Alleviating poverty in remote Indigenous Australia: The role of the hybrid economy
Alleviating poverty in remote Indigenous Australia: The role of the hybrid economy Report
CAEPR Topical Issue
- Author(s): Altman, Jon
- Published: 2007
- Publisher: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences, Australian National University
Abstract: While Australia is one of the world’s richest countries in both absolute and per capita terms, many of its Indigenous peoples live in poverty. This paper seeks to elucidate some avenues for addressing poverty in remote Indigenous Australia via appropriate pro-poor growth strategies. While the Development Bulletin focuses on the Asia Pacific region, the case for including remote Indigenous Australia is twofold. First, there are many similarities in the development problems facing Indigenous poor in Australia living within a rich developed state and those in developing Third World nations. Second, Australia’s development discourse and aid practice offshore generally focuses on failed states, problems of governance and policy failure, while conveniently ignoring economic development problems at home. An attempt is made here to engage robustly with the dominant Indigenous policy approach in Australia that somewhat myopically promulgates a view that Indigenous economic development can only be achieved via mainstreaming, a term that refers to orthodox engagement with the market either through sale of labour or through operation of commercial business. The alternative approach that is championed here is a livelihoods approach. It is argued that such an approach might be more successful than mainstreaming in both economic and cultural terms in addressing Indigenous poverty. This approach, referred to as ‘the hybrid economy model’, emphasises that the customary or non-market sector has a crucially important role to play in addressing Indigenous poverty in Australia. The paper concludes with a note of caution: Australia is keen to export an approach to development that promotes the free market. But this approach has been unsuccessful in remote regions in addressing Australia’s Indigenous development problem, so it is unclear why it should succeed offshore.
- Urls: https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/Altman_Poverty_0.pdf
- Publisher Location: Canberra