tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/remote-indigenous-community-5985/articlesRemote indigenous community – The Conversation2023-03-05T17:20:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2006192023-03-05T17:20:03Z2023-03-05T17:20:03ZTo improve drinking water quality in First Nation communities, a collaborative approach is important<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513236/original/file-20230302-24-37x8t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C507%2C3983%2C2963&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The federal government announced its intention to fund the construction of a new drinking water pipeline between Oneida Nation of the Thames and the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sheri Longboat)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/feds-commitment-to-onedia-water-supply-met-with-hope-and-uncertainty-1.6722846">federal government announced</a> its intention to fulfil its responsibility and fund the construction of a new drinking water pipeline between the Oneida Nation of the Thames and the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System.</p>
<p>A long-term drinking water advisory has been in effect on the <a href="https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1614618557239/1614618578831">Oneida Public Water System since 2019,</a> affecting community homes and buildings. For this reason, the federal government’s announcement is hopeful news. </p>
<p>Much of our research, which we review in this article, explores the potential of collaborative arrangements to improve drinking water quality outcomes in First Nations communities. </p>
<p>Water sharing arrangements, like the proposed one between the Oneida Nation of the Thames and the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System, have the potential to enhance water security, but they require strong communication and co-ordination between community leaders in addition to adequate financial support. </p>
<h2>Key issues</h2>
<p>In one of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107147">our recently published papers</a> we point out that water sharing agreements between Ontario municipalities are commonplace. For example, York Region receives water from the City of Toronto. </p>
<p>That said, the commonness of water sharing between Ontario First Nations and municipalities is far lower than it is between municipalities. </p>
<p>These differences are associated with factors like remoteness. A high proportion of First Nations are located in Northern Ontario and located relatively far from nearby communities who could enter into a water sharing arrangement.</p>
<p>But some First Nations, like the Oneida Nation of the Thames, have municipal neighbours within a feasible distance, where water sharing for access to safe drinking water is a viable option.</p>
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<p>A few other First Nations are also engaged in similar arrangements. The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation now receive water from Haldimand County via a connection in Hagersville, Ont. Six Nations of the Grand River have <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/mississaugas-of-the-credit-and-six-nations-of-the-grand-river-launch-innovative-water-main-project-803931368.html">joined in this arrangement</a> with the Mississaugas of the Credit through a boundary watermain. Meanwhile, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation are collaborating with Durham Region regarding the potential to service Port Perry. </p>
<h2>Positive effects of water sharing agreements</h2>
<p>In a recent article we find a positive association between <a href="https://doi.org/10.3368/le.99.3.053022-0042R">enhanced drinking water quality and Indigenous-municipal drinking water arrangements</a> in Ontario. </p>
<p>Using historic data, and controlling for many factors, we find that First Nation drinking water systems in Ontario are more likely than municipal water systems to experience a drinking water advisory.</p>
<p>However, the presence of water sharing arrangements between First Nation systems and nearby municipalities are associated with reductions in the likelihood that a First Nation water system will experience a drinking water advisory. </p>
<p>This is a welcome outcome for all communities.</p>
<h2>Partnerships beyond water</h2>
<p><a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487522643/a-quiet-evolution/">Indigenous-local intergovernmental partnerships</a> are not limited to water. </p>
<p>There are numerous <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423918000409">types of agreements</a> for community services that exist between First Nations and municipalities. These agreements include fire protection, trash collection, animal control and co-ordinated efforts to recruit medical professionals to serve the communities.</p>
<p>The success of these agreements, as well as the water sharing ones, relies on the acknowledgement of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12492">unique histories and aspirations</a> of the communities and the governments before exploring any partnership. </p>
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<img alt="A river" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513221/original/file-20230302-1678-jdw7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C144%2C3995%2C2649&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513221/original/file-20230302-1678-jdw7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513221/original/file-20230302-1678-jdw7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513221/original/file-20230302-1678-jdw7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513221/original/file-20230302-1678-jdw7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513221/original/file-20230302-1678-jdw7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513221/original/file-20230302-1678-jdw7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Oneida Nation of the Thames, who reside along the eastern shore of the Thames River in Ontario, will soon have access to clean drinking water. But Indigenous-local intergovernmental partnerships are not limited to water alone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sheri Longboat)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>This includes an appreciation of the nation-to-nation relationship between First Nations and the federal government, Indigenous rights and autonomy, cultural differences, funding, long-term sustainability of the projects and a host of economic considerations, like the costs to implementing and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12765">developing any legal contract</a>. </p>
<h2>Path to a collaborative future</h2>
<p>There is no silver bullet to addressing any specific issue — especially one as chronic and complex as drinking water quality in First Nations communities.</p>
<p>Water servicing agreements should only be viewed as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12363">one component of the portfolio of efforts to address this historic problem</a>.</p>
<p>Voluntary mutually beneficial exchanges, like the water sharing agreements, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNacjFIk3-o">require leadership</a> that enhances trust, transparency and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087413501638">communication</a> between First Nation, municipal and federal governments. And we hope that the evolving relationship between the Oneida Nation of the Thames and the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System will prove mutually beneficial. </p>
<p>Our research suggests this collaboration has the possibility of improving drinking water quality by reducing the likelihood of persistent drinking water advisories. The emergence and success of collaborative relationships like these will depend on a host of factors that will require purposeful efforts to develop understanding and trust.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brady Deaton, Jr. receives funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brandon Doxtator receives funding from ISC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Alcantara receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheri Longboat receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>Water sharing arrangements have the potential to enhance water security, but they require strong communication and co-ordination between community leaders in addition to adequate financial support.Brady Deaton, Jr., Professor of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of GuelphBrandon Doxtator, Environmental Consultation Coordinator, Oneida Nation of the ThamesChristopher Alcantara, Professor of Political Science, Western UniversitySheri Longboat, Associate Professor, Rural Planning and Development, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1632402021-07-08T19:51:24Z2021-07-08T19:51:24Z‘Return to normal’ travel and research may bring hazards to northern, Indigenous communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408311/original/file-20210625-22-xmg7sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C214%2C3254%2C2218&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Instead of returning to the northern research status quo, researchers should make community health and well-being the top priority. Above: Nain, Nunatsiavut.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christina Goldhar</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Throughout the pandemic, many have longed for a “return to normal.” When the threat of COVID-19 subsides, we look forward to resuming our research and travel schedules, and reclaiming the elements of our lives that were disrupted over a year ago. However, for southern-based researchers and travellers, returning to northern, Indigenous communities either for leisure or research fieldwork in summer 2021 is premature. </p>
<p>We are a group of scholars — Indigenous and settler northerners and southern-based researchers — who share a commitment to the development of respectful, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2012.00434.x">non-extractive research relationships</a>. We question the harm that some researchers bring with them when they enter northern communities from their southern homes. </p>
<p>The pandemic has underscored many of the systemic injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples and within northern and Indigenous geographies in what is now known as Canada. These include the persistent <a href="https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20210122-ITK-Systemic-Discrimination-in-the-Provision-of-Healthcare-in-Inuit-Nunangat.pdf">underfunding of health care</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-is-health-coronavirus-highlights-the-dangers-of-the-housing-crisis-in-canadas-north-135594">housing</a>, the <a href="http://economics.uwinnipeg.ca/RePEc/winwop/2015-02.pdf">education system</a>, other <a href="https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2019/04/18/infrastructure-canada-north-budget-officer-report/">critical infrastructure such as water and sewage systems and broadband internet</a>, as well as <a href="https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/northern-communities-face-one-of-biggest-climate-change-risks-study-says/">the effects of climate change</a>. </p>
<p>All of these place the affected communities at increased risk of the spread and harmful effects of COVID-19. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410452/original/file-20210708-25-wjhozg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410452/original/file-20210708-25-wjhozg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410452/original/file-20210708-25-wjhozg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410452/original/file-20210708-25-wjhozg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410452/original/file-20210708-25-wjhozg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410452/original/file-20210708-25-wjhozg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410452/original/file-20210708-25-wjhozg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Kuujjuaq, Nunavik.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arielle Frenette</span></span>
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<h2>Trauma and living memory</h2>
<p>The legacies of Indian Residential Schools continue in the living memories of survivors (direct and intergenerational) and through trauma that <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/arts/faculty-news/2021/06-june/indigenous-experts-grapple-with-next-steps-for-site-of-kamloops-residential-school.html">has yet to be met with substantive supports</a> to address the many issues resulting from these genocidal, colonial programs that targeted Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>The recent recoveries of the remains of Indigenous people <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-lawyer-investigate-discovery-of-215-childrens-graves-in-kamloops-as-a-crime-against-humanity-161941">at the sites of former Indian Residential Schools</a> has retraumatized entire communities. Clearly, the grief and harm caused by these policies <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">cannot be contained by the bounds of “history.”</a></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amid-more-shocking-residential-schools-discoveries-non-indigenous-people-must-take-action-161965">Amid more shocking residential schools discoveries, non-Indigenous people must take action</a>
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<p>The coronavirus pandemic reframes our understanding of the potential <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2020/03/31/covid-19-and-inuit-nunangat-research-responsibility-infrastructure-inequality/">harm that research can bring to northern communities</a>. It forces us to place the well-being and needs of northern communities ahead of the needs of our research. The pandemic presents us with an opportunity to pause and reflect on these relationships, and to consider how we will maintain these practices of care as we move into a post-pandemic world. </p>
<p>The restrictions of the pandemic have encouraged us to be less wasteful with the knowledge that has already been produced and documented. For example, we have turned to data and other research materials that have not been fully explored due to the drive to always be in search of new questions, new projects and original outcomes. </p>
<p>It has also encouraged us to consider how research capacity within the North can be strengthened and supported by southern researchers, and new partnerships can be fostered, instead of southern researchers travelling North to collect data. </p>
<p>Current research practices are embedded in academic expectations and funding systems. They impose increasing pressure on communities to engage in, and collaborate with research on their territories, and northern Indigenous communities have been collaborating with research for decades. </p>
<p>There is an incredible amount of labour that community members must perform to facilitate even the most hands-off research, while projects often offer little benefit to the community.</p>
<p>As research projects are designed to centre academic priorities, they often fail to meaningfully address community research needs. This results in <a href="https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ITK-National-Inuit-Strategy-on-Research.pdf">colonial, extractive research relationships</a>, where researchers arrive from outside of a community, extract knowledge, data, labour and expertise for their benefit, and leave.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410466/original/file-20210708-21-77zb3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410466/original/file-20210708-21-77zb3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410466/original/file-20210708-21-77zb3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410466/original/file-20210708-21-77zb3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410466/original/file-20210708-21-77zb3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410466/original/file-20210708-21-77zb3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410466/original/file-20210708-21-77zb3q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Makenzie River, N.W.T.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Indigenous Consulting Services Inc.</span></span>
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<h2>Practices of care</h2>
<p>The pandemic has also offered a moment to consider and respond to the changing landscape of Indigenous research ethics in this country.</p>
<p>Indigenous northerners have long drawn attention to the <a href="http://www.northernpublicaffairs.ca/index/volume-6-issue-1/from-the-credibility-gap-to-capacity-building-an-inuit-critique-of-canadian-arctic-research/">coloniality of research</a> occurring on their homelands and the need to move towards greater degrees of autonomy <a href="https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ITK-National-Inuit-Strategy-on-Research.pdf">in Indigenous research</a>. Responding to these needs requires considering the harm caused by even the most common “<a href="https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1327">best-practice” research approaches</a>. It requires reconsidering the governance and funding structures that shape northern research. </p>
<p>Approaching research as a conscientious practice of care involves questioning the intent, as well as the various negative effects brought forward by a research agenda. This must be done in a way that reaches beyond ethical considerations or “good intentions.” As we know from Canada’s long history of colonialism, even “good intentions” can be harmful. </p>
<p>Caring means a context-based, selfless and affectionate reflection that takes into account all individuals, communities and environments affected by one’s actions. Community health and well-being must take precedence over research careers and the agendas of funding agencies. Every researcher who chooses not to travel to the North this summer, reduces the risk of bringing COVID-19 and its variants into the community. </p>
<p>In other words, practices of care are not about research, but about all living things involved in the research process and choices of methodology. We argue that, before choosing fieldwork in this early post-pandemic present, researchers must adopt a caring attitude. This means not returning to the northern research status quo, but instead centring community health and well-being, <a href="https://nccdh.ca/blog/entry/climate-change-resilience-part-1">including the climate</a>, in the design and implementation of future research projects. </p>
<p>During the pandemic, the Canadian government has provided funding for Indigenous communities — such as through the <a href="https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1585189335380/1585189357198">Indigenous Community Support Fund</a> — to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. While these short-term funding programs are certainly welcome, there is a need for sustained commitments to address the <a href="http://arcticjournal.ca/inuit-forum/addressing-the-inuit-nunangat-infrastructure-gap/">critical gap in social and economic infrastructure</a>. </p>
<p>Advocating for the continued funding of COVID-19-related programming, and a meaningful address of long-standing social and economic infrastructure deficits in northern and Indigenous communities would be a welcome alternative to fieldwork this summer. Ultimately, for southern-based researchers, there is a continued need to maintain distance as a practice of care for the well-being of northerners.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163240/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Goldhar receives funding from the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arielle Frenette receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Crystal Gail Fraser receives funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Christensen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, ArcticNet and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.</span></em></p>Summer 2021 is too soon for southern-based researchers and travellers to return to northern, Indigenous communities in the wake of COVID-19, for research fieldwork or leisure.Christina Goldhar, PhD. Candidate, Geography, Memorial University of NewfoundlandArielle Frenette, PhD candidate, Department of Geography, Université LavalCrystal Gail Fraser, Assistant Professor, Dept. of History, Classics, & Religion and the Faculty of Native Studies, University of AlbertaJulia Christensen, Canada Research Chair in Northern Governance and Public Policy, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1408992020-10-07T18:13:36Z2020-10-07T18:13:36ZLack of ID can endanger already vulnerable people during COVID-19 pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360403/original/file-20200928-24-11pmtkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3594%2C2596&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">COVID-19 restrictions like physical distancing and cashless payment are making life more difficult for those already vulnerable. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rod Maxwell, a young Indigenous man from northern British Columbia, was forced to live on the streets of downtown Vancouver last March <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/indigenous-man-stranded-dtes-1.5504544">after his personal identification was stolen</a>. Maxwell had travelled to the city to access health-care services unavailable in his rural community. After his identification was stolen, he was left with no alternative but to live on the streets of downtown.</p>
<p>He now lives and sleeps in close proximity with other people experiencing homelessness and unable to practise effective physical distancing. He doesn’t have the money to replace his personal ID. Even though family members want to purchase a transportation ticket for him, without identification he is unable to get on a bus or train. There are organizations in Vancouver that would normally help with replacing his ID, but due to COVID-19 these services have been temporarily suspended. </p>
<p>This case sheds light on the issue of personal identification for marginalized and underserved people who are made further vulnerable because they lack forms of official identification. Ultimately he is a bureaucratic hostage. An apt metaphor for someone rendered exceedingly vulnerable and marginalized due to being without identification at a time when it is vital to have but nearly impossible to obtain.</p>
<h2>Surviving COVID-19 without ID</h2>
<p>Individuals living without personal identification are unable to access most, if not all, of the health, social and economic supports available during the current pandemic. There are many individuals living without forms of essential identification like a birth certificate, health card, social insurance number (SIN) and driver’s licence. Without these forms of ID <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040567">it is nearly impossible to access necessary income and health supports.</a></p>
<p>Government agencies like <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-considers-shutting-down-service-canada-centres-as-employees/?utm_source">Service Ontario and Service Canada have reduced their hours in response to COVID-19 restrictions</a>. Non-profit organizations that <a href="http://neighbourhoodlink.org/partners-for-access-and-identification-paid/">normally hold ID clinics,</a> cover the costs of obtaining personal identification or provide a mailing address have been forced to reduce or altogether eliminate their services during the pandemic. </p>
<p>To avoid creating more bureaucratic hostages in a time of crisis, policy and emergency responses must deal with the needs and circumstances of the most marginalized people in our society.</p>
<p>Businesses and essential services have implemented physical distancing rules to limit person-to-person contact. Notably, many are <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/covid-19-could-accelerate-shift-to-cashless-experts-say-1.1442318">asking customers to pay using debit and credit cards or e-transfers</a> instead of cash. This comes along with increased efforts by government agencies to transition to e-banking for the distribution of income supports during the current pandemic. </p>
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<img alt="A phone being used to make a cashless payment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348995/original/file-20200722-30-1gaa5z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348995/original/file-20200722-30-1gaa5z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348995/original/file-20200722-30-1gaa5z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348995/original/file-20200722-30-1gaa5z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348995/original/file-20200722-30-1gaa5z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348995/original/file-20200722-30-1gaa5z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348995/original/file-20200722-30-1gaa5z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many businesses have moved to cashless payment due to the pandemic. But that often disadvantages those whose only option is paying by cash.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Jonas Leupe/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Discouraging the use of paper money and unnecessary face-to-face contact during the pandemic is reasonable. However, there are many people who are unable to go cashless. Such measures risk excluding individuals who are already vulnerable. </p>
<p>Many people live without access to financial institutions for a variety of reasons including a lack of birth certificate or other forms of personal identification. In Canada, for instance, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/banking/opening-bank-account.html">financial institutions require two pieces of personal identification to open an account</a>: a photo ID with signature (not including a health card) and a SIN. However, a birth certificate is required to obtain the required forms of ID. To get a SIN, for example, individuals need at least a birth certificate and access to a broad range of parental information that some may not have, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/sin/before-applying.html">including primary documents (not photocopies)</a>. Without these forms of ID it is virtually impossible to obtain a bank card, effectively barring people from the cashless economy.</p>
<p>Many individuals and families who are experiencing economic hardship during this period rely on food banks. <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/starting-april-1-food-bank-users-will-need-to-prove-low-income-status-and-address/">Most food banks in Canada require personal ID for individuals to access their services</a>. While it is difficult to know exactly how many Canadians are without ID, <a href="https://this.org/2017/03/31/what-it-means-to-be-a-canadian-living-without-id/">reputable sources conservatively estimate the number to be in the thousands.</a> </p>
<p>Our preliminary research suggests the numbers may be much higher in the territories and northern areas of provinces, where there is limited access to health-care resources and social services. Many people simply do not have access to those documents and information, cannot afford the added cost of a personal ID application or lack a fixed address to receive the documents, all of which means that it is nearly impossible to obtain personal identification now that they need it most. A lack of ID and the systemic barriers that make it difficult to acquire identification operate within a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124227">structure of existing social and economic inequalities in our society</a>.</p>
<p>Policies should not be implemented if they render people <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/indigenous-man-stranded-dtes-1.5504544">bureaucratic hostages</a> and make it almost impossible for those who most need assistance to get help. </p>
<h2>Modest interventions can make a big difference</h2>
<p>Relatively straightforward bureaucratic fixes can have a meaningful impact. Governments should <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-or-replace-ontario-birth-certificate">reduce or eliminate fees associated with birth certificate applications</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124227">Our research finds</a> that even birth certificate applications fees as low as $25 still present a major barrier for many low-income individuals.</p>
<p>Why not waive fees altogether? Providing people with birth certificates should not be a fee-driven service as this unintentionally imposes yet another obstacle to possessing ID for many people, particularly low-income people.</p>
<p>Governments should also reduce bureaucratic requirements for obtaining a birth certificate especially during crisis periods. Some requirements for birth certificate applicants — like mother’s maiden name at time of birth or physical signatures — also present major barriers, particularly for people with deceased or estranged parents. </p>
<p>In light of COVID-19, agencies like the Canada Revenue Agency are enacting <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/covid-19-update/covid-19-electronic-signatures.html">alternatives to physical signatures</a> in order to accommodate Canadians during this challenging time. The same must be done to help people attain vital documents at a time when having access to personal identification is more important than ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristin Burnett receives funding from SSHRC</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Sanders receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).</span></em></p>The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in the health-care system that leave those without identification documents vulnerable.Kristin Burnett, Profesor in the Department of Indigneous Studies, Lakehead UniversityChris Sanders, Associate Professor of Sociology, Lakehead UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1386012020-05-28T21:21:44Z2020-05-28T21:21:44ZIndigenous communities come together virtually during coronavirus despite barriers and inequities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336871/original/file-20200521-102632-xwsra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=513%2C110%2C2113%2C2440&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kyla Henry, from Roseau River and Winnipeg, performs a Jingle Dress dance with Carson Robinson, from Sagkeeng First Nation, during a concert at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg in June 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indigenous communities are coming together virtually in the spirit of wellness and many Indigenous Peoples are connecting over social media to showcase culture through song and dance. </p>
<p>Indigenous presence on what we refer to as Turtle Island is rooted in a history of violence, including biological warfare. In 1763, British army officer Jeffery Amherst <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27774278">encouraged the intentional spread of disease to Indigenous communities through smallpox blankets</a>. Smallpox was one of the diseases that ravaged Indigenous communities, along with influenza and measles. </p>
<p>Fast forward to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/ottawa-sends-body-bags-to-manitoba-reserves-1.844427">2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic</a> and the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-american-health-center-asked-covid-19-supplies-they-got-n1200246">2020 COVID-19 pandemic</a> when Indigenous communities were sent body bags rather than health-care resources. These health disparities should have been a wake-up call in 2009 when northern Indigenous communities were hit the <a href="http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/174/NCCAH-FS-InfluenzaEpidemiology-Part01-Halseth-EN-Web.pdf">hardest during the H1N1 outbreak</a>. The structural barriers and health-care inequities facing Indigenous communities are clear.</p>
<p>As a result, Indigenous spiritual traditions and community connections remain integral to our survival.</p>
<h2>Survival and resistance</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803210837/">Survivance, according to Indigenous literary scholar Gerald Vizenor, is about more than survival</a>: It encompasses an active sense of presence merging both survival and resistance. </p>
<p>In examining solidarity movements like Idle No More, Cree scholar Karyn Recollet writes that new geographies of resistance bring Indigenous peoples together through a process of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2014.995060">making visible an active Indigenous presence and futurity in otherwise contested Indigenous territories</a>.”</p>
<p>Cultural traditions like the jingle dress dance show how Indigenous people come together to survive and resist. As historian Brenda Child uncovered, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/created-during-spanish-flu-jingle-dress-dance-now-helping-first-nations-people-cope-with-covid-19-1.5531917">this medicinal and healing dance is connected to the 1919 Spanish Flu pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>One of the origin stories of the jingle dress dance explains that <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/origins-of-women-s-jingle-dress-dancing-g3WkMh6AmECyELjx3rZavw">it was first danced by Maggie White of Whitefish Bay First Nation</a> after it came to Maggie’s father in a vision when Maggie was ill as a child. Known for its beautiful sound and intricate footwork, the dance has since become a popular main category in traditional and competitions powwow; jingle dress dancers are often called upon to perform healing ceremonies. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b36QFGTlajk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Historian Brenda Child explores the health connection behind the jingle dress in Ojibwe history.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response to the current pandemic, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/jingle-dress-dance-healing-covid-19-pandemic-1.5504903">jingle dress dancers come together</a> in the spirit of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mS5vIEg22A">bringing healing to our nations</a>. <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/tony-violet-duncan-indigenous-dancers-heroes-heroines">Today</a>, they come <a href="https://www.powwows.com/jingle-dancing-going-viral-during-covid-19/">together virtually</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/GatheringofNationsPowwow/videos/calling-all-jingle-dress-dancers-dance-your-style-dance-for-healing-jingle-powwo/2240646429371486/">This virtual connection</a> is a powerful expression of our cultural strength — the very parts that hold us up, transcending borders, time and space. </p>
<p>For some, the pandemic means indefinite separation from community, friends and family. For example, the community of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory recently put up barricades to prevent access to visitors <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/six-nations-barricades-covid-19-1.5512752">as a way to protect the reserve from the spread of COVID-19</a>. Similar blockades are now <a href="https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/coronavirus/covid-19-checkpoints-check-all-boxes-for-indigenous-rights-570324442.html">preventing non-residents from entering Indigenous communities across the country</a>. </p>
<p>Within the boundaries of Six Nations, support for community safety is <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/what-its-like-working-a-checkpoint-in-a-first-nation-during-covid-19">visibly unwavering</a>. Community member Rhonda Martin has been busy in her kitchen preparing healthy meals for the community members posted to the barricades. Chef Tawnya Brant has been showcasing videos <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfqY0cvDia5SNeQ9iYbhTcA">featuring traditional foods on YouTube</a>. The owners of jewellery company Sapling & Flint <a href="https://www.saplingandflint.ca/blogs/announcements/first-nations-jewellery-manufacturer-retools-to-make-mask-filters">restructured their gallery to make face mask filters for frontline workers</a>; many of these have been sent to the <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/05/417506/ucsf-sends-second-wave-health-workers-navajo-nation">Navajo Nation</a> that has recorded the largest per-capita infection rate in the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/navajo-nation-surpasses-new-york-state-for-the-highest-covid-19-infection-rate-in-the-u-s-1.4944145">United States</a>. As of May 23, the Navajo Nation <a href="https://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19">has 4,434</a> positive COVID-19 cases and 147 deaths. The disproportionate rates of infection within Indigenous communities demands immediate action. </p>
<h2>Coming together as a virtual community</h2>
<p>Similar acts of support and decolonial love are happening across Turtle Island. Writer Adrienne Keene set up <a href="http://nativeappropriations.com/category/indigenous-stories-uncertain-times">Indigenous Stories of Uncertain Times</a>, where contributors can request donations be sent to an Indigenous COVID relief fund. Indigenous youth are building and inspiring community through the TikTok-based <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/indigenous-sask-beauty-influencers-uprising-1.5535511">#PassTheBrush</a> challenge. Traditional cooking has been inspired by Yazzie the Chef’s #PassTheChefKnife video featuring Indigenous chefs cooking from home in their own territories:</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous chefs like Yazzie the Chef connect from their kitchens in the #PassTheChefKnife challenge, inspired by the #PassTheBrush make-up and jingle dress challenge.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous authors and podcasters are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFApHLoivKQ">bringing people together through dialogue</a>. The survivance and the solidarity of Indigenous peoples hold us up and keep us well.</p>
<p>On May 21, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a relief fund for Indigenous people living off-reserve and in urban centres. The money, expected to take several weeks to roll out, is intended to support community-based projects including access to food and mental health services, but it fails to address <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/march-2020/priority-pandemic-response-needed-for-first-nations/">the structural barriers and health disparities facing Indigenous communities</a>. </p>
<p>Canada has failed to end the ongoing boil water advisories across First Nations communities. Communities with “<a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/this-ontario-first-nations-boil-water-advisory-has-been-in-effect-for-25-years/">do not consume advisories</a>” can only wash their <a href="https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1581964230816/1581964277298">hands with bottled water and hand soap</a> — commodities that are <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/why-did-you-buy-that-unearthing-the-roots-of-consumer-choices-in-the-pandemic-1.4929588">suddenly hard to find for many Canadians</a>. </p>
<p>The community members of Neskantaga in Ontario, for example, can spend over $7 for a <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/this-ontario-first-nations-boil-water-advisory-has-been-in-effect-for-25-years/">3.7-litre jug of water</a>. Along with the outrageous food prices in some of our remote communities, residents face <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/covid-19-and-fn-infrastructure.pdf">poor infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6136161/first-nations-food-insecurity-study/">food insecurity</a> and <a href="https://juxtamagazine.org/2019/11/24/canadas-national-failure-indigenous-health/">limited health-care resources</a>. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fnin.12237">The inequities are evident</a>.</p>
<p>Now, more than ever, the government of Canada needs to roll out an immediate and effective plan to ensure the safety and well-being of Indigenous communities. Until then, Indigenous communities will continue to do all possible to ensure their own protection and well-being; this is nothing new. </p>
<p>I remain fearful for the most vulnerable communities of this land. Our virtual Indigenous community, however, is stronger than ever as evidenced with each YouTube, TikTok video and virtual jingle dress dance.</p>
<p>I am not sure what normalcy will look and feel like, but the Indigenous survivance that has strengthened us during this pandemic will have forever changed us. </p>
<p>From the structural barriers that have produced disproportionate rates of infection to the inadequate health-care responses, the present state remains grossly unfair to Indigenous peoples. As we take it upon ourselves to construct a safer, healthier and more equitable reality after COVID-19, I hope more non-Indigenous people consider these disparities as a call for collective action on our now shared territories.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Brant does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indigenous communities are connecting over digital communities to survive and resist.Jennifer Brant, Assistant Professor in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1349632020-04-22T17:29:27Z2020-04-22T17:29:27ZCanada’s unequal health system may make remote Indigenous communities more vulnerable to the coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329794/original/file-20200422-47784-16wne0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=86%2C74%2C2387%2C1680&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One person has tested positive for COVID-19 in Eabametoong First Nation. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Canada, everyone is supposed to have the necessities of life such as housing, water, access to programs and services. But in reality, not all groups are treated equally. </p>
<p>On March 18, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/first-nations-covid-funds-coronavirus-1.5502062">the federal government announced a $305 million package</a> to help Indigenous communities prepare for and respond to the virus. On April 20, B.C. <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020PREM0020-000725">announced a plan for rural, remote and Indigenous communities</a> that includes improved medical transportation options to larger centres and <a href="https://www.fnha.ca/what-we-do/ehealth/virtual-doctor-of-the-day">a virtual doctor program</a>. But much more is needed across the country.</p>
<p>Although, these moves sound promising, there is an obvious gap regarding any “investment” and “commitments” especially for First Nations and remote Indigenous communities. Many Indigenous remote communities are without clean running water, safe affordable housing, education, health and a robust economy that support a quality of life. In some remote Indigenous communities, there is a lack of infrastructure, mobility and accessibility to medical care. Some communities are fly-in only.</p>
<p>Vulnerable populations are more <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/diseases-maladies/vulnerable-populations-covid-19/vulnerable-groups-eng.pdf">at risk of getting infections in general and right now, COVID-19</a>. This month, at least <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-several-first-nations-grapple-with-confirmed-covid-19-cases/">nine First Nations</a> have confirmed cases of COVID-19. </p>
<p>The challenges are substantial. As a mental health first aid First Nations co-facilitator, I have witnessed first-hand many tragedies within remote First Nations communities like <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-the-chief-of-a-remote-first-nation-tries-to-fend-off-the-coronavirus/">Eabametoong (Fort Hope),</a> Eagle Lake and <a href="http://lacseulfn.org/">Lac Seul</a>. Homes can be unsafe, overcrowding is a huge concern, there is no clean running water, young girls are vulnerable to trafficking and there is a lack of timely access to health-care. </p>
<h2>Why are Indigenous communities vulnerable?</h2>
<p>Canada’s Minster of Indigenous Services, Marc Miller said social determinants of health, such as unsafe drinking water, crowded housing, lack of health professionals, poor infrastructure and chronic diseases, <a href="https://windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/indigenous-services-still-working-out-formula-dispersing-covid-19-funds">play a role in making Indigenous communities more vulnerable to the coronavirus</a>. </p>
<p>While many First Nation communities are located close to urban centres with access to medical, recreation and shopping centres, many others are in remote areas. And not all remote Indigenous communities confront crises in a similar way. Some remote communities are more self-sufficient than others, such as Fort Severn, Moose Cree and Chapleau Cree First Nations. Some rely on a traditional way of life: living off the land, hunting and gathering, accessing the land for medicinal purposes and incorporating ceremonies. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329786/original/file-20200422-47820-njg5bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329786/original/file-20200422-47820-njg5bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329786/original/file-20200422-47820-njg5bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329786/original/file-20200422-47820-njg5bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329786/original/file-20200422-47820-njg5bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329786/original/file-20200422-47820-njg5bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329786/original/file-20200422-47820-njg5bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An abandoned house is shown on the Pikangikum First Nation, a remote community near the Ontario-Manitoba border in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But often, living in an isolated community means a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2012.697566">lack of recreational, educational and employment opportunities</a>. Isolation has an impact on an individual’s holistic mental health and wellness. The lack of social outlets combined with the impact of geographic isolation compounds the dangers of other factors such as <a href="http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/domestic-violence.pdf">psychological, emotional abuse and jealousy</a>. </p>
<p>Upon the arrival of European settlers, <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/the-impact-of-smallpox-on-first-nations-on-the-west-coast">Indigenous people were devastated by the waves of epidemics of smallpox, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, influenza and measles</a>. Back than, many of our people didn’t know what to do, we were helpless to the deadly diseases. Today, Indigenous people are more proactive, we have a voice and are prepared to advocate for the needs of Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<h2>Extreme injustice</h2>
<p>Working in extreme injustice <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swz008">can be traumatizing for helpers</a>. As I study the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0020872808102064">moral principles of social justice in social work — which places human dignity and human rights as its highest priorities</a> — and scan Canada as a nation, I don’t see equality and inclusion. Rather, I struggle with the discontentment of injustices, racism, ongoing discrimination and exclusion. </p>
<p>There is a constant and deep, inner fight within my heart and soul as I try to make sense of the world, and our place in it as Indigenous Peoples. I struggle with finding a common ground, one in which Indigenous Peoples can move forward, be respected and get access to equal health care, education, nutrition and housing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329782/original/file-20200422-47804-1onz6v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329782/original/file-20200422-47804-1onz6v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329782/original/file-20200422-47804-1onz6v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329782/original/file-20200422-47804-1onz6v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329782/original/file-20200422-47804-1onz6v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329782/original/file-20200422-47804-1onz6v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329782/original/file-20200422-47804-1onz6v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Attawapiskat airport in the remote northern Ontario community. Ongoing concerns about chemical levels in tap water here is one example of the challenges faced by remote communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>U.S. News and World Report</em> ranks <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/slideshows/countries-with-the-most-well-developed-public-health-care-system">Canada’s public health-care system as the most well-developed in the world</a>. And yet, Indigenous communities are still not getting what they need. Community chiefs and leaders are seeking seats at the table. Arlen Dumas, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs clearly states, “<a href="https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/first-nations-must-have-a-seat-at-the-table-568586812.html">the days of designing systems that are imposed on First Nations without consultation and consent must end</a>.” Indigenous leaders are fighting for equal access for all Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Is this what we call equality? Without appropriate and accessible medical supplies, health care professionals and mental health support, we cannot call this equality; we cannot claim Canada is providing equal treatment for everyone.</p>
<h2>Immediate support needed</h2>
<p>Immediate support services are needed to help offset stressors as a result of COVID-19 in remote communities. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2013.0011">theory of justice in social work calls for the equal distribution of resources among members of the community</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329772/original/file-20200422-47804-6lyu7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329772/original/file-20200422-47804-6lyu7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329772/original/file-20200422-47804-6lyu7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329772/original/file-20200422-47804-6lyu7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329772/original/file-20200422-47804-6lyu7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329772/original/file-20200422-47804-6lyu7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329772/original/file-20200422-47804-6lyu7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The high price of basics like laundry detergent, pictured here at $35.29 per bag at Pikangikum First Nation in 2019, means a basic nutritious meal costs twice as much in remote Indigenous communities compared to urban centres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Ann Seymour)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The needs and demands of the remote communities may vary; still, essential supplies should be provided to ease further trauma and anxiety. There are many things we take for granted in urban centres — hand sanitizer, soap, masks, gloves and <a href="https://foodsecurecanada.org/sites/foodsecurecanada.org/files/201609_paying_for_nutrition_fsc_report_final.pdf">access to affordable food to create a basic nutritious diet</a> — that are either not readily available or are very expensive in remote communities. </p>
<p>I believe another way to provide immediate assistance is to halt price gouging. For example by pricing grapes at $3.00 instead of $11.79 or Tide Pods at $10.99 instead of $35.29 and this would provide some much-needed relief to the community. </p>
<p>Remote communities must have appropriate, professional supports in place. To continue to try to remedy a situation by trying to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.22.1.103">“integrate” isolated communities</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/02/canada-blind-eye-first-nation-water-crisis">send bottled water to address the water crisis</a> or address ongoing trauma by sending mental health care workers is not ethically responsible. Remote communities need to have a strategy in place to address concerns relating to COVID-19. </p>
<p>Now is the time to invest and commit to those plans. Every act of kindness can go a long way to help during these times of crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134963/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann M Seymour does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada’s public health-care system is one of the most well-developed in the world. And yet, many remote Indigenous communities are still not getting what they need.Ann M Seymour, Ph.D. student, Social Work and Indigenous Peoples, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1360492020-04-15T02:38:41Z2020-04-15T02:38:41ZFix housing and you’ll reduce risks of coronavirus and other disease in remote Indigenous communities<p>Remote Indigenous communities have taken swift and effective action to quarantine residents against the risks of COVID-19. Under a plan developed by the <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/committees-and-groups/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-advisory-group-on-covid-19">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group</a>, entry to communities is <a href="https://www.naccho.org.au/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-advisory-group-on-covid-19-31-march-2020">restricted to essential visitors</a> only. This is important, because <a href="https://croakey.org/for-pandemic-control-housing-is-the-best-medicine/?mc_cid=bc7ef03771&mc_eid=3968ab2567">crowded and malfunctioning housing in remote Indigenous communities heightens the risk of COVID-19 transmission</a>. High rates of chronic disease mean COVID-19 outbreaks in Indigenous communities <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-will-devastate-aboriginal-communities-if-we-dont-act-now-133766">may cause high death rates</a>.</p>
<p>The “old story” of housing, crowding and health continues to be overlooked. A partnership between the University of Queensland and Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation, in the Northern Territory’s (NT) Tennant Creek and Barkly region, re-opens this story. A <a href="https://drupal-gci-op.uat.drupal.uq.edu.au/uq-partners-aboriginal-health-clinic-expose-urgent-needs-health-housing-prevent-coronavirus">new report</a> from our work together is titled in Warumungu language as <em>Piliyi Papulu Purrukaj-ji</em> – “Good Housing to Prevent Sickness”. It reveals the simplicity of the solution: new housing and budgets for repairs and maintenance can improve human health.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-will-devastate-aboriginal-communities-if-we-dont-act-now-133766">Coronavirus will devastate Aboriginal communities if we don't act now</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Infection risks rise in crowded housing</h2>
<p>Rates of crowded households are <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/indigenous-housing">much higher in remote communities</a> (34%) than in urban areas (8%). Our research in the Barkly region, 500km north of Alice Springs, found up to 22 residents in some three-bedroom houses. In one crowded house, a kidney dialysis patient and seven family members had slept in the yard for over a year in order to access clinical care.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/indigenous-housing">Indigenous Australians lease social housing</a> because of barriers to individual land ownership in remote Australia. Repairs and maintenance are more expensive in remote areas and our research found waiting periods are long. One resident told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Houses [are] inspected two times a year by Department of Housing, but no repairs or maintenance. They inspect and write down faults but don’t fix. They say people will return, but it doesn’t happen.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Better ‘health hardware’ can prevent infections</h2>
<p>The growing populations in communities are not matched by increased housing. Crowding is the inevitable result. </p>
<p>Crowded households place extra pressure on “health hardware”, the infrastructure that enables washing of bodies and clothing and other hygiene practices. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homelessness-and-overcrowding-expose-us-all-to-coronavirus-heres-what-we-can-do-to-stop-the-spread-134378">Homelessness and overcrowding expose us all to coronavirus. Here's what we can do to stop the spread</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>We interviewed residents who told us they lacked functioning bathrooms and washing machines and that toilets were blocked. One resident said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Scabies has come up a lot this year because of lack of water. We’ve been running out of water in the tanks. There’s no electric pump … [so] we are bathing less … </p>
<p>[Also] sewerage is a problem at this house. It’s blocked … The toilet bubbles up and the water goes black and leaks out. We try to keep the kids away.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A lack of health hardware increases the transmission risk of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30545014">preventable, hygiene-related infectious diseases</a> like <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/what-you-need-to-know-about-coronavirus-covid-19">COVID-19</a>. Anyinginyi clinicians report skin infections are more common than in urban areas, respiratory infections affect whole families in crowded houses, and they see daily cases of eye infections. </p>
<p>Data that we accessed from the clinic confirmed this situation. The highest infection diagnoses were skin infections (including boils, scabies and school sores), respiratory infections, and ear, nose and throat infections (especially <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-a-fallacy-that-all-australians-have-access-to-clean-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-61436">middle ear infection</a>).</p>
<p>These infections can have long-term consequences. Repeated skin sores and throat infections from <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2016/205/5/inequitable-burden-group-streptococcal-diseases-indigenous-australians">Group A streptococcal</a> bacteria can contribute to chronic life-threatening conditions such as kidney disease and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Indigenous NT residents have among the <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.020966">highest rates of RHD</a> in the world, and
Indigenous children in Central Australia have the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31659821">highest rates of post-infection kidney disease (APSGN)</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-answer-to-indigenous-vulnerability-to-coronavirus-a-more-equitable-public-health-agenda-135048">The answer to Indigenous vulnerability to coronavirus: a more equitable public health agenda</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Reviving a vision of healthy housing and people</h2>
<p>Crowded and unrepaired housing persists, despite the <a href="http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/npa/health/_archive/indigenous-reform/national-agreement_sept_12.pdf">National Indigenous Reform Agreement</a> stating over ten years ago: “Children need to live in accommodation with adequate infrastructure conducive to good hygiene … and free of overcrowding.”</p>
<p>Indigenous housing programs, such as the <a href="http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/npa/housing/national-partnership/past/remote_indigenous_housing_NP.pdf">National Partnership Agreement for Remote Indigenous Housing</a>, have had <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2018/03/21/future-remote-indigenous-housing-strategy-uncertain">varied success</a> and sustainability in overcoming crowding and poor housing quality. </p>
<p>It is calculated about <a href="https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/healthinfonet/getContent.php?linkid=599807&title=Remote+housing+review%3A+a+review+of+the+National+Partnership+Agreement+on+Remote+Indigenous+Housing+and+the+Remote+Housing+Strategy+%282008-2018%29&contentid=33930_1">5,500 new houses are required</a> by 2028 to reduce the health impacts of crowding in remote communities. <a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:ba48c7a">Earlier models still provide guidance</a> for today’s efforts. For example, Whitlam-era efforts supported culturally appropriate housing design, while the ATSIC period of the 1990s introduced Indigenous-led housing management and culturally-specific adaptation of tenancy agreements. </p>
<p>Our report reasserts the call to action for both new housing and regular repairs and maintenance (with adequate budgets) of existing housing in remote communities. The lack of effective treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19 make <a href="https://croakey.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b8639027b13fa2b5b8f8685fe&id=3343cf4eee&e=3968ab2567">hygiene and social distancing critical</a>. Yet crowding and faulty home infrastructure make these measures difficult if not impossible. </p>
<p>Indigenous Australians living on remote country urgently need <a href="https://nacchocommunique.com/2020/03/26/naccho-aboriginal-health-and-coronavirus-news-alert-no-18-keepourmobsafe-contributions-from-scottmorrisonmp-theahcwa-dr-jason-agostino-crikey_news-donnaahchee1-caacongress-dr-normanswan/">additional and functional housing</a>. This may begin to provide the long-term gains described to us by an experienced Aboriginal health worker:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When … [decades ago] houses were built, I noticed immediately a drop in the scabies … You could see the mental change, could see the difference in families. Kids are healthier and happier. I’ve seen this repeated in other communities once housing was given – the change.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>Trisha Narurla Frank contributed to the writing of this article, and other staff from Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation provided their input and consent for the sharing of these findings.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nina Lansbury Hall has received research funding from Queensland Health, the Clean Energy Council and the Water Services Association of Australia.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Redmond, Paul Memmott, and Samuel Barnes do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Reducing crowding and repairing social housing can decrease the risk of COVID-19 in remote Indigenous communities. It will bring other long-term benefits, too.Nina Lansbury, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health, The University of QueenslandAndrew Redmond, Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine, The University of QueenslandPaul Memmott, Professor, School of Architecture, and Director, Aboriginal Environments Research Centre (AERC), The University of QueenslandSamuel Barnes, Research Assistant, School of Public Health, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1239172019-11-07T19:02:36Z2019-11-07T19:02:36ZRemote Indigenous Australia’s ecological economies give us something to build on<p>Land titling in Australia has undergone a revolutionary shift over the past four decades. The return of diverse forms of title to Indigenous Australians has produced some semblance of land justice. About <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=45675035-0fd3-4698-b1a6-0e3883f82369&subId=669953">half the continent</a> is now held under some form of Indigenous title. </p>
<p>Forms of title range from inalienable freehold title to non-exclusive (or shared) native title. Much of this estate is in northern Australia, as this recent map shows. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299083/original/file-20191029-183132-1uvwvw6.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Status of Indigenous title across Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">K. Jordon, F. Markham and J. Altman, Linking Indigenous communities with regional development: Australia Overview, report to OECD (2019)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another <a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-indigenous-communities-are-vital-for-our-fragile-ecosystems-38700">map</a> from 2014 shows over 1,000 discrete Indigenous communities and the division between north and south.</p>
<h2>What’s different about these lands?</h2>
<p>These lands and their populations have some unusual features.</p>
<p>First, the lands are extremely remote and relatively undeveloped in a capitalist “extractive” sense. These are <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p34501/pdf/book.pdf">the largest relatively intact savannah landscapes</a> in Australia — and possibly the world. </p>
<p>Much of this estate is included in the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/land/nrs">National Reserve System</a> as <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/land/indigenous-protected-areas">Indigenous Protected Areas</a> because of its high environmental and cultural values, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/categories-and-criteria">criteria</a>.</p>
<p>These areas still face threats from <a href="https://theconversation.com/invasive-species-are-australias-number-one-extinction-threat-116809">invasive animal and plant species</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-bringing-a-new-world-of-bushfires-123261">bushfires</a> and <a href="https://www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au/en/climate-projections/future-climate/regional-climate-change-explorer/super-clusters/">increasingly extreme heat</a>. These threats will lead to further species extinctions. </p>
<p>Indigenous Protected Area management plans address these threats to ensure biodiversity and cultural values are at best restored or maintained, at worst not eroded.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/churches-have-legal-rights-in-australia-why-not-sacred-trees-123919">Churches have legal rights in Australia. Why not sacred trees?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Second, parts of these lands in the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/science/supervising-scientist/publications/eriss-notes/wetlands-australias-wet-dry-tropics">wet-dry tropics</a> are valuable as sources of emissions avoidance and carbon storage.</p>
<p>Many groups are paid through offset markets and voluntary agreements to reduce overall emissions. There are <a href="http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/ERF/Choosing-a-project-type/Opportunities-for-the-land-sector/Permanence-obligations">emerging options</a> for payment for long-term carbon storage – between 25 and 100 years.</p>
<p>These lands have <a href="https://solargis.com/maps-and-gis-data/download/australia">some of the world’s highest solar irradiance</a>. Multi-billion-dollar <a href="https://www.katherinetimes.com.au/story/6285081/plans-for-worlds-biggest-solar-farm-at-tennant-creek/">solar</a> and <a href="https://asianrehub.com/">wind/solar/green hydrogen</a> facilities are being developed.</p>
<p>Third, the Indigenous owners and majority inhabitants are among the poorest Australians. <a href="https://www.5050foundation.edu.au/assets/reports/documents/8117041e.pdf">Only 35% of Aboriginal adults</a> in very remote Australia are formally employed. <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145053/1/CAEPR_Census_Paper_2.pdf">Over 50% of Indigenous people</a> in these areas live below the poverty line.</p>
<p>Such poverty is explained partly by past colonisation and associated social exclusion and neglect, geographic isolation from market capitalism and labour markets, and different priorities.</p>
<p>Having legally proven continuity of customs, traditions and connection to reclaimed ancestral lands, landowners generally look to care for their country. They use its natural resources for domestic non-commercial purposes as allowed by law.</p>
<p>But Indigenous people continually struggle to inhabit these lands. Their dispersed small settlements range from townships to homelands. Government support is minimal and policy intentionally discouraging.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/building-in-ways-that-meet-the-needs-of-australias-remote-regions-106071">Building in ways that meet the needs of Australia’s remote regions</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>The problem with official development models</h2>
<p>Since federation, many government policy proposals to “develop the north” have sought to replicate the economic growth trajectory of the temperate south. Such plans are based on state-sanctioned, often environmentally damaging, market capitalism.</p>
<p>The latest version is the 2015 <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/our-north-our-future-white-paper-on-developing-northern-australia">Our North, Our Future</a> white paper, released after a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Former_Committees/Northern_Australia/Inquiry_into_the_Development_of_Northern_Australia/Tabled_Reports">parliamentary inquiry</a>. In <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Former_Committees/Northern_Australia/Inquiry_into_the_Development_of_Northern_Australia/Submissions">submission 136</a>, Francis Markham and I asked, “developing whose north for whom and in what way?” We pointed out 48% of the north’s <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/1308.7%7EMar+2009%7EMain+Features%7ENorth+Australia+Unit+Update?OpenDocument">3 million square kilometres</a> was under Indigenous title at that time, and Indigenous ideas about the land are often very different from those of the government and corporate, mainly extractive, interests.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-keys-to-unlock-northern-australia-have-already-been-cut-69713">The keys to unlock Northern Australia have already been cut</a>
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</p>
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<p>Four years on, a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/NorthernAustraliaAgenda/NorthernAustraliaAgenda/Terms_of_Reference">Senate select inquiry</a> is examining how the Our North, Our Future agenda is progressing. A specific reference to First Nations people has been added. In <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/NorthernAustraliaAgenda/NorthernAustraliaAgenda/Submissions">submission 13</a>, we highlighted four fundamental changes over the past five years.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>the Indigenous land share of northern Australia has <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=45675035-0fd3-4698-b1a6-0e3883f82369&subId=669953">grown to 60%</a></p></li>
<li><p>Indigenous people are living in deeper poverty partly <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145053/1/CAEPR_Census_Paper_2.pdf">due to punitive changes to income-support arrangements</a> </p></li>
<li><p>growing scientific consensus that global warming will have escalating <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=45675035-0fd3-4698-b1a6-0e3883f82369&subId=669953">negative impacts on northern Australia</a> </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=45675035-0fd3-4698-b1a6-0e3883f82369&subId=669953">slowing population growth</a> suggests the white paper’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/our-north-our-future-white-paper-on-developing-northern-australia">goal of a population of 4–5 million by 2060</a> (from just over 1 million now) lacks realism.</p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/you-cant-boost-australias-north-to-5-million-people-without-a-proper-plan-125063">You can't boost Australia's north to 5 million people without a proper plan</a>
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<p>We are at a critical crossroads in policy thinking about northern Australia.</p>
<p>The dominant approach sees it as ripe for capitalist development, extraction and associated economic growth, irrespective of environmental consequences. Corporate pressure to undertake <a href="https://theconversation.com/expanding-gas-mining-threatens-our-climate-water-and-health-113047">risky fracking</a> for oil and gas and to develop <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/our-north-our-future-white-paper-on-developing-northern-australia">industrial-scale agriculture and aquaculture projects</a> epitomises such thinking.</p>
<h2>The zero-emissions alternative</h2>
<p>The holistic focus of ecological economics informs an alternative approach. It’s based on the tenet that everything connects to everything else: the economy is embedded in society and society is embedded in the environment, the natural order.</p>
<p>This line of reasoning resonates with the focus of many Indigenous landowners on the need to nurture kin, ancestral country and living, natural resources.</p>
<p>Ecological economics distinguishes between economic growth that depletes non-renewable resources irrespective of environmental harm, and forms of development that focus on human well-being, cultural and environmental values.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ecological-economics-and-why-do-we-need-to-talk-about-it-123915">What is ‘ecological economics’ and why do we need to talk about it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Development in the north might take many transformational forms as we strive for a <a href="https://vimeo.com/337193985">zero-emissions economy</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/337193985" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Economist Ross Garnaut discusses the potential of a zero-emissions economy in Australia.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous-titled and peopled lands are well positioned to drive this in three proven ways:</p>
<ol>
<li>by intensifying projects that reduce emissions and sequester carbon</li>
<li>by increasing efforts to conserve biodiversity by managing and potentially reversing impacts of invasive species</li>
<li>by becoming key players in the renewables sector through massive projects for domestic energy use and export.</li>
</ol>
<p>The same landscapes can be used for sustainable wildlife harvesting for food and diverse forms of cultural production for income. These uses accord with Indigenous tradition and leave minimal environmental footprints.</p>
<p>Policy and practice must be informed by the environmental perspectives of Indigenous landowners, which are highly compatible with the core concepts of ecological economics.</p>
<p>In these ways, the North could emerge as a powerhouse region beyond current imaginaries. The climate crisis makes this transformation essential. </p>
<p>As ecological economies, remote Indigenous lands could deliver sustainable livelihoods to Indigenous people and contribute significantly to a zero-emissions economy of critical benefit to national and global communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Altman if a director of a number of not-for-profits including the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust and Original Power. He is the chair of the research committee of The Australia Institute. </span></em></p>Expanding on sustainable practices in remote parts of Australia can deliver great benefits to both local Indigenous owners and national and global communities.Jon Altman, Emeritus professor, School of Regulation and Global Governance, ANU, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1111002019-02-05T19:12:04Z2019-02-05T19:12:04ZBanking Royal Commission: How Hayne failed remote Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257132/original/file-20190204-86210-1jbt4td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The remote community of Urapunga in South East Arnhem Land, more at the mercy of the finance industry than most.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">J. Louth</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been an enormous year for the financial services industry. </p>
<p>First there was a <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/superannuation/assessment/report/superannuation-assessment.pdf">Productivity Commission report</a> calling for major changes to superannuation, then a Senate inquiry into <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Creditfinancialservices">financial services targeted at Australians at risk of hardship</a>, and now the final report of the <a href="https://static.treasury.gov.au/uploads/sites/1/2019/02/fsrc-volume1.pdf">Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry</a>. </p>
<p>And it’s only February.</p>
<p>Yet all three investigations either missed something big or failed to take it sufficiently seriously. </p>
<p>It’s the plight of Australians in remote Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>As if to inoculate himself against such criticism, Commissioner Kenneth Hayne made it clear in his preface that it would have been impossible to hear every case and that inevitably there would be disappointment.</p>
<p>As a consequence, the (relatively privileged) voices that were heard didn’t properly reflect the hardships, vulnerabilities and lives of those far away from the centres of finance, yet increasingly dependent on them as their lives become ever more financialised.</p>
<h2>Automatic teller machines</h2>
<p>Take the simplest example: ATM fees. </p>
<p>There is not always an understanding within remote Indigenous communities – whether because of language or financial literacy skills - that ATMs attract a A$2.50 fee every time they are used, including to check balances. This often isn’t the case in cities where ATMS are operated by banks.</p>
<p>But in remote locations with only one or two ATMs, they are usually third-party operations, run for profit. It is not uncommon for people waiting for funds to appear in their accounts to check multiple times, draining the account until they find something there.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257359/original/file-20190206-86217-1xb5gb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The only government access point and only phone and only internet service in Urapunga, Northern Territory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathon Louth</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the main report makes generic reference to ATM fees, it is only in the appendices where the question is touched upon.</p>
<p>The Bankers Association is well aware of it. </p>
<p>It conducted a limited two-year trial of free ATMs that concluded at the end of 2017, and was <a href="https://www.ausbanking.org.au/media/media-releases/media-release-2017/fee-free-atms-to-continue-in-remote-communities">then extended</a>. </p>
<p>It raises a telling question: if there was a recognisable problem and a recognisable solution, why extend the limited trial instead of making it universal? </p>
<p>It is a question about which the Royal Commission was silent.</p>
<h2>Superanuation</h2>
<p>And then there is super. The Productivity Commission’s earlier 722-page report on super (widely cited in the royal commission report) only twice makes explicit reference to issues faced by Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>This for a product where preservation age for a male is 60 years, yet the average life expectancy for an Indigenous male in the <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/207/1/progress-closing-gap-life-expectancy-birth-aboriginal-people-northern-territory">Northern Territory is 63.6</a>. </p>
<p>While it raised the idea of a lower preservation age or releasing superannuation early for medical and associated expenses, the idea was relegated to the appendices.</p>
<p>Yet superannuation is a vital lifeline in remote communities. One Elder in the Northern Territory community of Wadeye made it clear to me that she uses access to super to get their children out of “town”, onto their country and away from social problems. </p>
<p>While the Productivity Commission does note the need to universalise access to hardship payments, it does not acknowledge that the capped amount of A$10,000 is taxed at up to 22%. </p>
<h2>Portion control</h2>
<p>To Commissioner Hayne’s credit, he urges consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders about making death benefit nominations reflect kinship ties. </p>
<p>It’s an excellent idea – one that would have carried more weight had he made it a formal recommendation. </p>
<p>His recommendations 4.1 and 4.2 are are as bold as they come, calling for a ban on the hawking of insurance policies and for funeral expense policies to be subject to the same rules as insurance policies.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257128/original/file-20190204-86210-vgfrdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257128/original/file-20190204-86210-vgfrdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257128/original/file-20190204-86210-vgfrdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257128/original/file-20190204-86210-vgfrdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257128/original/file-20190204-86210-vgfrdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257128/original/file-20190204-86210-vgfrdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257128/original/file-20190204-86210-vgfrdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Final Report, Royal Commission into the Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, Vol. 1.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with these recommendations, but they only deal with a small portion of the range of financial abuses that take place in remote communities or when community members visit larger towns and cities. </p>
<p>They include payday lenders offering multiple loans, telephone companies who sell phones they know have no coverage in remote communities, <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-boost-aboriginal-financial-capability-spend-time-in-communities-99210">high-interest credit and motor vehicle insurance contracts</a>, charity collectors who sign up community members for monthly donations (taking advantage of cultural notions of reciprocity), expensive furniture and appliance rentals, rent-to-buy schemes and, now, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-23/afterpay-whyte-janda/10737708">pay later schemes</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, while I was conducting an interview with an Elder in Wurrumiyanga in the Tiwi Islands, the Elder asked about the text message he received while we were speaking. It was from a payday lender offering immediate access to funds.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/banking-royal-commission-no-commissions-no-exemptions-no-fees-without-permission-hayne-gets-the-government-to-do-a-u-turn-110974">Banking Royal Commission: no commissions, no exemptions, no fees without permission. Hayne gets the government to do a U-turn</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Senate inquiry is examining some of these exploitative and predatory practices, but the royal commission’s terms of reference appeared to exclude consideration of them.</p>
<p>In the Northern Territory, where 25% of the population identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, they are not so easily excluded.</p>
<p>My <a href="http://www.catholiccarent.org.au/sites/default/files/publication-files/financial_wellbeing_and_capability_program_evaluation_report_2018.pdf">research in the NT</a> suggests that <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/tpp/pap/2015/00000043/00000004/art00003">financialisation</a> reinforces the systemic disadvantage introduced by white settlement and transmits it across generations. </p>
<p>Any effort to improve financial well-being in remote communities has to take into account the ways in which an imposed economic system has torn at the heart of the one it replaced.</p>
<p>Many of us seem unwilling to accept that an economic world existed prior to European settlement, that (<a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/trade-with-the-makasar">international</a>) trade routes and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2014/03/17/3965103.htm">agriculture</a> were sustained for millennia. </p>
<p>Working through this isn’t simple. It requires spending time with and listening to remote Indigenous communities. Yet as one Elder out past Timber Creek put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Government don’t ask, they just tell us. They don’t like to talk to Aboriginal people about what needs to happen, what needs to be done.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This brings us to recommendation 1.8:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257131/original/file-20190204-86228-md60je.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Final Report, Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, Vol. 1.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The need to “identify a suitable way for those customers to access and undertake their banking” is vague, but important.</p>
<p>It ought to mean that the financial sector works with communities to develop its cultural competencies. It ought to mean exploring <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21717835">community and cultural literacies</a> and embracing <a href="https://www.bsl.org.au/research/projects/evaluation-of-the-my-moola-indigenous-financial-literacy-program/">community knowledge</a>. </p>
<p>It ought to mean having financial counsellors – who are Indigenous – trained in and able spending time on communities. </p>
<p>It will need commitment and ongoing funding from both industry and government.</p>
<p>But it’s more of a thought bubble than a worked-through proposal. At best, it’s a start.</p>
<hr>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111100/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathon Louth receives funding from CatholicCare NT</span></em></p>It’s far away from the cities and towns where banks and finance companies are really predatory, but it’s not where Hayne looked.Jonathon Louth, Research Fellow, The Australian Alliance for Social Enterprise, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1060712018-12-19T19:07:41Z2018-12-19T19:07:41ZBuilding in ways that meet the needs of Australia’s remote regions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250125/original/file-20181211-76965-i1rzd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Doing it locally: workers in the Gumatj timber workshop, Gunyangara.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Remote areas were described as “unused” and/or “underperforming” in a <a href="https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/events/mtalks-rem-koolhaas-and-david-gianotten-on-countryside">2017 address</a> by internationally renowned architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of OMA. Similarly, a <a href="http://www.studio-basel.com/publications/books/switzerland-an-urban-portrait.html">2004 territorial study</a> of Switzerland by ETH Studio Basel, led by architecture firm Herzog & De Meuron, painted the entire country as an urban landscape except for the most remote alpine regions. These were classified as “fallow land” and/or “quiet places”.</p>
<p>It follows that building policies typically centralise decision-making, resources and projects in the largest population centres, irrespective of population distribution or remote community needs. The urban perspective through which building policies are largely determined fails to assess the value of remote regions beyond market-oriented economics. </p>
<p>For remote-dwelling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the land, or Country, is entwined with spiritual and cultural identity. It cannot be valued in market terms.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-wont-close-the-gap-if-the-commonwealth-cuts-off-indigenous-housing-support-91835">We won't close the gap if the Commonwealth cuts off Indigenous housing support</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A regional approach to building could meet remote community needs and bring about local economic development. It would also reinforce the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/un-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples-1">United Nations-recognised right of Indigenous peoples</a> to maintain cultural connections to Country.</p>
<h2>What’s different about remote Indigenous settlement?</h2>
<p>Remote Australia cannot be viewed through the same lens as rural Australia. For a start, it has distinct settlement patterns. These are characterised by the presence of large numbers of Indigenous people, a widely dispersed population and, as population geographer <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296839023_Social_Engineering_and_Indigenous_Settlement_Policy_and_Demography_in_Remote_Australia">John Taylor describes it</a>, a “frequent” and “circular” internal mobility.</p>
<p>While just 1.4% of Australia’s population lives in remote areas, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2075.0Main+Features202016?OpenDocument">18.4% of Indigenous people do</a>. In remote areas, Aboriginal people are more likely to have experienced histories that enabled them to maintain connections to traditional Country. This has resulted in a proportionally greater recognition of Aboriginal land tenure under either the <a href="https://www.clc.org.au/index.php?/articles/info/the-aboriginal-land-rights-act/">Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976</a> or the <a href="https://auroraproject.com.au/what-native-title">Native Title Act 1993</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://empoweredcommunities.org.au/our-regions/north-east-arnhem-land/">Northeast Arnhem Land</a> in the Northern Territory is typical of this pattern. It is extremely remote and has a largely Indigenous population, with 67% identifying as Yolngu. </p>
<p>There are three main settlement types: a largely non-Indigenous mining town of 2,500 people, Nhulunbuy; a mostly Indigenous ex-mission settlement of around 850 people called Yirrkala; and more than 30 homelands across the territory located on traditional family clan lands with populations of up to 150, but typically fewer than 50 people. The people move often from place to place due to seasonal and cultural obligations and/or availability of access to services.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Northeast Arnhem land is extremely remote and has a largely Indigenous population living in three main settlement types.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Challenges of building remotely</h2>
<p>Physical distance and political marginalisation make it difficult and costly to advocate for building in remote regions generally, but Australia’s remote Indigenous regions face further challenges.</p>
<p>Restrictive Aboriginal land tenure limits opportunities for building and/or economic development. For instance, there is no housing market due to the inability to buy and sell recognised Aboriginal land. This means that, unlike in the rest of Australia, buildings do not represent an economic “improvement” to the land. </p>
<p>Furthermore, in Yirrkala, no houses were built in the first five years of the federal government’s Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Indigenous_Housing_and_Infrastructure_Program">SIHIP</a>) – later relabelled the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing (<a href="https://dcm.nt.gov.au/supporting-government/office-of-aboriginal-affairs/national-partnership-agreement-on-remote-indigenous-housing">NPARIH</a>) and then the National Partnership on Remote Housing (<a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/housing/national-partnership-agreements">NPRH</a>). This was because others contested Rirratjingu clans’ traditional ownership of parts of the township, which delayed decisions on where houses could be built.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Materials are usually shipped in, but the Delta Reef Gumatj have begun building with locally made timber trusses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Economic development and job opportunities are also limited. A special agreement is required to establish an economic venture on Aboriginal land. Obtaining permission is costly and the process slow as extensive legal and anthropological work is required. </p>
<p>The result has been a dearth of local material and construction industries, and jobs, on remote Aboriginal land. Building materials are generally shipped in.</p>
<p>Collectively, these factors contribute to a reliance on government for investment in building. In Northeast Arnhem Land, the Australian or Northern Territory governments provide 95% of building funds.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Government-funded housing under construction by DRG, Gunyangara.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Centralisation model dominates</h2>
<p>The policy position of Australian, state and territory governments has long been one of centralisation. Funding is concentrated on the largest population centres where there is a perceived availability of jobs and economies of scale.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Immediate housing need in Northeast Arnhem Land by number.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This position is upheld irrespective of identified building needs. For instance, in 2015 Nhulunbuy had 250 vacant houses after the Gove alumina refinery closed. There were shortfalls of 56 houses in Yirrkala and 81 houses across the Laynhapuy homelands. Yet 90% of government investment in building was in Nhulunbuy and Yirrkala, despite negligible need in Nhulunbuy and extensive need on the homelands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The territorial distribution of capital works investment in Northeast Arnhem Land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Northeast Arnhem Land experience aligns with that of other remote Indigenous regions. Homelands, in particular, have been chronically underfunded. After the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was abolished in 2005, state and territory governments largely assumed responsibility for infrastructure and services on homelands without allocating further funds for new housing. The Northern Territory government formalised this position in its <a href="https://dhcd.nt.gov.au/news/homelands-policy-review-opportunity-to-provide-your-feedback">Homelands Policy</a> and amendments to it in 2013.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The stage structure at Baniyla Homeland is used as a house due to overcrowding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The situation is unlikely to change. If anything, it has intensified. In 2016, threats from the Western Australian government extended from ending new construction to <a href="https://regionalservicesreform.wa.gov.au/book/resilient-families-strong-communities-0#hb_page_95">ending basic services</a> to <a href="https://regionalservicesreform.wa.gov.au/book/resilient-families-strong-communities-0#hb_page_95">between 100 and 150 of its smallest homelands</a> (more commonly <a href="https://regionalservicesreform.wa.gov.au/p/roadmap">known as outstations in WA</a>).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-decides-a-question-at-the-heart-of-meaningful-reconciliation-41752">Who decides? A question at the heart of meaningful reconciliation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Government building projects in remote Indigenous Australia have not only failed to align with needs but also have limited local economic development. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Queensland Research Centre <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/167">reports</a> criticised the <a href="http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090515044057/http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/Internet/jennymacklin.nsf/content/new_alliance_09oct08.htm">alliancing procurement</a> methodology used in the SIHIP/NPARIH program because it allocated risk to the contractor. This knocked small-scale local contractors out of the tender process and resulted in limited use of local labour and materials.</p>
<h2>Four steps to better building policy</h2>
<p>Policy reforms could stimulate building in remote Indigenous regions. Reforms should focus on increasing local Indigenous input into decision-making. This is critical for identifying and responding to local needs. </p>
<p>From the most difficult to the easiest to enact, reform options could be:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>alignment with the <a href="https://www.1voiceuluru.org/the-statement">Uluru Statement from the Heart</a>, treaty or constitutional amendment to give Indigenous people “<a href="https://www.whitlam.org/whitlam-legacy-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/">their rightful place</a>”, as Gough Whitlam put it, at a national level with statutory decision-making authority over their lands</p></li>
<li><p>amend legislation to devolve decision-making to Indigenous people at a local regional level, as occurred in 2017 amendments to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 devolving these powers from the Northern Land Council to the Tiwi Land Council, Ngarrariyal Aboriginal Corporation and Baniyala Nimbarrki Land Authority, for self-determination of townships on their lands</p></li>
<li><p>restructure <a href="https://rda.gov.au/">Regional Development Australia</a> agencies to align with recognised territorial regions, as opposed to general population distribution, to foster best building practice and advocacy for local needs</p></li>
<li><p>do nothing but favour the specification of local suppliers (such as through the <a href="https://supplynation.org.au/">Supply Nation</a> network), materials (in Northeast Arnhem Land the Delta Reef Gumatj have begun building with locally made concrete blocks and timber trusses) and labour (through slow builds and the use of semi-skilled technological systems) at a project-by-project level.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Self-funded Delta Reef Gumatj-built single men’s accommodation under construction, Gunyangara.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-stop-innovating-in-indigenous-housing-and-get-on-with-closing-the-gap-96266">We need to stop innovating in Indigenous housing and get on with Closing the Gap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These policy options are not necessarily mutually exclusive: where practicable they could be conducted in tandem or implemented in part.</p>
<p>The shift to a regional building approach does not require revolutionary change. Rather, it builds upon a remote region’s existing practices, knowledge and organisational systems by decentralising decision-making. </p>
<p>Building is not the panacea for the economic development challenges of remote Indigenous regions – it cannot employ every job seeker. But if building policy decision-making is regionally determined it can better align with community needs and contribute to local industry.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-communities-are-reworking-urban-planning-but-planners-need-to-accept-their-history-92351">Indigenous communities are reworking urban planning, but planners need to accept their history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the regions. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Robertson works for Monash University.
</span></em></p>Centralised policies are not meeting the needs of remote Indigenous settlements. Increasing their decision-making input and the role of local industry can overcome the challenges of building remotely.Hannah Robertson, Innovation Fellow and Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/962662018-05-30T20:01:56Z2018-05-30T20:01:56ZWe need to stop innovating in Indigenous housing and get on with Closing the Gap<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218432/original/file-20180510-34006-zpgaeb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A house at Little Paradise on Groote Eylandt, East Arnhem Land.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The tenth anniversary of the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-08/closing-the-gap/9407824">launch</a> of the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) Closing the Gap agenda <a href="https://closingthegaprefresh.pmc.gov.au/news/special-gathering-statement">came and went</a>, with the usual (often exasperated) commentators noting the lack of progress. The Australian Human Rights Commission was critical in its <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/publications/close-gap-10-year-review">assessment</a>, noting that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… a December 2017 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report found the mortality and life expectancy gaps are actually widening due to accelerating non-Indigenous population gains in these areas.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’ve been reflecting on some of the wins and losses for architects in the realm of Indigenous housing. <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-wont-close-the-gap-if-the-commonwealth-cuts-off-indigenous-housing-support-91835">Housing underpins many of the Closing the Gap goals</a>, including healthy living, infancy and early childhood education, and strong communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-wont-close-the-gap-if-the-commonwealth-cuts-off-indigenous-housing-support-91835">We won't close the gap if the Commonwealth cuts off Indigenous housing support</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Individuals such as the late <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/02/paul-pholeros-architect-who-helped-reduce-indigenous-poverty-dies-at-63">Paul Pholeros</a> and his partners at <a href="http://www.healthabitat.com/about-page/organisation-background">Health Habitat</a>, along with 30 years of applied research by firms like <a href="http://www.troppo.com.au/background/">Troppo</a> and the Centre for Appropriate Technology (<a href="http://cfat.org.au/who-we-are/">CAT</a>), have shaped the way we design housing for health in Indigenous communities. Critical to this work have been statistical and evidence-based approaches to ensuring better design and construction, along with feedback from locally led repair and maintenance programs. A great example is Health Habitat’s long-running <a href="http://www.healthabitat.com/what-we-do/housing-for-health--3">Survey Fix</a> projects.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XDBWEKBq0_w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Paul Pholeros’s response to the question of how to reduce poverty? Fix homes.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These projects are a long way from the cliché of “hero” architecture that works at the scale of the object and not the community. Architects working in this space are often at the front line of disadvantage in Australia. They are looking for ways, big and small, to make the Closing the Gap Strategy work through architecture, settlement planning and infrastructure.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220726/original/file-20180529-80629-2g6t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Houses such as this one designed by Troppo Architects in Angurugu, East Arnhem Land, may not be celebrated as ‘hero’ architecture, but have been carefully designed to meet best practice guidelines for healthy living.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Put evidence-based guidelines to work</h2>
<p>A key document that captured much of this knowledge was first produced in 1999 by the <a href="http://www.atns.net.au/agreement.asp?EntityID=618">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission</a>, a Commonwealth agency abolished in 2005. The third edition of the National Indigenous Housing Guide (<a href="http://www.housingforhealth.com/health/national-indigenous-housing-guide/">NIHG</a>) was released in 2007 and was due to be updated and reviewed in 2009. The COAG <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/housing/national-partnership-agreements">National Partnership Agreement on Remote Housing</a> mandated its use but did not legally enforce it. </p>
<p>The result has been a wide divergence from many of the guide’s key recommendations. And without regular updates, the NIHG has fallen into disuse. </p>
<p>In 2013, Health Habitat published its own <a href="http://www.healthabitat.com/what-we-do/housing-for-health-the-guide--3">Housing for Health – The Guide</a>. But neither this online resource nor the NIHG has been a legally enforceable, mandated requirement for housing design and delivery in Indigenous housing.</p>
<p>And thus, despite decades of research and clear evidence, the requirements for expedited rollouts of housing projects often usurp high-quality housing design, community engagement and construction and maintenance. Often this is to suit political timeframes and programs conceived outside the communities they’re meant to serve.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220730/original/file-20180529-80653-k4a1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poor design and lack of regular maintenance soon result in housing being unfit for occupation. The examples above and below are in Angurugu and Yenbakwa, East Arnhem Land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220729/original/file-20180529-80629-u74bu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The quality and appropriateness of any project’s procurement model, from engagement to design to delivery, is essential to success. Unfortunately, the delivery of housing into Indigenous communities has tended to be idiosyncratic and driven by shortsighted ambitions – often badged as “innovation”.</p>
<p>Remote Indigenous communities are littered with failed attempts at “housing innovation”. Modular carcasses are dropped in like aliens to meet a particular cost model, or by the whim of a procurement process focused on delivery speed over long-term life cycle and quality. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220727/original/file-20180529-80620-1y0wk9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An abandoned housing prototype in Alyungula, East Arnhem Land. Designed to be erected within days, the modular and prefabricated house was deemed unsafe for human habitation within a matter of years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learn from the proven mainstream model</h2>
<p>This is in stark contrast to the mainstream mass housing market, which has been well served by designers and builders gradually and systematically improving design solutions, construction techniques and delivery models.</p>
<p>Mainstream housing has evolved incrementally over the past two centuries, with many design and delivery techniques largely unchanged. Despite a substantial increase in size of dwellings (now thankfully <a href="https://www.commsec.com.au/content/dam/EN/ResearchNews/ECOReport.20.11.17_Biggest%20homes_size-fall.pdf">on the decline</a>), the average “project home” in Australia is largely designed and built in the same way as it was for our parents, and their parents, brick by brick with coordinated and overlapping trades. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220724/original/file-20180529-80637-ff85zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Housing in Australia has undergone incremental ‘evolutionary’ change over the past century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220725/original/file-20180529-80629-1aul2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Community consultation on Bickerton Island, East Arnhem Land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most importantly, mainstream housing has been delivered under continually improving legislative frameworks, such as the <a href="https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/planning-and-property/land-and-property-development/building-rules-regulations-and-information/the-building-code-of-australia">Building Code of Australia</a>.</p>
<p>To ensure we stop “innovating” in this space, we must go back to what we know works, to the evidence-based solutions of better housing for health. We must ensure that design processes are co-designed within the affected community, allowing enough time for genuine and effective consultation. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-communities-are-reworking-urban-planning-but-planners-need-to-accept-their-history-92351">Indigenous communities are reworking urban planning, but planners need to accept their history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>An example of the iterative and evolutionary process that lies at the heart of mainstream housing is the Building Code of Australia (BCA). Developed through the Australian Building Codes Board (<a href="https://www.abcb.gov.au/">ABCB</a>) – itself a product of COAG and an inter-governmental agreement – the BCA sets minimum standards and performance criteria for all construction in Australia. </p>
<p>The Building Codes Board has <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/urban-water/submissions/sub023.pdf">outlined its approach</a> to updating its own document:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The BCA amendment process follows an agreed procedure that is both consultative and transparent, while respecting confidentiality. It includes preparation of detailed technical proposals and, as required under COAG (Council of Australian Governments) arrangements, rigorous impact analysis and broad community consultation to inform decision makers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Imagine if an updated National Indigenous Housing Guide required the same level of governance, regulatory oversight and commitment by all three tiers of government. The NIHG could be developed in this manner, consistent with the principles of Closing the Gap. It would be enforceable in all jurisdictions through a cohesive and robust design framework for better health in Indigenous housing and communities. </p>
<p>This should be a no-brainer if COAG is seriously committed to Closing the Gap.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-housing-shortage-exacerbates-scabies-in-indigenous-communities-71337">Why the housing shortage exacerbates scabies in Indigenous communities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220728/original/file-20180529-80626-q43upq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Settlement planning discussions – this one is in Umbakumba, East Arnhem Land – offer insights into family mobility patterns and are important to guide future housing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kieran Wong</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We cannot afford to “innovate” in this space, with novel designs or construction techniques that satisfy a short-term need. When the Commonwealth commits to another <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/10/indigenous-leaders-say-remote-housing-in-jeopardy-after-devastating-budget-cut">long-term <em>national</em> funding program for Indigenous housing</a> – and it must – it should draw on the wealth of existing research, evidence, design guidance and project experience. </p>
<p>Importantly, the use of an updated National Indigenous Housing Guide must be mandated in law to ensure the very best housing responses are delivered for our nation’s First Peoples. </p>
<p>The time frames required to make and maintain meaningful change in this space are long. Our governments must seriously invest in this process and commit to starting that journey now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kieran Wong is a director of Cox Architecture, an international architectural and consulting practice that works across multiple sectors, including Indigenous housing and community master planning.</span></em></p>To deliver better housing for health, we must go back to what we know works, to the proven evidence-based solutions for design, construction, delivery and maintenance.Kieran Wong, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/918352018-02-19T18:48:14Z2018-02-19T18:48:14ZWe won’t close the gap if the Commonwealth cuts off Indigenous housing support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206708/original/file-20180216-131029-9en0up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A remote community in the Cape York region of Queensland.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent Closing the Gap <a href="https://closingthegap.pmc.gov.au/">report</a> has highlighted the <a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-results-still-lag-as-shorten-pledges-compensation-fund-for-stolen-generations-91633">lack of progress</a> in Indigenous affairs since the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2017/02/13/10-things-you-should-know-about-national-apology">apology</a> to the Stolen Generations a decade ago. Although not a specific target, safe, appropriate and affordable housing is acknowledged to be a fundamental building block for improving the well-being of Aboriginal people and closing the gap on many of the target indicators. For these reasons, it is unfortunate to learn the Commonwealth may be <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/northern-territory/federal-government-backtrack-on-nt-remote-housing-pledge/news-story/25975b1ac83cff7ea93f67cf44da238b#.e7dt9">seeking to withdraw</a> its <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/tactics-undermining-strategy-in-indigenous-housing/">support for remote Indigenous housing programs</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/research-and-policy-bulletins/216">Our research</a> and that of others provides evidence these programs are producing significant improvements. A sustained Commonwealth commitment to remote housing programs is essential for closing the gap. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-reasons-why-the-gaps-between-indigenous-and-non-indigenous-australians-arent-closing-91561">Three reasons why the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians aren’t closing</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Crowding and inadequate housing are linked to poor physical and mental health. They result in higher rates of infectious diseases such as rheumatic fever and eye and ear infections, emotional stress and conflict in the home. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/Publications/housing-health.pdf">A New South Wales study</a> demonstrated that in communities whose housing was improved, the rate of hospital admissions for infectious diseases was 40% less than in communities where no housing improvements had taken place. Other research has shown that poor housing has negative impacts on educational and employment outcomes. </p>
<h2>Job is only half done</h2>
<p>The central role of housing in Closing the Gap was acknowledged in 2007 when the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) established a 10-year A$5.5 billion <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/implementation-national-partnership-agreement-remote-indigenous-housing-nt">remote Indigenous building and refurbishment program</a>. This aimed to bring living standards in remote Indigenous communities to the same standards as comparable locations elsewhere, and to improve the management and maintenance of houses. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206712/original/file-20180216-131006-15s0ul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Commonwealth review found houses like this one built under the remote housing program had improved conditions in Indigenous communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Last October, a federal government <a href="https://pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/indigenous-affairs/remote-housing-review">review of the remote Indigenous housing program</a> found crowding has been reduced and housing management is more consistent and effective. But the job remains half done. Importantly, levels of household crowding (no more than two persons per bedroom) in remote communities are still around 37%. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/research-and-policy-bulletins/216">Our research</a> tells a similar story. Crowding remains high in some locations. There are problems of fairness and efficiency in the application of mainstream rent settings. There are also questions about the most effective model of housing delivery and who should be responsible for it. </p>
<p>However, in the five communities we examined in three states, we found the program had led to significant improvements on a range of indicators. This was particularly evident when the housing was managed by an Indigenous housing provider that employed Indigenous people and provided a culturally adaptive service.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-close-the-health-gap-we-need-programs-that-work-here-are-three-of-them-91482">To close the health gap, we need programs that work. Here are three of them</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>The complexities of remote settings mean that for these gains to be maintained and continued, the Commonwealth needs to maintain its commitment. Delivering and maintaining housing in remote locations is costly, so subsidies will be needed in most regions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206711/original/file-20180216-131024-1rywae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the road to the APY Lands in South Australia, a remote region where the costs of providing and maintaining housing require subsidies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Commonwealth oversight is also essential to ensure appropriate regulatory frameworks are in place. Monitoring and quality assurance procedures are needed to maintain standards. </p>
<p>The building and refurbishment program was <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/housing/national-partnership-agreements">revised and renegotiated</a> with the states and the Northern Territory in 2016. That program ends this June. To date, there has been no indication of what will replace it. </p>
<p>Most worrying are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/22/indigenous-minister-under-fire-over-funding-for-remote-housing">reports</a> that <a href="https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2017/12/Commonwealth-abandons-indigenous-Australia-axes-remote-housing-deal.aspx">Western Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/index.php/zoe-bettison-news-releases/8581-scullion-s-cuts-to-remote-housing-will-put-pressure-on-northern-territory-communities">South Australia</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-31/indigenous-housing-scheme-under-threat-funding-runs-out/9376358">Queensland</a> have been advised that remote Indigenous housing is a state responsibility and that Commonwealth funding may end when the current program ends. Even in the Northern Territory, which had seemed quarantined from these developments because of the extent of the housing crisis in remote communities there, <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/northern-territory/federal-government-backtrack-on-nt-remote-housing-pledge/news-story/25975b1ac83cff7ea93f67cf44da238b#.e7dt9">there are signs that the Commonwealth may withdraw its commitment</a> to addressing this.</p>
<p>If this is true, it’s likely the political commitment to improvement will wane, investment will decline and gains in housing standards will reverse. </p>
<h2>At risk of losing hard-won gains</h2>
<p>In 10 or 20 years’ time, we might once again be looking at a housing crisis in remote Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>To avoid such a policy failure – and its implications for Indigenous well-being – it’s time for governments to recognise that real progress can only be made if they stop turning Indigenous programs off after they have been positively evaluated. They need to accept that improvements will be slow and what’s needed is incremental, consistent and preferably bipartisan commitment over the medium to long term.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206714/original/file-20180216-130997-5b4sr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Improvements have been delivered to remote communities, like this playground in the East Kimberley region, but much work remains to be done.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Current arrangements for remote Indigenous housing are not perfect, but our work suggests that, at this stage, a hybrid model is likely to be most effective. This is one that involves a partnership between state housing departments and knowledgeable, preferably Indigenous, third-party providers delivering a culturally appropriate service. </p>
<p>There are also opportunities to explore new models of housing delivery. These could leverage off the Indigenous estate and engage with the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community housing sector. Any model should contribute to the sustainability of communities by maximising opportunities for local partnerships and employment for local Indigenous people. </p>
<p>Without ongoing Commonwealth engagement and investment, remote Indigenous housing policy risks remaining stuck in a depressing cycle of government neglect, public crisis, too-rapid policy development and change, and a return to failure. It will become yet another sorry example of political agendas obstructing good policy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91835/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daphne Habibis receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Phibbs receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the Henry Halloran Trust at the University of Sydney</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rhonda Phillips is affiliated with the Palm Island Community Company. </span></em></p>Decent housing underpins the Closing the Gap goals, with a decade-long national remote housing program having made measurable progress. If the Commonwealth pulls out now, hard-won gains could be lost.Daphne Habibis, Associate Professor, University of TasmaniaPeter Phibbs, Director, Henry Halloran Trust, University of SydneyRhonda Phillips, Adjunct Research Fellow, Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/549072016-03-04T02:59:32Z2016-03-04T02:59:32ZHow community-based innovation can help Australia close the Indigenous gap<p>There is a strong bipartisan consensus that Australia needs to <a href="https://www.coag.gov.au/closing_the_gap_in_indigenous_disadvantage">close the gap</a> in Indigenous disadvantage. It is a credit to the federal government that it has remained consistent in monitoring progress. But while maintaining these targets is important, Australia clearly has an implementation problem.</p>
<p>Consistent with his widespread call for innovation, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull remarked in this year’s <a href="http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/speech-to-parliament-on-the-2016-closing-the-gap-report">Closing the Gap address to parliament</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Closing the Gap challenge is often described as a problem to be solved – but more than anything it is an opportunity. If our greatest assets are our people, if our richest capital is our human capital, then the opportunity to empower the imagination, the enterprise, the wisdom and the full potential of our First Australians is an exciting one.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Across remote Australia, such innovation is occurring locally in practice, under the radar of government policies and support. Central to this innovation are relationships between community leaders and trusted outsiders, and the shared understanding and new knowledge they derive. </p>
<p>If these relationships stay stable for long enough, innovation does emerge. Given enough time, trusted outsiders can learn about the context of a community and the richness of culture, history, family and place. And community leaders can learn about the system of Indigenous affairs and its many layers of conditionality and gatekeepers. </p>
<p>There is an untold story of reconciliation here, born from hard days of working through problems. We can look to this innovation and stop fixating on finding the elusive policy solution.</p>
<h2>Too many programs, not enough impact</h2>
<p>Remote Indigenous communities of fewer than 1000 people are supported by more than 80 programs and services. Each has public finance rules to ensure none of the money is misappropriated and that it performs against KPIs. Most are success stories with a support base in community and government. </p>
<p>Yet, with so many programs operating, how does the relative disadvantage of Indigenous people remain so acute?</p>
<p>We need only look to the sheer ratio of programs and services to so few people to see part of the problem. As these programs typically don’t take into account the effects of each other, their measurements are highly questionable.</p>
<p>Operating in unison, these programs combine into complex policy hybrids, the effects of which are unknown. If there is a parallel here it is pharmacology, when chronically ill patients take a cocktail of drugs for multiple health problems – a situation that also sadly besets many Indigenous people. While each drug may have been rigorously tested using randomised control trials, the effect when five or ten of these combine is largely unknown.</p>
<p>I have spent the past 12 months looking for a standard of evidence that might sort through this complexity, to find the best performers and team players. I have looked closely at randomised control trials, reverse cross-over (quasi-experimental) design, comparative case study analysis, process tracing, Bayesian analysis and fiscal ethnography. I have spoken to some of the leading experts in these methods. </p>
<p>The problem is that there are just too many programs for too few people. It is too causally dense, with too many conjunctions and too few who are not “treated” who might form a control.</p>
<p>If we can’t measure the effects of individual programs, we must remain sceptical about which programs are working. We need to look at other things than policy solutions.</p>
<h2>Let local innovation lead</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112667/original/image-20160224-16444-1dz980n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MUP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We know some things about the conditions under which this innovation occurs, through case studies such as those in my new book, <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/items/163714">Serious Whitefella Stuff</a>. There are few universal policy solutions, but there are processes, capabilities and support factors involved that do indeed travel. Here are four such factors to emerge from our research.</p>
<p>The first is just simply stability. When government stabilises the policy environment, those on the ground have the opportunity to adapt. </p>
<p>New policies tend to dismiss everything before them, sweeping away organisations, jobs, people and long-term relationships. In the Northern Territory, the aftermath of <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2012/06/20/factbox-stronger-futures-legislation">The Intervention</a> and the creation of the super shires led to the departure of long-term employees and community organisations. </p>
<p>New policies should build on – not undermine – the achievements of their predecessors. For as long as progress remains elusive we can’t afford to ignore earlier gains.</p>
<p>The second factor is the capability of frontline workers. Much effort is targeted at building the capability of local Indigenous people and organisations, but what about the capability of visiting outsiders? </p>
<p>Half of the universities in Australia offer tertiary education to prepare students to work in international development, but there is no equivalent for remote Indigenous communities. Why is this so, when the contexts are only more complex and confronting? So you arrive in a community from scratch, work it out through the school of hard knocks. Few go the distance, and few Indigenous leaders have the endurance to cope with the revolving door of recruits.</p>
<p>The third factor is the effectiveness of Indigenous organisations, including local government. These are the local institutions that endure between successive policy rounds. </p>
<p>These organisations are the only structures of Indigenous self-governance in Australia to which powers, functions and resources can be devolved. By providing political counterpoints to government, they contribute to a better-balanced system. New interventions should build, not corrode, their capability.</p>
<p>Finally, frontline workers need to find new ways to collaborate with each other. In such a crowded institutional space, collective efforts between programs will enhance effectiveness, beyond the ingenuity of any one program.</p>
<p>Regardless of the policy solution and measurement system, outcomes are determined on the rocks of implementation and on the actions of community leaders and outside workers. This is the real engine room of Indigenous affairs, not the boardrooms or broadsheets of capital cities.</p>
<p>An innovation-driven system in Indigenous affairs is a future that already exists, if politicians would only shift their gaze.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Mark Moran is the author of <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/items/163714">Serious Whitefella Stuff: When solutions became the problem in Indigenous affairs</a>, which is out now.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54907/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Moran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Across Indigenous Australia, innovation is occurring locally, under the radar of government policies and support. We can look to this innovation and stop fixating on finding the elusive policy solution.Mark Moran, Chair of Development Effectiveness, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/468102015-08-31T03:26:21Z2015-08-31T03:26:21ZFood price gap shows need for subsidies and promo deals for remote areas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93383/original/image-20150831-17756-2bpq0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Imagine spending an extra $68 every time you did a $100 shop -- and getting nothing extra for it. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/galant/890670192/in/photolist-2mGVdC-cRfEGy-cCVL1J-xAgPqz-eg1Fx3-ccTDeG-eg1NUs-7gn8Gw-ouAPBb-6KuuUa-s85waN-rYXCKX-dkHDiH-eM1mhP-5jcWrG-nJBr1a-5j8ENr-oXk91q-2mCB5x-9FawFo-2mGVwG-8dSMEr-nJByMy-efV5AF-cCUpaE-nrRYFV-9xVtxH-6UrDvo-prFjnm-2mGVTw-m7HhnW-a9n6M9-ahS81G-a3dyBq-rBpqxi-ov3sjp-5eCZJ6-926ToM-2htkjG-oHfcYh-ayGuYw-4ptCoT-5XFL7J-9WkGC4-ooUMzx-7nCs1J-dT1FAH-6SGQCr-6wpuuz-iBU4Ly">thebittenword.com/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following his visit to Australia’s Northern Peninsular Area, Prime Minister Tony Abbott <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4301739.htm">told</a> the ABC’s AM program that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would very much counsel people in remote areas against expecting the Government to subsidise fresh food. Yes, it’s more expensive than in Sydney and Melbourne but it’s not outrageously more expensive and to be honest, the supermarkets - IBIS and others - do a very good job in getting high quality food to very, very remote places. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But the <a href="http://digitallibrary.health.nt.gov.au/prodjspui/bitstream/10137/616/2/Northern%20Territory%20%20Market%20Basket%20Survey%20report%202014.pdf">evidence shows</a> that it’s not just fresh food that is more expensive in remote communities. On average, all food is 53% more expensive in remote communities, with the price increasing annually by approximately 5%, compared to an annual rise of only about 1% in Darwin supermarkets.</p>
<h2>What the data shows</h2>
<p>Every year in the Northern Territory, government and non-government public health nutritionists gather <a href="http://digitallibrary.health.nt.gov.au/prodjspui/bitstream/10137/616/2/Northern%20Territory%20%20Market%20Basket%20Survey%20report%202014.pdf">data</a> on the cost of a standardised basket of food. </p>
<p>This basket is sufficient to provide foods for a hypothetical family of six for a fortnight.</p>
<p>It comprises of a mix of tinned and fresh food items including flour, bread, breakfast cereal, apples, oranges, tinned fruit, orange juice, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, mixed vegetables, canned meat, fresh red meat, chicken drumsticks, eggs, powdered milk, cheese, sugar and margarine. Data on the availability, variety and quality of fruit and vegetables are also collected. </p>
<p>In 2014, the Northern Territory government <a href="http://digitallibrary.health.nt.gov.au/prodjspui/bitstream/10137/616/2/Northern%20Territory%20%20Market%20Basket%20Survey%20report%202014.pdf">surveyed</a> 79 stores and found the average basket cost was $824. This amount ranged from $795 in Darwin remote district stores to an average of $866 for remote East Arnhem district stores; compared to $538 in a Darwin supermarket. </p>
<p>Staples like flour, bread and breakfast cereals cost 23% more, basics like meat were 45% more, fresh fruit and vegetables cost 51% more, goods like margarine and sugar were 79% more, while dairy was 98% more in price.</p>
<p>When we considered food costs in relation to actual food purchases – as opposed to the hypothetical basket – this price difference was even higher. </p>
<p>When we then compared these prices to those in southern cities such as Adelaide, we found the price difference was higher again. </p>
<p>We demonstrated this using food expenditure <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25902766">data</a> collected from 20 remote stores across the Northern Territory. </p>
<p>Foods purchased in these stores cost 60% more, on average, than Darwin supermarkets and 68% more than Adelaide supermarkets. To understand what this is like, imagine adding another $60 or $68 to a grocery shop of $100 next time you’re at the supermarket – but getting no extra groceries for it. </p>
<p>A further advantage for urban shoppers is access to cheaper generic brand options which are generally limited in remote community stores. When we added these to the mix, the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25902766">price difference</a> for grocery type foods was 136%. </p>
<p>The Northern Territory government is the only jurisdiction in Australia that annually monitors remote community food prices. </p>
<p>In 2010, <a href="https://www.health.qld.gov.au/ph/documents/hpu/hafb-2010.pdf">the Queensland government found</a> prices in Queensland were 26% higher in very remote areas compared with major cities and 38% higher in remote areas more than 2000km from Brisbane. </p>
<p>In 2010 in remotes communities of the Northern Territory, prices were found to be <a href="http://digitallibrary.health.nt.gov.au/prodjspui/bitstream/10137/616/2/Northern%20Territory%20%20Market%20Basket%20Survey%20report%202014.pdf">43% higher</a> compared to the current 53%. This finding suggests the Queensland price difference may now be higher than the recorded 38% of 2010.</p>
<p>Over the <a href="http://digitallibrary.health.nt.gov.au/prodjspui/bitstream/10137/616/2/Northern%20Territory%20%20Market%20Basket%20Survey%20report%202014.pdf">last few years</a>, the average number of varieties and the proportion of quality of fresh fruit and vegetables has increased in the Northern Territory. </p>
<h2>Remote shops are playing their part to help</h2>
<p>Many stores in remote Australia are locally owned and have improved nutrition alongside generating profit as a policy goal. In the Northern Territory, 70% of stores are Indigenous owned, 61% have a store committee and 51% report to have a <a href="http://digitallibrary.health.nt.gov.au/prodjspui/bitstream/10137/616/2/Northern%20Territory%20%20Market%20Basket%20Survey%20report%202014.pdf">nutrition policy</a>. </p>
<p>Two major store associations in the Northern Territory, the Arnhemland Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA) and Outback Stores, have pricing initiatives which exempt fresh fruit and vegetables from freight charges. The pricing policies have also resulted in some of the cheapest prices for bottled water in the country. It’s likely there are other similar initiatives to reduce the price of healthier foods for independently run stores. Despite this, the price difference between remote community stores in the Northern Territory and Darwin supermarkets has widened. </p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25902766">price gap</a> indicates that not all consumers equally benefit from the competing food prices between the major Australians supermarkets and the promotional deals they have with manufacturers. Socially disadvantaged Australians whether in remote or non-remote Australia experience more <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12372160">barriers</a> to eating healthy food, and cost is one of these. One concern is that a <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737422169">socio-economic gradient</a> we have not previously observed has now emerged as being a <a href="http://www.preventativehealth.org.au/internet/preventativehealth/publishing.nsf/Content/0FBE203C1C547A82CA257529000231BF/$File/commpaper-hlth-equity-friel.pdf">prevalent</a> for overweight and obesity in Australia.</p>
<p>Indigenous Australians are also more likely than non-Indigenous Australians to experience higher rates of <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/510C5DA8D5AE7916CA257C2F00145BAC?opendocument">obesity</a> and <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4727.0.55.003">related conditions</a> such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. At current food prices, a diet following the Australian dietary guidelines is not possible within an estimated $13 per person per day food spend in remote communities; a food spend that is more than that for other <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24391790">Australians</a>. </p>
<h2>A role for subsidies and promo-deals</h2>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23122423">mounting evidence</a> that price subsidies <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25877492">can encourage</a> healthier food purchases and are more cost <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23122423">effective</a> than nutrition <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25877492">education</a>. </p>
<p>Remote stores are playing their part; a leg-up from either government or major supermarkets and food manufacturers could go a long way to closing the price gap and disadvantage gap for Indigenous Australians living in remote communities. </p>
<p>That “leg-up” could extend to subsidies on food transport costs and facilities like refrigerators needed to make fresh food last. But it may also include manufacturers providing promotional deals to remote stores, as they do to urban supermarkets.</p>
<p>In the end, it is cost of all core foods – not just fresh food – that needs to come down for people in remote areas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Brimblecombe is supported by a Future Leader Fellowship from the National Heart Foundation of Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Ferguson is supported through a NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship. The contents of the published material are solely the responsibility of the individual authors and do not reflect the views of NHMRC.
</span></em></p>On average, all food is 53% more expensive in remote communities, with the price increasing annually by approximately 5%, compared to an annual rise of only about 1% in Darwin supermarkets.Julie Brimblecombe, Senior Research Fellow, Menzies School of Health ResearchMegan Ferguson, Research officer, Menzies School of Health ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/399112015-05-04T19:25:47Z2015-05-04T19:25:47ZNorth Queensland’s powerful trio will shake up the state<p>Three north Queensland MPs representing just 3% of the state’s population will wield huge power in Queensland’s parliament, which resumes on Tuesday for the first full sitting week since the January 31 state election.</p>
<p>In the weeks since <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/billy-gordon-statement-april-8-2015-20150407-1mgdbx.html">quitting the Labor Party</a> – after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/annastacia-palaszczuk-sacks-mp-billy-gordon-from-the-alp-20150329-1ma92x.html">advised him to resign</a> – new independent Billy Gordon has said he has been “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/billy-gordon-i-have-never-laid-a-hand-on-a-woman/story-e6frgczx-1227330826361">forming an alliance</a>” with the two Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) MPs, <a href="http://robkatter.com.au/">Rob Katter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shane-Knuth-MP/180764285343226">Shane Knuth</a>.</p>
<p>Gordon’s resignation left the Labor government with just 43 MPs in the 89-seat parliament, up against the Liberal Nationals’ 42 – though Palaszczuk can also count on the support of independent Speaker Peter Wellington. </p>
<p>That gives Gordon, Katter and Knuth – who represent the <a href="http://qspatial.information.qld.gov.au/State_Electoral_Image_Map_Series/Cook_opt.pdf">neighbouring</a> north Queensland seats of Cook, Mt Isa and Dalrymple – an unprecedented opportunity to trade their votes for a better deal for their regions, on everything from jobs to major infrastructure.</p>
<h2>New northern allies</h2>
<p>In a vast state governed from the south-east capital of Brisbane, north Queenslanders have historically struggled to have their concerns heard and taken seriously – so much so that federal MP Bob Katter and others have long pushed for north Queensland to <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/bob-katter-wants-nth-queensland-to-be-its-own-state/story-fncynjr2-1226417426809">become its own state</a>.</p>
<p>But the new parliament could see the north gain greater influence. Gordon, Katter and Knuth all represent sprawling regional electorates in north Queensland. These jointly cover around half of the state’s land area, although they only have about 140,600 constituents (or about 3% of <a href="http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products/reports/pop-growth-highlights-trends-qld/pop-growth-highlights-trends-qld-2014.pdf">Queenslanders</a>) between them. </p>
<p>Quitting Labor last month, <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/billy-gordon-statement-april-8-2015-20150407-1mgdbx.html">Gordon said</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I will sit on the cross benches with members of Katter’s Australian Party, and will play a constructive role in allowing the Palaszczuk government to govern with confidence, while at all times ensuring that I represent my constituents.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/billy-gordon-i-have-never-laid-a-hand-on-a-woman/story-e6frgczx-1227330826361">More recently</a>, Gordon has said his expulsion from the ALP over his choice <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/annastacia-palaszczuk-sacks-mp-billy-gordon-from-the-alp-20150329-1ma92x.html">not to disclose information</a> about his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BillyGordonforLeichhardt/posts/441928639306373">past</a> had given him “a tremendous amount of freedom to have a look at things differently”. In other words, Labor shouldn’t take Gordon’s vote for granted.</p>
<p>Gordon is facing domestic violence allegations, which are being <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/mischief-and-mayhem-await-new-queensland-parliament-20150504-1mzen0.html">investigated by the police</a>. The MP <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/billy-gordon-i-have-never-laid-a-hand-on-a-woman/story-e6frgczx-1227330826361">has denied</a> those allegations.</p>
<p>If those allegations lead to charges being laid and a successful prosecution, it <a href="https://theconversation.com/billy-gordons-past-shouldnt-end-the-queensland-government-39487">may</a> spell the end of his political career. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76522/original/image-20150331-1266-1cnz9ko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New seats of power? Billy Gordon’s seat of Cook, in far north Queensland, borders the KAP-held seats of Mt Isa and Dalrymple.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://results.ecq.qld.gov.au/Profiles/Cook/map.pdf">Queensland Electoral Commission</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But, in the meantime, Gordon will take his seat on the cross-benches as the state’s first <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/billy-gordon-to-stay-on-as-mp-in-queensland/6377900">independent</a> Indigenous MP, representing <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/qld-election-2015/guide/cook/">Cook</a>, Queensland’s northernmost seat. Cook stretches from just inland of Cairns, taking in coastal communities such as Mossman, Port Douglas and Cooktown, north to the islands of the Torres Strait.</p>
<p>Rob Katter represents the north-west seat of <a href="http://robkatter.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/map-of-mount-isa-A4.pdf">Mt Isa</a>. It’s an electorate <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/qld-election-2015/guide/misa/">bigger than Victoria and Tasmania combined</a>, reaching all the way from the Gulf of Carpentaria down to Birdsville and the South Australian border. Sitting alongside Katter will be former LNP MP Knuth, who represents the inland electorate of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/qld-election-2015/guide/dalr/">Dalrymple</a>, centred on Charters Towers.</p>
<p>So as parliament resumes and the cross-bench trio get their first chance to work together, what are their key demands likely to include? </p>
<h2>Key issues to watch</h2>
<p>Given the finely balanced numbers in parliament, both the Labor government and the LNP opposition will be looking to see how best to work with the north Queensland trio.</p>
<p>One of the first tests for all three will no doubt be whether the both major parties treat them with respect – something that the KAP considered was <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/lnp-slides-from-glory-to-chaos-with-one-mp-to-be-kicked-out-for-dissent-and-another-threatening-to-sue-a-colleague/story-fndo4ckr-1226526140813">lacking under the previous government</a> – and as legitimate political voices. </p>
<p>Key areas that the trio will likely demand greater action on include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, which <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/billy-gordon-statement-april-8-2015-20150407-1mgdbx.html">Gordon has pointed out</a> is at 22% in regional far north Queensland.</p></li>
<li><p>Increased spending on major infrastructure for the north, such as the Hann Highway <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/queensland-election-2015-katters-australian-party-undecided/story-fnr8rfrw-1227208759423">inland freight route</a> to cut travel times south from Cairns, and the <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/billy-gordon-statement-april-8-2015-20150407-1mgdbx.html">Peninsula Development Road</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>More open processes for major project approvals in the region, particularly in the mining industry.</p></li>
<li><p>Greater equity in the allocation of human services, such as spending on hospitals.</p></li>
<li><p>Better access to natural resources including <a href="http://robkatter.com.au/katter-pursues-mount-isa-water-issue-with-minister/">water allocation</a>, energy and reform of vegetation management laws.</p></li>
<li><p>Greater investment in infrastructure and services for Indigenous communities, especially remote communities in the far north, along with more focus on enabling economic opportunities. Many people in the south may not know it, but there are deep connections between the Katter family and Indigenous communities across the north, with Bob Katter senior having once been Queensland’s mnister for Aboriginal affairs in the Bjelke-Petersen years.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Placing regional concerns at the heart of policy</h2>
<p>Perhaps the biggest challenge for both the Labor government and the LNP in dealing with the three north Queensland MPs will be the need for greater recognition of how centrally applied <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism">neo-liberal</a> policies can affect regional and remote communities differently to those living in big cities. </p>
<p>It’s easy for people in the southeast of Queensland or other parts of Australia to ridicule the policies of regionalist parties like the KAP. Yet regional MPs have often had good reason to challenge policies imposed from Brisbane or Canberra under successive governments, which, when not managed well, can have devastating impacts in regions like north Queensland.</p>
<p>For example, industry de-regulation, market reforms, business and environmental regulation, competitive tendering and grants allocation all have the potential to deliver state-scale efficiencies. But what may make economic sense at the state level can unfortunately have major impacts on particular local communities and enterprises, such as farms and factories. That’s why there should also be careful local, or “place-based”, strategies to minimise impacts and to facilitate new opportunities.</p>
<p>With continued pressures on the state budget and the essential need for Queensland to participate in the global and national economy, protectionism and isolationism could never again become the dominant forces within the state’s political system. </p>
<p>But that doesn’t mean that remote and regional concerns should not be heeded. And with regional MPs holding such crucial votes in this Queensland parliament, we can expect to hear far more about those regional concerns between now and the next state election.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allan Dale researches a range of governance issues across the tropical world and receives funding research funding from a range of Commonwealth and State Government sources. He is also Chair of Regional Development Australia (Far North Queensland and Torres Strait).</span></em></p>Three north Queensland MPs representing just 3% of the state’s population will wield huge power in Queensland’s parliament when it resumes on Tuesday.Allan Dale, Professor in Tropical Regional Development, The Cairns Institute, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/311802014-09-20T05:10:44Z2014-09-20T05:10:44ZBirthing on Country could deliver healthier babies and communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59619/original/dgvxjv9c-1411187055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inuit women carrying their kids in traditional hooded parkas. Indigenous midwifery programs have expanded across Canada and are linked to excellent health outcomes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/weartpix/4077750393/in/photolist-7dkx8g-5Lj5pb-bY1c83-4YDTNQ-4YA3VH-4YDTQ7-4YzCK6-4YzCN2-4YEZMD-afWiDB-dcj9Ub-4YDTRC-5Lj5TN-926jvd-4YDTUN-4YzCMM-4YDTQy-4YDTTE">Spencer/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Tony Abbott <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-20/arnhem-land-leaders-call-for-an-end-to-poison-welfare/5758040">spent most of this week in North East Arnhem Land</a>, part of his <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-calls-for-new-era-of-engagement-with-indigenous-australia-20130810-2rony.html">long-held hope</a> “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. In the final of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series, we asked our experts: what stories does the PM need to hear?</em></p>
<p>Imagine you are 36 weeks pregnant and about to have your third baby. But coming from a small community, you can’t give birth at your local hospital because the maternity ward has closed down. Instead, you’re told you have to go to a hospital in a big city you’ve never been to before, hours away from anyone you know, which feels as foreign as being sent to another country. </p>
<p>Doctors say it’s safer in the big city hospital where they have lots of specialists if anything goes wrong. But your partner, children and other family members are not able to come because you can’t afford to pay their travel and accommodation. </p>
<p>You don’t speak the language. You didn’t choose to come here. You are all alone. You are so uncomfortable and so stressed – so how could this be good for baby?</p>
<p>This happens regularly to Aboriginal women across Australia. In many cases, being sent into a major city a long way from home to birth is equivalent to being sent to a foreign country. </p>
<p>But it doesn’t have to be this way. </p>
<p>We could <a href="http://cfpcwp.com/MCDG/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CD004667_standard.pdf">reduce</a> the number of babies being born too early and dying before they reach their first birthday. We could make a difference to <a href="http://www.aom.on.ca/files/Communications/Reports_and_Studies/JMWH_Nunavik_Midwifery_VanWagner_JulyAug2007.pdf">every stage of life</a> – reduce chronic disease, improve mental health, reduce drug and alcohol abuse and reduce community violence. </p>
<p>We could <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2813%2961406-3/fulltext">save our health system</a> millions of dollars. And the benefits could extend beyond health, strengthening parenting roles and restoring skills and community pride. </p>
<p>And we know that all that can be done, because it’s already been <a href="http://www.inuulitsivik.ca/healthcare-and-services/healthcare/midwives">shown to work</a> in Canada.</p>
<h2>Having babies closer to home</h2>
<p>In Australia, we call it “<a href="https://www.saxinstitute.org.au/publications/evidence-check-library/maternity-service-delivery-models-for-indigenous-communities/">Birthing on Country</a>”, which is about bringing birth closer to home. Birthing on Country is about real jobs and education. It’s about <a href="http://www.pimatisiwin.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/03EpooStonier.pdf">local Aboriginal midwives</a>. It’s about shaping a healthier health system; one that is both medically and culturally safe for all.</p>
<p>Birthing on Country has been recommended in many government reports over 30 years. Even our current <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/maternityservicesplan">National Maternity Plan</a> says that Birthing on Country programs need to be set up and tested. </p>
<p>We need to see if Birthing on Country really can make a difference here, as it has overseas. We can’t keep having Aboriginal mums and bubs being <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129545698">two to three times more likely to die in childbirth</a> than other Australians; it’s time for change.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kymu_pW_Z7Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Aboriginal Australians talking about birthing on country, from “The Face Of Birth” DVD. (http://www.faceofbirth.com/)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So why has there been no investment in Birthing on Country? </p>
<p>There is a general <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/14/275#">fear</a> of birthing in Australia, with some people concerned about women having babies in places that don’t have 24/7 access to an emergency caesarean operation. Instead, when surgery cannot be provided, we tend to close the whole maternity service. </p>
<p>But the further women have to travel for birth, the worse their <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/11/147">outcomes</a>. Establishing birth centres, even in remote areas, could be a <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7400">safer option</a>, yet only 2% of women in Australia give birth in a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19566562">birth centre</a>.</p>
<h2>Learning from the Inuit</h2>
<p>In Canada, what began as the <a href="http://www.inuulitsivik.ca/healthcare-and-services/healthcare/midwives">Inuit “experiment”</a> is now referred to as the jewel in the crown of Inuit achievements. </p>
<p>The experiment started in 1985 in a place called Nunavik. It was in response to a high number of young people committing suicide. </p>
<p>Women, sitting around a sewing circle, linked the social dysfunction in the community to the dislocation that occurred during birth. They agreed they would no longer be flown eight hours away from home to have their babies in a “safe” hospital in Montreal. Instead, they set up a birthing centre in their remote community, without local access to a doctor or caesarean. </p>
<p>Even when people tried to close them down, warning “mothers and babies would die”, they stayed open. The <a href="http://www.naho.ca/inuit-midwifery/documents/2005-07NunavikICMkeynotefinal_000.pdf">elders knew</a> that “to bring birth back to the communities is to bring back life”.</p>
<p>One Aboriginal Canadian doctor was <a href="http://www.naho.ca/inuit-midwifery/documents/2005-07NunavikICMkeynotefinal_000.pdf">quoted as saying</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Culturally appropriate health care requires respect for the choice of community based child birth and may also challenge the world view of medically trained health professionals who are concerned with access to medical technologies and medico-legal liabilities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Today, the birthing centres have on-site midwifery training and have expanded across Nunavik and into other remote communities in Ontario, North West Territories and Nunavut. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/44525868" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p></p><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/44525868">TV Show Video Clip - Inuit Midwife Apprenticeship Program, Nunavik</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/nataborhealthorg">Inuit Tuttarvingat</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><p></p>
<p>They have developed as a sustainable model and are <a href="https://fcsktp.ryerson.ca/xmlui/handle/123456789/46">linked to excellent health outcomes</a>, increased education levels, reduced family violence, the restoration of dignity and self-esteem, community healing and greater social functioning.</p>
<p>The model allows inter-generational learning and support while promoting respect for traditional knowledge and building local capacity. </p>
<p>In the words of <a href="http://www.pimatisiwin.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/03EpooStonier.pdf">Jusapie Padlayat</a>, elder and chair of the Inuulitsivik Health Board:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I can understand that some of you may think that birth in remote areas is dangerous. And we have made it clear what it means for our women to birth in our communities. And you must know that a life without meaning is much more dangerous.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When you walk into the birthing centres you can immediately see the impact it’s having on the community. You can see it when watching an Inuit midwife providing care to an Inuit women, in her own language. Better still is the smile on her husband and young children’s faces, knowing she will not be leaving family to have her baby. </p>
<p>The model is so successful it is creeping into the cities, with an Aboriginal birth centre <a href="http://www.torontobirthcentre.ca/">opening in Toronto</a> last year. (You can read more at Canada’s <a href="http://www.aboriginalmidwives.ca/toolkit/nunavik">National Aboriginal Council of Midwives website</a>.)</p>
<h2>Returning birth to Country in Australia</h2>
<p>The first <a href="http://www.qcmb.org.au/media/pdf/Birth%20On%20Country%20Report.pdf">National Birthing on Country Workshop</a>, held in Alice Springs in 2012, recommended we set up Birthing on Country sites here in Australia, including in some remote communities. But to do that, they must be funded for long-term success. </p>
<p>In her closing speech at the event, award-winning Yolŋu elder <a href="http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/honour-roll/?view=fullView&recipientID=415">Djapirri Mununggirritj</a> from Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land (where the Prime Minister visited this week) declared:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>birthing is the most powerful thing that happens to a mother and child … our generation needs to know the route and identity of where they came from; to ensure pride, passion, dignity and leadership to carry us through to the future … We need to put together a strong voice, and one of us can report this in Canberra</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yolŋu elder and Reconciliation Australia board member Djapirri Mununggirritj</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.reconciliation.org.au/about/">Reconciliation Australia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The report from the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265553883_Australian_Health_Ministers%27_Advisory_Council_Birthing_on_Country_Workshop_Report">National Birthing on Country Workshop</a> has gone to Canberra and been given to government – but we don’t yet have Birthing on Country sites.</p>
<p>Queensland is probably the closest, with a state-wide workshop held in December 2013, but sites are yet to be chosen. Funding has not been allocated. We can’t let it stall again. </p>
<p>We know it will be challenging and we know it is controversial. But we know it can be done successfully, across the country. Birthing on Country programs can be set up in urban, rural and remote areas. </p>
<p>As Djapirri Mununggirritj also said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>if Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people come together, there is power … We need to create that connection … connection that comes from the grassroots … and I know you around the tables are very very smart people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To quote another wise woman, award-winning Aboriginal health worker and Malabam Health Board member Molly Wardaguga from Arnhem Land (who has passed away): “Hey you mob – it’s time to listen.”</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Further reading in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series:<br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-my-country-seeing-the-true-beauty-of-life-in-bawaka-31378">Welcome to my Country: seeing the true beauty of life in Bawaka</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-abbott-faces-his-biggest-hearing-test-31021">‘PM for Aboriginal Affairs’ Abbott faces his biggest hearing test</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-7-up-the-revealing-study-tracking-babies-to-adults-27312">Australia’s 7 Up: the revealing study tracking babies to adults</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/well-connected-indigenous-kids-keen-to-tap-new-ways-to-save-lives-30964">Well-connected Indigenous kids keen to tap new ways to save lives</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australias-rapid-rise-is-shifting-money-and-votes-26524">Indigenous Australia’s rapid rise is shifting money and votes</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-crowded-homes-can-lead-to-empty-schools-in-the-bush-30971">How crowded homes can lead to empty schools in the bush</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/would-you-risk-losing-your-home-for-a-few-weeks-of-work-30911">Would you risk losing your home for a few weeks of work?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-your-elders-inviting-aboriginal-parents-back-to-school-31300">Listen to your elders: inviting Aboriginal parents back to school</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australians-need-a-licence-to-drive-but-also-to-work-31480">Indigenous Australians need a licence to drive, but also to work</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-indigenous-teens-in-school-by-reinventing-the-lessons-30960">Keeping Indigenous teens in school by reinventing the lessons</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-can-a-dna-test-reveal-if-youre-an-indigenous-australian-31767">Explainer: Can a DNA test reveal if you’re an Indigenous Australian?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-indigenous-constitutional-recognition-means-31770">Explainer: what Indigenous constitutional recognition means</a></em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Kildea leads a team who have received funding from the NHMRC to conduct an evaluation of an urban model of health system reform called 'Birthing in our Community' - the Birthing on Country urban model. A partnership between the Mater Health Service, the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (Brisbane). She has spent many years recommending government do the things suggested in this article. She regularly applies for funding to improve maternal, infant and birthing services for Aboriginal mums and babies. She is employed by the Mater Health Service and the University of Queensland. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fleur Magick Dennis works for and is affiliated with Gungarrimaa Aboriginal Corporation and Aboriginal Cultural Birthing and Parenting NSW. Gungarrimaa Aboriginal Corporation receives funding from NSW state government and the federal government.</span></em></p>Tony Abbott spent most of this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. In the final of our Abbott in…Sue Kildea, Professor of Midwifery, The University of QueenslandFleur Magick Dennis, Founder and Convener of Aboriginal Cultural Birthing and Parenting NSW; Aboriginal Cultural Healing Educator at Gungarrimaa Aboriginal Corporation; Master of Indigenous Studies Graduate (Southern Cross University) & Currently a Master of Education Student, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/273122014-09-16T20:27:53Z2014-09-16T20:27:53ZAustralia’s 7 Up: the revealing study tracking babies to adults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49725/original/fh74wd33-1401336283.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If you're born underweight, like this little baby on the left, it can make a world of difference to your lifelong health.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Tony Abbott <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-06-23/visit-north-east-arnhem-land">is spending this week in North-East Arnhem Land</a>, part of his <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-calls-for-new-era-of-engagement-with-indigenous-australia-20130810-2rony.html">long-held hope</a> “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories does the PM need to hear while he’s in the Top End?</em></p>
<p>It’s Australia’s own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series">7 Up</a>, following the progress of 686 tiny babies into adulthood, through sickness and health, for the rest of their lives. What started with one researcher working out of a linen cupboard 27 years ago has become <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">the largest, longest-running and most significant study</a> of the lives of Indigenous babies in Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56973/original/m2d35w4g-1408583754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All grown up: the Aboriginal Birth Cohort babies are now in their late 20s, and have had more than 100 children of their own.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/Publications/">Our peer-reviewed research</a> has provided vital clues to help us better predict, prevent and treat chronic diseases that are common killers of Indigenous Australians. </p>
<p>Our work has also led to practical improvements for mothers and babies, including making ultrasounds to date pregnancies available at the community level, which weren’t available in the past, as well as changing health policy from a one-size-fits-all approach to making it more targeted to Aboriginal people living in both urban and remote areas.</p>
<p>Known as the <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">Aboriginal Birth Cohort study</a>, or ABC for short, we’ve spent the past three decades checking for the earliest signs of chronic disease in our participants and noting the age at which these appear. </p>
<p>Our study has reached perhaps its most crucial time. At 18, our young women and men were mostly healthy. Now, in their mid- to late-20s, we are starting to see some diagnosed with chronic diseases like diabetes, while others are becoming overweight or obese. Obesity is the most important amplifier of other risk factors for chronic disease. </p>
<p>Our babies are now all grown up, with a third of our young women participants having become mothers to more than 100 babies of their own. What happens in the next few years will matter not just to our participants’ health; it will also shape the health of their children, and their children to come.</p>
<p>But there’s still more work to be done. This includes tracking down about half of our participants, who as adults can be much harder to find every seven years than when they were children.</p>
<h2>Vital discoveries, decades in the making</h2>
<p>Back in 1974, one of us (Susan Sayers) arrived in Darwin as a trainee pediatrician and over the years noticed how many Aboriginal babies were being born too small. </p>
<p>Concerned about how that would affect well-being in later life, between 1987 and 1990 Susan and three colleagues recruited 686 babies born to mothers who identified as Aboriginal at the Royal Darwin Hospital – <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">almost half of all the Aboriginal babies</a> born in the Northern Territory during that time.</p>
<p>We have followed those babies ever since, with follow-up checks <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/hda/news/Singh%20slides.pdf">every six to seven years</a>, watching as they grew up through childhood, their teen years and now well into their adulthood.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56980/original/nz2yqwyz-1408585164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">11 Up: a boy gives a blood sample.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each time we see them, we do a <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/">comprehensive health check</a>, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>body measurements;</li>
<li>blood pressure and tests of heart function;</li>
<li>ultrasounds of kidneys, thyroid and carotid (the artery in your neck);</li>
<li>blood and urine testing; and</li>
<li>emotional well-being and thinking ability.</li>
</ul>
<p>We also collect details about social conditions, lifestyle and nutrition. And we compare how they’re faring in growth and development, compared to their peers born with normal birth weight.</p>
<p>Soon after the ABC study began, the value of tracking babies’ health into adulthood was confirmed by a landmark 1989 study from the UK. <a href="http://www.thebarkertheory.org/science.php">Professor David Barker</a> showed the significant long-term effects of low birth weight, finding higher rates of coronary heart disease in 60 to 70-year-olds who were born small. </p>
<p>As a result of those findings and others – showing that low birth weight is associated with an increased risk of hypertension, stroke and type 2 diabetes – the planned follow-up period of the Aboriginal Birth Cohort study was extended to tracking our participants all the way through their lives. </p>
<p>The ABC study has been so successful that we’re using it as a model to track the health of non-Aboriginal young people born in Darwin between 1987-1991. Called <a href="http://ext.cdu.edu.au/newsroom/a/2008/Pages/2810.aspx.html">the Top End Cohort study</a>, it’s investigating the same issues of early life factors on later health and disease.</p>
<h2>Travelling across the Top End</h2>
<p>Just as British documentary maker Michael Apted had to travel across the UK and even overseas to follow up his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series">7 Up child participants</a> since the 1960s, we don’t expect all our participants to come and see us in Darwin; we go to them.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57002/original/xcyn4jtj-1408588774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Boys to men: snapshots of participants aged around 11 and at 18.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57001/original/97fn5g3k-1408588730.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Visiting each of the 40 remote communities we work with – mainly in the Top End, but down to Central Australia and across to Western Australia too – involves travelling vast distances, sometimes by light plane but more often bumping along in four-wheel-drives in all weather, including crossing unpredictable tidal rivers. </p>
<p>But it’s always worth the trip, particularly when you’re working with communities that make you welcome and even anticipate your return, helped by the fact that so many in <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Centres_initiatives_and_projects/Aboriginal_Birth_Cohort_Study_-_1987_to_2013_and_beyond/Researchers/">our team</a> are familiar faces.</p>
<p>On a recent visit to the Daly River region, around four hours’ drive south from Darwin, we met three of our participants at an outstation. One of the young men said: “I have been waiting for you for my check-up. You mob are a year late!” To our surprise, we found that all the other young people in their 20s there wanted to get in on the act of having a personal health check-up.</p>
<p>The communities we work with are involved on all levels and are always very keen to hear our latest findings. Elders in some outstations have felt so strongly about the importance of the study that they have made room for us in their own personal space.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56978/original/tpfjn8nj-1408584963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dr Gurmeet Singh at work at a makeshift community clinic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learning more from adults to help our babies</h2>
<p>About one in 25 Australian babies are born to Indigenous mothers – and Australia’s Indigenous population is growing at a faster rate than the national average, which makes trying to close the gap in health outcomes more important than ever.</p>
<p>And there is some good news: survival of low birth-weight Indigenous babies has dramatically increased since the 1970s and 1980s. However, newborns of Indigenous mothers are still <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/hda/news/Singh%20slides.pdf">twice as likely to be born underweight</a>, due to higher risk including higher rates of smoking, more Indigenous mothers having a low <a href="http://example.com/">Body Mass Index (BMI)</a> and a higher rate of teen pregnancy. All of these are preventable factors, which means we can and should do more to keep closing that gap in low birth-weight babies.</p>
<p>We have been fortunate to have won adequate <a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/">National Health and Medical Research Council</a> funding to conduct this current round of visits to communities across northern and central Australia. But obtaining ongoing funding for in between our six to seven-yearly visits is harder. This has restricted our ability to do more and learn more from this unique, life-long study of Indigenous Australian babies.</p>
<h2>What changed between 18 and 26 up?</h2>
<p>The advantage of following the same group of young people for all these years is that it is one of the best ways to tease out the cause of diseases they may face. </p>
<p>Up to the age of 18, our young women and men were healthy; had low or normal amounts of body fat (as measured by <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-overweight-obese-bmi-what-does-it-all-mean-7011">body mass index, or BMI</a>), particularly those born with a low birth weight; and showed no early signs of chronic disease.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56979/original/cqy5zxtp-1408585057.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">11 Up: testing young lungs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in our most recent checks – which started last year and will continue into next year – some of the 24- to 28-year-olds we’re seeing are becoming overweight. That’s not only a major risk factor for diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but also magnifies the risk posed by being low birth weight.</p>
<p>Knowing more about the timing of when chronic disease markers like these start to appear is crucial, as it will help us – and health experts in other parts of Australia – come up with better health strategies targeted at those most at risk, at the most appropriate time. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56974/original/yp5mz67n-1408584687.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">26 Up: a photo taken in the current round of ABC study health checks, in which the participants – like this proud dad – are typically aged around 26.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the next few years it is likely that some of our participants will show signs of chronic disease, so following them through this time is essential.</p>
<p>Of the 686 babies in the first health check, we know of 32 who have died. But our participation rate is gradually falling for another reason: the older our participants get, the more they’re moving around for work or relationships, which can make them harder to find. So far in the current round of check-ups, we’ve caught up with about half of our participants, but we’re still trying to track down about 300 more.</p>
<p>The more people read and share this story, the more chance we have of finding these participants and keeping this crucial research going. In doing so, we hope to find better ways to improve the lives of many more generations of babies to come.</p>
<p><em>If you are one of the original ABC participants, someone in your family is, or you would like to know when they will be visiting your community, please contact the ABC Study team’s project manager Belinda Davison: Belinda.davison@menzies.edu.au or 0458 543 765.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Further reading in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series:<br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/birthing-on-country-could-deliver-healthier-babies-and-communities-31180">Birthing on Country could deliver healthier babies and communities</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-my-country-seeing-the-true-beauty-of-life-in-bawaka-31378">Welcome to my Country: seeing the true beauty of life in Bawaka</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-abbott-faces-his-biggest-hearing-test-31021">‘PM for Aboriginal Affairs’ Abbott faces his biggest hearing test</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/well-connected-indigenous-kids-keen-to-tap-new-ways-to-save-lives-30964">Well-connected Indigenous kids keen to tap new ways to save lives</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australias-rapid-rise-is-shifting-money-and-votes-26524">Indigenous Australia’s rapid rise is shifting money and votes</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-crowded-homes-can-lead-to-empty-schools-in-the-bush-30971">How crowded homes can lead to empty schools in the bush</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/would-you-risk-losing-your-home-for-a-few-weeks-of-work-30911">Would you risk losing your home for a few weeks of work?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-your-elders-inviting-aboriginal-parents-back-to-school-31300">Listen to your elders: inviting Aboriginal parents back to school</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australians-need-a-licence-to-drive-but-also-to-work-31480">Indigenous Australians need a licence to drive, but also to work</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-indigenous-teens-in-school-by-reinventing-the-lessons-30960">Keeping Indigenous teens in school by reinventing the lessons</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-can-a-dna-test-reveal-if-youre-an-indigenous-australian-31767">Explainer: Can a DNA test reveal if you’re an Indigenous Australian?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-indigenous-constitutional-recognition-means-31770">Explainer: what Indigenous constitutional recognition means</a></em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gurmeet Singh receives funding from NHMRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Sayers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tony Abbott is spending this week in North-East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…Gurmeet Singh, Senior research fellow and director of Life Course Studies, Menzies School of Health ResearchSusan Sayers, Principal research fellow, Menzies School of Health ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/309712014-09-15T20:31:27Z2014-09-15T20:31:27ZHow crowded homes can lead to empty schools in the bush<p><em>Tony Abbott <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-06-23/visit-north-east-arnhem-land">is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land</a>, part of his <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-calls-for-new-era-of-engagement-with-indigenous-australia-20130810-2rony.html">long-held hope</a> “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories does the PM need to hear while he’s in the Top End?</em></p>
<p>Earlier this year, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/curfews-for-kids-to-battle-truancy/story-fn9hm1pm-1226815395242?nk=">attracted national media coverage</a> on his visits to remote Top End Aboriginal communities, where he urged new local truancy officers clad in bright yellow T-shirts and bearing loudhailers to “get the kids to school”. But after an initial spike in attendance at bush schools – often from an alarmingly low base – our more recent analysis suggests that little lasting improvement has been achieved.</p>
<p>Our research shows a huge gap in Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance in the Northern Territory remains. However, we have also uncovered some of the reasons for that poor attendance, which could make a real difference to seeing more Indigenous kids in school and getting the education they need for a better future.</p>
<h2>Why turning up at school matters</h2>
<p>An attendance rate of 80% is generally considered to be the absolute minimum for a student to be able to keep up in their school learning.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.menzies.edu.au/">Menzies School of Health Research</a> study analysed the school attendance records of about 6,500 children born in the Northern Territory between 1994 and 2004. It found that two-thirds (66%) of the Indigenous students in the sample attended school less than 80% of the school days over their school career. In contrast, just 5% of non-Indigenous students fell below the touchstone 80% attendance level. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58099/original/bj7tq4vw-1409718746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Menzies Health</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Getting a good education, and doing well at school in a broader social sense, is widely acknowledged as providing the foundation for a healthy and prosperous future. Employers cannot realistically offer work to applicants who lack basic levels of literacy and numeracy.</p>
<p>The disturbing findings from our analysis underline the fact that closing the gap in literacy and numeracy will require much more effective measures to improve school attendance. </p>
<p>Sadly, the school experience of too many Aboriginal children in the NT seems unlikely to offer a path to a better future. The <a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/naplan.html">2013 NAPLAN results show</a> that 18% of year 3 Indigenous children in Australia had reading scores below the national minimum standard. In the NT this figure is dramatically higher – almost half (49%) of Indigenous students are falling below this standard.</p>
<p>These children have little chance of making good progress in their school education. They are very likely to leave school early, without the functional literacy they need to secure and hold a job. Governments, Indigenous communities and society generally simply cannot afford a continuing failure of education of this magnitude.</p>
<p>So Senator Scullion is right to focus public attention on these devastating figures, given the gravity of the consequences of such low school attendance. </p>
<p>But are truancy officers the right solution?</p>
<h2>Tackling the causes of truancy</h2>
<p>On the face of it, the federal government’s allocation of <a href="http://minister.indigenous.gov.au/media/2014-04-04/remote-school-attendance-strategy-rolled-out-additional-30-schools">A$46.5 million to the Remote School Attendance Strategy</a> – and its imposition of an income management regime on families who fail to send their children to school – makes sense.</p>
<p>However, many complex contributing factors to do with life in remote Australia create the preconditions for low school attendance. While families must take responsibility for ensuring their children attend school, it should also be acknowledged that underlying community issues such as inadequate housing and health care, and inter-generational unemployment, are affecting their capacity to exercise this responsibility.</p>
<p>School attendance is a particularly thorny issue. Efforts to address one aspect of the problem all too easily reveal previously hidden concerns or create new obstacles.</p>
<p>If we want to find a scapegoat for the disappointing progress in improving Indigenous education outcomes, then it’s easy to focus on the performance of bush schools. But the problems of remote Australia are complex and the solutions need to be nuanced.</p>
<p>The truth is, schools can’t be expected do it all on their own. In fact, having looked at this problem closely, our <a href="http://ccde.menzies.edu.au/">Centre for Child Development and Education</a> has concluded that one of the crucial solutions to this problem lies not at school, but at home.</p>
<h2>The connections between housing and school</h2>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/W9SiFK">Our research</a> indicates a strong correlation between overcrowding in housing and school attendance.</p>
<p>We combined publicly available Australian Bureau of Statistics community data with schools data from the MySchool website on school attendance in remote Northern Territory, Western Australian and Queensland locations. Eight community factors – including average adult weekly income, education level, language spoken at home and remoteness – were identified as being separately correlated with attendance.</p>
<p>Remarkably, when we examined how these factors operated in combination, almost half of the explained variation in attendance was accounted for by a single measure: housing over-crowding, which is the average number of people per available bedroom in the community.</p>
<p>The average number of people per bedroom in these communities ranged from one to almost four. For each extra person per bedroom, there was a 20% reduction in the rate of school attendance.</p>
<p>There are compelling reasons for tackling housing overcrowding as an immediate health issue. However, the strength of this link between housing and school attendance suggests that reducing the shortage of adequate housing may be another important way to enable families to better support their children’s school attendance and learning.</p>
<p><em>Correction: A figure in this article – A$46.5 million to the Remote School Attendance Strategy – has been updated, along with an online reference. Thanks very much to reader Greg Dickson.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Further reading in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series:<br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/birthing-on-country-could-deliver-healthier-babies-and-communities-31180">Birthing on Country could deliver healthier babies and communities</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-my-country-seeing-the-true-beauty-of-life-in-bawaka-31378">Welcome to my Country: seeing the true beauty of life in Bawaka</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-abbott-faces-his-biggest-hearing-test-31021">‘PM for Aboriginal Affairs’ Abbott faces his biggest hearing test</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-7-up-the-revealing-study-tracking-babies-to-adults-27312">Australia’s 7 Up: the revealing study tracking babies to adults</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/well-connected-indigenous-kids-keen-to-tap-new-ways-to-save-lives-30964">Well-connected Indigenous kids keen to tap new ways to save lives</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australias-rapid-rise-is-shifting-money-and-votes-26524">Indigenous Australia’s rapid rise is shifting money and votes</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/would-you-risk-losing-your-home-for-a-few-weeks-of-work-30911">Would you risk losing your home for a few weeks of work?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-your-elders-inviting-aboriginal-parents-back-to-school-31300">Listen to your elders: inviting Aboriginal parents back to school</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australians-need-a-licence-to-drive-but-also-to-work-31480">Indigenous Australians need a licence to drive, but also to work</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-indigenous-teens-in-school-by-reinventing-the-lessons-30960">Keeping Indigenous teens in school by reinventing the lessons</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-can-a-dna-test-reveal-if-youre-an-indigenous-australian-31767">Explainer: Can a DNA test reveal if you’re an Indigenous Australian?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-indigenous-constitutional-recognition-means-31770">Explainer: what Indigenous constitutional recognition means</a></em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30971/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sven Silburn receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, The Ian Potter Foundation, The Sidney Myer Fund & the Northern Territory departments of Health, Education, and Families and Children.</span></em></p>Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…Sven Silburn, Co-director, Menzies Centre for Child Development and Education, Menzies School of Health ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.