships with local Indigenous communities, predicated on negotiated partnership agreements. The focus has now turned to the community level, where governments are looking to Indigenous community governance structures to engage with governments in partnerships that will effect real changes to improve the living conditions of Indigenous populations. Yet, the preoccupation in recent decades with Indigenous governance structures at the national level has led to an
Author: Michael Limerick
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2564563175