Remote Australia Online

Despite its rising significance, research on temporary population mobility in the Developed World, remains sparse, fragmented, and largely descriptive in nature. If progress in understanding is to be made, it is argued that a more systematic approach to measuring the space-time dynamics of temporary mobility is needed. The problems and issues in measuring temporary forms of movement are reviewed, and nine distinct facets of mobility are then identified, each of which captures a particular aspect of mobility behaviour. Five of these that pertain to the temporal dimension of population movement are explored and a series of measures for each outlined and illustrated using data from the Australian Population Census and the National Visitor Survey. Results reveal the interdependence of space-time measures, delineate several outstanding measurement tasks and underline the need for more comprehensive data sources.

“Progress in the nascent field of inquiry concerned with understanding circulation in developed countries requires a balance between individual and aggregate modes of explanation. The sparsity and fragmentation of current studies is traced to the dearth of appropriate data sources and the complexity of circular moves, reflecting the integral connections between data, method and theory in migration research. It is argued that circulation, like permanent migration, can be divided into production- and consumption-based categories, but that measurement of circulation is complicated by three additional features: variable duration, repetition and seasonality. Four dimensions of population movement are identified: intensity of circular migration, movement distances, patterns of redistribution and migration networks. Census and survey data are used to quantify these dimensions.”

This research is concerned with the phenomenon of Indigenous homelessness in Australia. A reading of the homelessness literature clearly demonstrates the difficulties of conceptualising both non-Indigenous 'homelessness' and Indigenous 'homelessness' (Memmott et al 2003). The most visible Indigenous ‘homeless’ people are small groups who live in public places, socialising, sheltering, drinking, arguing and fighting in public. This occurs despite the existence a range of Indigenous housing options and the advent of formal Town Camps in many regional centres throughout the late 20th century (especially post 1970). Although these people are often categorised as 'homeless', a number see themselves as being both 'placed' and 'homed', and prefer instead to refer to themselves with such labels as 'parkies', 'goomies', 'long grassers', ‘ditchies’ or 'river campers'. They are public place dwellers who identify with particular public or semi-public places as their ‘home’ environment, usually conforming to a 'beat' of such places where they camp and socialise. In certain contexts the current authors believe 'public place dwelling' should be the nomenclature preferred over such words as 'homeless' or 'itinerant', because the latter terms have specific, and sometimes narrowly construed, meanings that are not always helpful in analysis and strategic thinking. Mainstream concepts of homelessness do not serve Indigenous people well. The research found that for many Indigenous homeless people, finding accommodation is not necessarily their most crucial support need. Indigenous homelessness can be redefined as losing one’s sense of control over, or legitimacy in, the place where one lives. The research identified three broad categories of Indigenous homelessness: public place dwellers; those at risk of homelessness; and spiritually homeless people. Those designing policies or programs for Indigenous homeless people may need to re-think or change their concepts of homeless in order to adequately understand and respond to the needs of this group of people. Indeed, services required by Indigenous people who are regarded as homeless may not necessarily be concerned with housing or accommodation issues. The project aimed to research the phenomenon of small groups of Indigenous people living in public settings, despite in many cases the advent of formal Town Camps and a range of urban Indigenous housing options having been established in many regional centres throughout the late 20th century (esp. post 1970). Although these people are often categorised as homeless, a reading of the literature clearly demonstrates the difficulties of conceptualising either mainstream homelessness or Indigenous homelessness. A number of Indigenous itinerant people see themselves as being both placed and homed, and prefer instead to refer to themselves with such labels as parkies, goomies, long grassers, river campers, etc. Indigenous homeless people can be further characterised as people who do not pay for accommodation, have a visible profile (socialise, shelter, drink, argue and fight in public), have low incomes of which a substantial part is often spent on alcohol, have generally few possessions, minimal clothes and bedding, and usually conform to a beat of camping and socialising places in public or semi-public areas. State and Local government, Indigenous, and charitable groups in most capital cities and regional centres of Australia are facing the problem of responding to Indigenous people residing in public and semi-public places, often accompanied by anti-social behaviour, substance abuse, poor health and short life expectancy. This is becoming an increasing and complex social problem. Yet there is very little published literature on the subject, neither profiling these people nor providing strategies in response to their needs. Nevertheless many local groups have attempted to respond with a range of strategies which are often described in unpublished (and often confidential) documents.

The Report covers a broad range of issues extending from the local level (with Indigenous perspectives on Shared Responsibility Agreements), regional and national levels (considering the capacity for Indigenous participation and engagement in federal policy making processes), through to the international level (with a review of developments on Indigenous human rights over the past four years). It is the fourth successive Social Justice Report to substantially focus on the federal governments’ policy settings for Indigenous affairs. The 2003 report had provided a preliminary overview of the operation of the Council of Australian Government’s (COAG) eight trial sites for whole of government activity and identified some concerns about their operation and their transferability into policy more generally. The COAG trials formed the genesis of the new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs that were introduced in 2004, and which were given preliminary consideration in the 2004 report. That report also noted a series of preliminary concerns that, if not addressed, could compromise the overall effectiveness of the new arrangements. The 2005 Report then considered progress in bedding down these new arrangements after twelve months of operation. It considered whether the preliminary concerns and warnings identified in the previous two reports had eventuated. It expressed serious concerns about lack of Indigenous engagement and participation in the new arrangements, and the overall lack of transparency and government accountability that has accompanied these arrangements. This Report considers progress two years into the new arrangements. It builds on the analysis of the previous three reports.

Aboriginal people in remote and rural Australia are frequently moving between places. Mobility was and still is key to the maintenance of Aboriginal relationships to places, or country, and to the maintenance of social relationships. A distinct range of socio-cultural, economic and political factors and aspirations motivate these movements. There exists a culture of mobility amongst the Aboriginal population of Australia. Yet despite the widespread reporting of high mobility in the ethnographic and housing literature, relatively little is known of the nature of this culture of mobility and in particular its implications for services. The aim of this paper is to consider the role of mobility in sustaining and expressing Aboriginal attachments to places and social relations, as well as the relationship between mobility and service needs. The paper draws on case studies of Aboriginal mobility from an Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) funded research project by Memmott et al (2004, 2006). This project examined the mobility of the Alpurrurulam community, which is based on a land excision in an eastern Northern Territory pastoral lease, and the mobility of the Aboriginal community of Dajarra, a small town in north-west Queensland. For both communities Mt Isa is a regional social and service centre and the Georgina River is their heartland. According to the ARIA classification, these places are located in remote and very remote Australia (ABS 2001). This classification is based on the relative distance an Australian population must travel to access a full range of services. However, from an Aboriginal perspective remoteness might also be defined as relative distance from one’s homeland or the ability or ease with which people can access their homeland(s). For the Dajarra and Alpurrurulam communities and in many other instances this would produce an inversion of the ARIA classification, that is, parts of Australia that are very remote in terms of service delivery are often highly accessible in terms of ‘home’ and ‘country’. Where relevant, this paper makes comparisons with the Tangentyere Council Research Unit’s recent study of population and mobility in the Alice Springs Town Camps (Foster et al 2005). In so doing a goal of this paper is to provide a foundation from which future projects, such as the Desert Knowledge CRC’s ‘Demand Responsive Services to Desert Settlements’, could further explore the tension between access to services and the maintenance of relationships with country in a manner that positively reflects the aspirations and service demands of remote Aboriginal communities (Memmott et al 2004:8–10; see Desert Knowledge CRC 2006).

Broad-ranging and comprehensive, this incisive new textbook examines the shifting meanings of 'race' and ethnicity and collates the essential concepts in one indispensable companion volume. From Marxist views to post-colonialism, this book investigates the attendant debates, issues and analyses within the context of global change. Contents Representation The politics of naming Colonialism : invisible histories Theories of race and ethnicity Identity : marginal voices and the politics of difference Case study : indigenous Australians Conflict Living the contradiction Futures.

This text tells the history of the political struggle for Aboriginal rights throughout Australia through a selection of historical documents created by Aboriginal campaigners. Using the words of native activists over 150 years, the book charts the relationship between involvement and identity.

This thesis is primarily concerned with the meanings that are produced when women become visible amongst the homeless through photographic representations. While there have always been homeless women, unlike their male counterparts, they have remained largely invisible to the public and government policy makers. Social documentary photography has acted as one of the main avenues through which homeless women have, literally, been rendered visible. Driven by, and implicated in complex sociocultural and political circumstances, socially concerned photographs draw on the real and the fictional to generate truth/power effects. Thus, the thesis re/traces the representation of homeless women in a range of visual texts and ask how this construct has been discursively produced and deployed. In order to explore how socially concerned photography has contributed to, and made use of the idea of homeless, or destitute woman, examples are drawn from a range of photographic genres. These include traditional social documentary, public collections of photographs, photojournalism and publicity materials. The selected images, the circumstances out of which they emerge, and those in which they are read, are interrogated along, and with the consideration of the interconnections between axes of gender, genre, race, class and power. The inquiry does not aim to establish a unitary source, or coherent trajectory of the visual representation of the homeless woman, because origins, particularly of ideas, are always contestable. Rather, a primary aim is to expand the field of possibilities for the visual portrayal of women's experiences of homelessness.

Family violence is acknowledged as an issue of national importance, both generally and among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There are many barriers to assessing its true extent but this report presents information currently available in relation to Indigenous Australians. The report draws on a number of surveys and administrative data sets and also discusses gaps in existing information and strategies for improvements.

During the early 1970s, large numbers of Aboriginal people became tenants of the Housing Commission of New South Wales under the Housing for Aborigines program. Most moved from government reserves or dilapidated and overcrowded private rental dwellings to broadacre suburban estates. As public housing tenants, they encountered considerable pressures to become 'respectable' citizens, to build their lives around privacy, sobriety, moral restraint, the nuclear family, conventional gender roles and wage labour. For many indigenous Australians, these expectations - which were based as much on class relations as on colonialism - represented a threat to their conventional ways of life and their obligations to extended family and community. This paper explores the patterns of conformity and resistance amongst Aboriginal tenants. It draws on the sociological and cultural studies literature on youth subcultural resistance and compares anthropological theory about indigenous responses to the pressures of modernity.

This article analyses housing provision for Indigenous populations in remote communities, focusing particularly on the Indigenous Australian population. It uses a 'best practice' framework to do this. It then develops a model of best practice which is used to evaluate remote area Indigenous housing in terms of four stages and six components of housing provision. After summarising the results of the application of the model to some 26 examples, with more detailed analysis of two of them, it reaches conclusions about elements of best practice in remote area Indigenous housing, about best practice methodology and about the wider applicability of the model.

This document brings together four papers on Indigenous community governance which were written as verbal presentations for conferences, seminars and workshops between 2000 and 2003. They argue, from different starting points in response to conference and workshop themes, that Indigenous community governance is as much about process as about structures and that dispersed governance has benefits as well as costs. In doing so they challenge some common assumptions of would-be reformers of Indigenous community governance. The papers have been brought together for convenience and as a point of departure for debate, as part of an ARC Linkage project between CAEPR and Reconciliation Australia on Indigenous Community Governance.

This presentation will begin by discussing the 'in-between' and often 'counter-factual' status of regionalism in Australian politics. It will argue that ideas about regionalism are often used as critiques of existing institutional structures and processes at the local, State/ Territory and Commonwealth levels of Australian government, in attempts to modify and improve them. But what precisely the improved regional arrangements should be is often elusive and different in different policy areas or domains. Also the existing institutional structures and processes of Australian government, at the local, State/ Territory and Commonwealth levels, have lives and logics of their own, which are not so easily modified. Regionalism thus has somewhat limited prospects within Australian politics generally.

This is the second research report by the Indigenous Community Governance Project (ICGP). The ICGP is exploring the nature of Indigenous community governance in Australia—to understand what works, what doesn’t work, and why. The first report, based on 2005 fieldwork, was published as CAEPR Working Paper No. 31/2006. This report brings together findings from the fieldwork conducted during 2006, based on evidence drawn from case studies of Indigenous governance in action within differing community, geographical, cultural and political settings across the nation. It focuses on six major governance issues that have come to the fore in the 2006 research. These are: • the conceptual complexity of ‘communities’ • nodal leadership in Indigenous communities • networked governance and associated Indigenous design principles • cultural legitimacy • governance capacity development, and • the governance capacity of governments. The research data and implications for each of these issues are set out in the six main sections of the report. The report identifies a number of practical program and governance development responses that could meaningfully contribute to addressing current governance gaps and shortfalls identified in the case studies. If adopted, these recommendations should result in improved and more sustainable outcomes in Indigenous governance at the local level.

Racist stereotypes place Aboriginal people at a disadvantage when seeking accommodation in Western Australia’s private rental market. Existing laws provide some avenue of redress for individuals who have experienced racial discrimination in this context but do little to prevent it from happening.

This chapter critically assesses whether indirect forms of human rights implementation, which rely on the political process rather than judicial enforcement, enable the Australian Government to fulfil its international obligations to ensure that all Australians enjoy all their human rights. This assessment focuses on the right to enjoy an adequate standard of living, which is included in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, which is binding on the Australian Government. The effectiveness of the indirect measures used to implement some incidents of the right to an adequate standard of living are examined, using the national Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) as a case study. The study reveals that the main problems with this form of implementation are the lack of independent accountability mechanisms, and the related absence of effective remedies in the event of a violation. In conclusion, the chapter suggests that some measure of legal accountability (direct implementation) is indispensable to fully comply with international obligations, and that this may not necessarily be incompatible with Australia's democratic traditions.

Australia has long been known as the ‘lucky country’. In recent years, most Australians have enjoyed the benefits of repeated budget surpluses, a generally high standard of living and a consistent and reliable application of the rule of law. But on any given night, around 100,000 people in Australia are homeless (Chamberlain and MacKenzie 2003). This is despite Australia’s international commitment, made almost 30 years ago, to ensure that its population is adequately housed. Rhetorical gestures are made towards the need for a ‘social safety net’ to support homeless Australians, but there remains a distinct reluctance to frame the discussion of homelessness in the language of rights. Governments repeatedly point to the vagueness of economic, social and cultural rights, and hint at the inevitability of homelessness. In this article, we examine whether the response of state and federal governments to the question of homelessness can be said to represent a violation of Australia’s obligations in respect of the right to adequate housing under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Following a brief discussion of the historical development of economic, social and cultural rights, we analyse the normative content of these rights, particularly as they relate to developed, industrialised states such as Australia. Next, we consider Australia’s specific obligations in relation to the right to adequate housing and how this right relates, in broad terms, to homelessness. Finally, we evaluate the extent to which Australia is fulfilling these specific obligations.

Recognising the role that lawyers can play in client empowerment and the promotion of human dignity and respect, this article discusses a ‘human rights approach’ to lawyering for people experiencing homelessness. The article seeks to shift recent discussion from how to use human rights law in homeless legal practice, to how to adopt a human rights approach to such practice. Within a human rights paradigm, the article considers the duty to treat clients with dignity and respect; the importance of asking clients what they want, listening and giving primacy to their answers; holistic approaches to assist clients with their non-legal needs; the role of lawyers in client empowerment and community development; and strategies to promote the meaningful participation of people experiencing homelessness in law reform work, policy advocacy and public education. The article concludes that, by adopting a human rights approach to legal service provision and advocacy, lawyers can enhance clients’ physical, social and psychological wellbeing, generate a sense of client empowerment, promote client participation in public policy development and implementation, and assist to improve clients’ lives.

This new work argues that a broad Indigenous rights framework is crucial to achieving positive change in the socio-economic disadvantage into which Indigenous Australians are born. It explains why addressing problems in Indigenous communities at a practical level needs to be done in conjunction with rights protection. Redefining the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is a challenge that involves assessing the impact of historical injustice. It is only when we understand how the ideologies of colonialism have permeated today's institutions that we can begin to break the grip of the historical legacy. Once that grip is broken, Australians will be free to explore alternatives to colonisation and assimilation. "Achieving Social Justice" seeks to inject the current debates with some possible options, bringing attention to the inherent inequities within the system and highlighting the pervasiveness of Australia's psychological terra nullius. The author proposes longer term, aspirational initiatives leading to institutional change that will facilitate greater rights protection and the exercise of self-determination. Contents 1. Why question the rules? 2. The myth of law's neutrality: why formal equality doesn't work 3. Nationalism and identity: why 'western' institutions don't work for everyone 4. Indigenous aspirations: the starting point for rights protection 5. New strategies, improved rights protection: some first steps and some alternative futures 7. Some conclusions.

Objective: To describe the reasons homeless young people leave home and differences between males and females. Methods: Homeless young people between the ages of 12 and 20 years (n=692) completed surveys conducted by trained interviewers using Questionnaire Delivery System on laptop computers as part of a large study. Participants indicated the importance of each of 22 reasons for leaving home on a four-point scale, from ‘not important’ (1) to ‘very important’ (4). Results: Conflict with parents was the only reason reported as important by at least two-thirds of respondents. Desire for independence and/or adventure was rated as important by nearly one-half of young men and women. Eighteen reasons were rated as ‘not or somewhat important‘ by most young people. These included issues associated with school, sexuality, sexual abuse and trouble with the law. Young women were more likely than young men to report that sexual abuse, anxiety/depression, and/or pregnancy were important reasons for leaving home. The converse held for personal alcohol and drug abuse, trouble with the police, and breach of community order or parole. With few exceptions, importance ratings of the 22 reasons were not highly correlated. Conclusions and Implications: Service providers should consider how the diverse elements of family environment contribute to homelessness. A focus on familial problems may lead to other important reasons being overlooked, namely a desire for independence and adventure. Services and supports need to take into account whether young people leave home because of a life crisis or because they seek independence.

A cross-national survey was conducted among 358 recently homeless young people in Melbourne and Los Angeles. Drug dependence and mental illness were assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. At each time point, participants were classified as no condition, drug dependent, having a mental illness or dual condition. Low levels of drug dependence or mental illness or both were reported at each data point. Most young people were classified as neither drug dependent nor having mental illness at baseline and remained so for the 12-month period and few remained drug dependent, or had continuing mental illness or both. Half to two-thirds of young people classified as having one or both conditions were subsequently reclassified as “no condition”. There was no evidence of a consistent pathway from either drug dependence or mental illness to co-morbidity. Most young people reported an absence of mental illness and/or drug dependence at each time point. Improvement from one or both conditions at each transition suggests it may be more effective to provide interventions to address drug dependence and mental health problems to young people early in their experience of homelessness.

In 2003, over 41 000 families with accompanying children throughout Australia were assisted by homeless services. Sole fathers with children in their care who are homeless are a minority group within this overall population of homeless families and, as such, little is known about their experiences of homelessness and fathering. The present paper reports on an exploratory study of sole fathers with children in their care who were homeless in the Australian Capital Territory. The study identifies the fathers' pathways into and experiences of homelessness, and the fathers share their stories of what it means to be a sole father. The paper identifies the issues fathers may experience when dealing with homelessness and fatherhood. An increased understanding of these experiences can contribute to the development of further research and improved practice with such families.

Noel Pearson has recently argued that inclusion in a ‘passive’ welfare system, over the last thirty years, has been to the detriment of Aboriginal society. This paper approaches the inclusion of Aboriginal people in the social security system from a slightly different perspective, while taking seriously Pearson’s concerns. It argues that, despite norms and aspirations of universalism, rules within the social security system are social constructs derived from and intended for the particular social and economic circumstances of the dominant society. When those rules are applied to the very different social and economic circumstances of minority groups, such as Indigenous Australians, major issues of adaptation and interpretation arise. This paper draws on research experience spanning 20 years on relations between Indigenous Australians and the social security system to illustrate the degree to which adaptation has occurred, in the pursuit of realism. However it also argues current relations between the social security system and Indigenous Australians are not just and fair because the rules of the system do not equally reflect Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples’ social and economic circumstances.

This paper provides a national overview of the parallel settlement system which exists across Indigenous Australia. Its aim is to provide a context for the physical planning of Indigenous settlements, one that is cognisant of the range of culturally distinct factors that contribute to the unique character of such settlements. The methodology includes an analysis of census data and a review of existing literature with support from examples and anecdotal evidence from the authors' professional experiences. Shortcomings in the existing research and data on Indigenous settlements are noted, and recommendations are made for further research.

The modernising of the indigenous domestic moral economy: Kinship, accumulation and household composition