Newsletter date: 4 December 2012
Contents:
* Evaluating New Income Management in the Northern Territory: First Evaluation Report
* STICS: Report shows compulsory income management must be abandoned
* The Wire: Long-term future uncertain for income management scheme
* Tracker: Income management a failure: report
* Kieran Finnane: Income management: a lot of pain for little gain?
* Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: Wasteful income management policy based on perception, not evidence
* News regarding the Income Management Report
* Jenny Macklin: Income Management in the Northern Territory
* Equality Rights Alliance: Women's Experience of Income Management in the Northern Territory
* Jumbunna UTS: Abolish Compulsory Income Management
* More 'Stronger Futures' Legislation related articles
* Background to 'Stronger Futures' new NT Intervention laws
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Melissa Sweet: Would more consistent, inclusive coverage of Indigenous health lead to better policy?
* Other articles
- EVALUATING NEW INCOME MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY: FIRST EVALUATION REPORT:
- Report
Evaluating New Income Management in the Northern Territory: First Evaluation Report
FaHCSIA: http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/families-and-children/pro...
FaHCSIA: http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/node/17196/
"This evaluation of New Income Management has been commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs."
Direct link to report 3.5MB: http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/11_2012/nim_firs...
- Background
ANU-Led Research Evidence Helps Shape Income Management in the Northern Territory
http://cass.anu.edu.au/story/anu-led-research-evidence-helps-shape-incom...
30 Nov 12: "The first major report evaluating new income management measures in the Northern Territory has been released by Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin. ANU researchers, Rob Bray and Matthew Gray, were the lead authors of the report that also involved the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the University of New South Wales’ Social Policy Research Centre. ... The evaluation found mixed views and experiences of income management, with some people reporting positive impacts, while others found it intrusive and disempowering."
FaHCSIA: Income Management Evaluations
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/families-and-children/pro...
"Evaluation of income management in the Northern Territory:
The Australian Government, in partnership with the Northern Territory Department of Children and Families, is undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of income management in the Northern Territory. The evaluation is being conducted over four years by an independent consortium of experts from the Australian National University, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, in consultation with key stakeholders. The evaluation includes two phases:
Phase 1 – 2009-11 involved: ...
Phase 2 – 2011-14 involves: ... "
Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC): Income management
http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/family-violence-and-commonwealth-law...
"The following part of this Issues Paper discusses the treatment of family violence in the income management of welfare payments under the Social Security (Administration) Act. It briefly explains the nature and history of the income management regime and discusses how income management can work to protect, or work against, the safety of people experiencing family violence."
Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC): Income Management-Social Security Law
http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/10-income-management%E2%80%94social-...
"10.4 Income management does not affect or otherwise reduce the total amount of welfare payments payable to a recipient; rather, it changes the way in which a person receives their payment. Under income management, a percentage of a person’s welfare payment is quarantined for use in purchasing particular goods and services such as food and housing, defined as 'priority needs'.[1]"
* STICS: REPORT SHOWS COMPULSORY INCOME MANAGEMENT MUST BE ABANDONED
- Media Release
Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney: Report shows compulsory income management must be abandoned
http://stoptheintervention.org/facts/press-releases/report-shows-compuls...
29 Nov 12: "The Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney has renewed calls for the Commonwealth to abandon the system of compulsory income management, following the release of a damning evaluation report today.
Paddy Gibson from STICS said:
"This report vindicates longstanding calls to abandon compulsory income management. It documents a significant experience of humiliation, discrimination and hardship. There is no 'strong' evidence the program has met it's goals. Only one third of people forced onto the income management say it has provided benefits - and these could easily have come through expansion and improvements to the voluntary Centrepay system."
"It is outrageous that FaHCSIA prohibited the researchers from conducting a cost benefit analysis until 2014. More than half a billion dollars has been wasted in the NT on this failed system while people languish in third world living conditions."
"Unable to face the truth, Minister Macklin has used this report to expand powers to put people onto so-called 'vulnerable' income management. There is a strong community campaign and union bans on the implementation of income management in NSW and we will fight this every step of the way", concluded Mr Gibson ...
STICS is organising a major forum on the struggle against the NT Intervention on December 6 to mark Human Rights Day.
Speakers include Aboriginal Elder Rosalie Kunoth Monks from the Utopia Homelands."
- Related Event
"Join us to hear voices in the fight for Aboriginal rights discuss the shifting terrain in the struggle against the NT Intervention: ... the fight to stop the national expansion of income management. All welcome."
Event: Thu 6 December 2012, 6:30pm: Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW
To mark International Human Rights Day,
STICS will be holding an
NT Intervention / Stronger Futures Forum
Forum: After the NT Election:
The Struggle Against the NT Intervention
Aboriginal leaders speak out:
"Stronger Futures" means Stolen Futures
Special guest speakers:
* Rosalie Kunoth Monks &
* Amelia Pangarte Kunoth-Monks
from Utopia community, Central Australia
* Jeff McMullen,
CEO (Honorary) Ian Thorpe's Foundation for Youth
"Join us to hear voices in the fight for Aboriginal
rights discuss the shifting terrain in the struggle
against the NT Intervention: a new government
in the NT, community attempts to evict Intervention
and Shire bosses from their land and the fight
to stop the national expansion of income management.
All welcome."
Hosted by STICS:
Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney
Note: New location:
Tom Mann Theatre, 136 Chalmers St, Surry Hills
Event details: http://indymedia.org.au/2012/11/29/public-forum-%E2%80%9Cstronger-future...
Event details: http://www.amnesty.org.au/nsw/event/30474/
Event details: [scroll down page] http://www.respectandlisten.org/
Event details: [scroll down page] http://stoptheintervention.org/
Leaflet: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/NT_Intervention/Strong...
Poster: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/NT_Intervention/Strong...
Poster: http://stoptheintervention.org/uploads/files_to_download/Stronger-Future...
* THE WIRE: LONG-TERM FUTURE UNCERTAIN FOR INCOME MANAGEMENT SCHEME
- Audio Interviews
The Wire: Long-term future uncertain for income management scheme
Produced by Anokhee Shah
http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=9921
3 Dec 12: "A recent evaluation of income management schemes in the Northern Territory reveals mixed views about the scheme, which was introduced in as part of the NT Intervention in 2008. According to the report, many people feel a strong sense of having been treated unfairly and being dis-empowered. Anti-intervention activists say they would prefer to see money redirected to counselling and social services. Questions over whether income management acts as a control mechanism or whether it builds capacity for self-reliance in the long-term are still being evaluated, with the full report on the scheme due in 2014. ...
Featured in story:
* Paddy Gibson - Senior Researcher at Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology Sydney
* Barbara Shaw - Spokesperson for Intervention Rollback Action Group
* Matthew Gray - Professor of Indigenous Public Policy at the Australian National University"
* TRACKER: INCOME MANAGEMENT A FAILURE: REPORT
- News
Income management a failure: report
newsTracker: http://tracker.org.au/2012/11/income-management-a-failure-report/
Australian: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/income-management-fai...
30 Nov 12: "NATIONAL: Income management is a disempowering control measure and there is little evidence it is helping people in the Northern Territory manage their money, an independent evaluation has found. In a scathing interim report, two leading universities say the program operates more as "a means of control" than as a way to build an ability to effectively manage money. "There is little evidence to date that income management is resulting in widespread behaviour change," the report says. "It does not in itself motivate people to develop the skills to manage their finances in the longer term."" By Lisa Martin
* KIERAN FINNANE: INCOME MANAGEMENT: A LOT OF PAIN FOR LITTLE GAIN?
- Analysis / Opinion
Alice Springs News: Income management: a lot of pain for little gain?
http://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2012/11/29/income-management-a-lot-of...
30 Nov 12: "“A substantial proportion of people who are subject to Compulsory Income Management appear to be competent in managing their finances, are not subject to financial harassment, and live in families where alcohol, drugs and gambling are not seen as major problems. ... "So concludes the just-released first report, Evaluating New Income Management in the Northern Territory. A second report will follow in 2014 and will include an economic evaluation of the program, answering the question, "Does income management provide value for money by comparison with other interventions?" By Kieran Finnane
* GREENS SENATOR RACHEL SIEWERT: WASTEFUL INCOME MANAGEMENT POLICY BASED ON PERCEPTION, NOT EVIDENCE
- Media Release
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: Wasteful income management policy based on perception, not evidence
http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/wasteful-i...
1 Dec 12: "Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Issues ...
The Australian Greens said today the Government is making policy decisions on the basis of perceptions, not evidence, as they continue the wasteful and ineffective regime of income management.
"The Government released their latest evaluation report of income management on the last day of the last week of Parliament for the year, after sitting on it for four months," Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said today.
"Clearly the Minister has been reading this report with rose-tinted glasses or a different report altogether, because the report talked about in the Minister’s media seems to be very different to the one tabled.
"When I read the report, I wasn’t surprised they have sat on it for so long. Rather than supporting income management, one of the things this report makes clear is that people affected by it feel a strong sense of discrimination.
"The report shows that there is no measureable and clear evidence of any positive impact of income management. Those who do support the scheme tend to do so because of benefits such as fee-free banking, similar benefits they receive through voluntary income management or Centrepay arrangements. ...
"Compulsory income management should be ended immediately and the money redirected to more appropriate and effective forms of assistance," Senator Siewert concluded."
* NEWS REGARDING THE INCOME MANAGEMENT REPORT:
- News
Koori Mail: Calls to scrap income management
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
30 Nov 12: "THERE'VE been claims the Federal Government has misread an interim evaluation of compulsory income management (IM) in the NT. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says the evaluation report found a significant perception amongst Indigenous Territorians subjected to the controversial measure that their ability to afford food had improved, and that income management 'may' contribute to improved wellbeing. But Greens Senator Rachel Siewert says the report showed that people on income management felt discriminated against and the Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS) says it documented a significant experience of humiliation, discrimination and hardship."
Pro Bono News: Government Makes Changes to Income Management Scheme
http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2012/11/government-makes-changes...
29 Nov 12: " The Federal Government has announced changes to the delivery of the controversial income management scheme in the Northern Territory, in response to findings from an interim evaluation report. The interim report by the Australian National University, Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales found that among Indigenous people on income management in the Northern Territory, concludes that for many people the program largely operates more as a means of control rather than a process for building behaviours or changing attitudes or norms."
ABC: Income management scheme gets mixed report
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-29/income-management-evaluation-repor...
29 Nov 12: "An evaluation of income management in the Northern Territory has revealed highly mixed views about the effectiveness of the scheme. More than 16,000 people living in the Territory are on some form of income management. Of these, more than 90 per cent are Indigenous. For about 75 per cent of them, income management is compulsory. About 4,000 people have opted for voluntary participation in the scheme. Up to 70 per cent of a person's welfare payments can be compulsorily quarantined for use on necessities, such as food."
* JENNY MACKLIN: INCOME MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
- Media Release
Income Management in the Northern Territory
Source: Media release by Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin
The Hon Jenny Macklin MP: http://jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/node/2170
Alice Springs News: http://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2012/11/29/income-management-improvem...
"The Australian Government today announced improvements to the delivery of income management in the Northern Territory, in response to findings from an interim evaluation report.
Income management helps families ensure their welfare payments are spent in the best interests of children. It ensures that money is available for life essentials, and provides a tool to stabilise people’s circumstances and ease immediate financial stress.
The interim report by the Australian National University, Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales found that among Indigenous people on income management in the Northern Territory, there was a statistically significant perception of an improvement in their ability to afford food. ... "
* EQUALITY RIGHTS ALLIANCE: WOMEN'S EXPERIENCE OF INCOME MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
- Research Report
Equality Rights Alliance: Women's Experience of Income Management in the Northern Territory
http://www.equalityrightsalliance.org.au/projects/womens-experience-inco...
"During May and June 2011, Equality Rights Alliance documented women's experiences of Income Management in the Northern Territory. We want the views of women living with Income Management to be heard in public discussion of Income Management policy. ... This report does not make any policy recommendations. ERA does not have a policy position on Income Management. It is intended to document women’s experience, and was written for a general audience rather than being an academic report. Understanding the experience of the women who participated in this research is important for those assessing the effectiveness of the Income Management program. This research addresses feelings of self-worth, ease of use, and understanding of how the program is intended to assist them in providing for the needs of their families."
* JUMBUNNA UTS: ABOLISH COMPULSORY INCOME MANAGEMENT
- Statement
Jumbunna UTS: Abolish Compulsory Income Management
Demand 7: Redirect funding from punitive welfare controls to community based programs. Lift incomes above the poverty line.
http://www.jumbunna.uts.edu.au/researchareas/newmedia/abolishincomemanag...
"The largest study of people on Income Management was completed by the Equality Rights Alliance in May and June of 2011, titled Women's Experience of Income Management in the Northern Territory. More than 180 women with direct experience of Income Management participated. It found that 79% wanted to exit the system, 85% had not changed what they buy and 74% felt discriminated against.
IM is extremely expensive, with an estimated cost of more than $4400 per person per year in administration. $105 million was budgeted for administration costs to manage $150 million of Centrelink income in the NT over the 2009/10 financial year alone. $350 million has been budgeted to roll out IM across the NT over the coming years."
See:
- Research
Jumbunna UTS:
"Rebuilding from the Ground Up" Alternatives to the Northern Territory Intervention
http://www.jumbunna.uts.edu.au/researchareas/alternatives.html
"The NT Intervention has been a disaster for Aboriginal communities.
Aboriginal peoples, communities and organisations are outraged by the failures of the NT Intervention and the breaches of human rights.
This statement is putting forward an alternative based on Self Determination and sustainable resourcing for all communities.
Initiated by the campaign against the Intervention, this statement is a synthesis of the demands coming from Prescribed Area People's Alliance meetings and community leaders for the past four years.
You can download the full statement below and explore the each point through research overviews, links and videos."
- Leaflet
Stop the Intervention:
Rebuilding from the ground up: An Alternative to the NT Intervention
http://stoptheintervention.org/uploads/files_to_download/Alternatives-to...
"The NT Intervention has been a disaster for Aboriginal communities. Rather than 'closing the gap', government statistics show Indigenous incarceration rates have risen by almost 30 per cent (1), school attendance is down in many places (2), suicide and self harm have increased (3), and thousands of workers are being put onto Centrelink as CDEP closes down. There are growing crises in urban centres such as Alice Springs as large numbers of people move in from the bush (4)."
* MORE 'STRONGER FUTURES' LEGISLATION RELATED ARTICLES:
- News
National Indigenous Radio Service: Welfare quarantining not taking hold: STICS
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7661-welfare-quarantining-not-ta...
3 Dec 12: "Stop the Intervention Collective in Sydney (STICS) says their campaign against income management in Bankstown in New South Wales has been successful so far. Bankstown was one of five sites in the country to trial the income management scheme back in July. The scheme quarantines 50 to 70 per cent of a person's welfare payments onto a Basics Card which can only be used in approved stores on food, clothes, health items and basic household items. Paddy Gibson says their campaign has stopped residents from being forced onto the scheme."
Australian: Police needed for booze ban, says intervention chief
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/police-neede...
3 Dec 12: "SUE Gordon, the retired magistrate who led the Northern Territory intervention, has joined calls for a permanent police presence in the Kimberley community of Noonkanbah to enforce a drinking ban. Ms Gordon said the community's wardens were unable to enforce the liquor ban. "They don't have any real powers and the rest of the people just think it's a joke," she said."
* BACKGROUND TO 'STRONGER FUTURES' NEW NT INTERVENTION LAWS:
Last updated: 3 December 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-stronger-futures-new-nt...
* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
Last updated: 3 December 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-...
* MELISSA SWEET: WOULD MORE CONSISTENT, INCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS HEALTH LEAD TO BETTER POLICY?
- News
Croakey - the Crikey Health Blog:
Would more consistent, inclusive coverage of Indigenous health lead to better policy?
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2012/11/30/would-more-consistent-incl...
30 Nov 12: "The relationship between media coverage and Indigenous policy making has been investigated in a comprehensive research project, whose findings were reported at a recent symposium at the University of Canberra. The findings suggest that a wider, more inclusive and more concerted media coverage of Indigenous affairs would have positive implications for policy and thus the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A report on the research and symposium is provided below by Associate Professor Kerry McCallum, Head of Discipline of Journalism and Communication at the University of Canberra, and Lisa Waller, a Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Deakin University and PhD candidate. ... " By Melissa Sweet, Health Journalist and Croakey Co-ordinator
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- Audio
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
http://caama.com.au/radio#tabs-6
http://caama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/am-3-12-12.mp3
3 Dec12: "* Protesters in Tenant Creek have set up a block aid to voice their discontent at the removal of the service which they feel is essential to the community.
* Aboriginal and Torres Straight social justice commissioner Mick Gooda says there needs to be a complete overhaul in the way Aboriginal people are governed."
- News
Australian: Top indigenous body seeks role in grog appeal
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/top-indigeno...
3 Dec 12: "THE nation's peak Aboriginal body, the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, has made a controversial decision to apply to join a High Court challenge against alcohol restrictions in Queensland. The High Court has agreed to hear a claim by Palm Island woman Joan Maloney that the restrictions on the island are racist."
Alice Springs News: Aboriginal peak organisations warn governments against allowing more grog on remote communities
The Great Alcohol Debate: bring back BDR or similar, they say
http://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2012/11/20/aboriginal-peak-organisati...
20 Nov 12: "Aboriginal peak organisations of the Northern Territory have called on governments to "base alcohol policy on evidence not politics" and to "bring back a system (such as the Banned Drinkers Register [BDR]) to restrict the supply of alcohol to problem drinkers without resorting to criminalisation". They have pleaded with governments "to heed our warnings about the risks of allowing more alcohol to flow into remote communities"."
- Analysis / Opinion
Brisbane Times: Repossessing the songlines
Forty years after the Gove land rights case, the Yolngu people finally have an economic stake in their country.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/repossessing-the-songlines-2012...
1 Dec 12: "Galarrwuy and his fellow clan leaders have finally seized control of their destiny with a powerful vision of the future. Some might call this self-determination, but I have witnessed these leaders grow in intellectual understanding of their predicament, in their determination to solve problems, and to be their own agents, to join with committed people offering their expertise, and develop new institutions and cultural innovations." By Professor Marcia Langton, Chair, Australian Indigenous Studies, University of Melbourne
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