WGAR News: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget 2015-16

Newsletter date: 12 May 2015; 8:45pm

Contents:

* Petition: Change.org: Restore IAS funding that SA Aboriginal communities need to stay open and sustainable

* Media Release: National Congress of Australia's First Peoples: Congress Comments on the Budget

* News: Australian Human Rights Commission: Close the Gap releases position paper on Budget 2015-16
* Media Release: Congress: Indigenous funding must be quarantined from Budget cuts
* Analysis: Close the Gap Campaign Position paper on the Federal Budget 2015
* Background: AHRC: Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Campaign

* News: NACCHO 2015 Budget News: Can we expect more anxiety, and widespread concern at the potential impact of change?
* Submission: NACCHO Aboriginal Health 2015-16 Budget Submission

* Video: Myles Morgan, NITV News: Backgrounder: How the 2014 budget affected Indigenous affairs

* WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget

WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

- Petition

Change.org: Petition: Senator Nigel Scullion Minister for Indigenous Affairs
Restore IAS funding that SA Aboriginal communities need to stay open and sustainable
Michele Madigan Australia
https://www.change.org/p/mr-nigel-scullion-minister-for-indigenous-affai...
"How can SA Aboriginal Communities remain open with 90% slashed off the required funding? This is the question that needs asking of the Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion who has repeatedly said of late that he ‘has no intention of closing Aboriginal Communities.’ No organisation, no small business and certainly no Community can stay open when it loses most of its income. SA Aboriginal Communities have been successfully running essential and effective programs for years providing opportunities for training, support, activities for children and youth, employment for local people, and many other types of community programs designed and run for the Communities by the Communities. With no funds for programs and administration /governance, how can Communities remain open? ... Please sign and share this petition to restore funding directly to SA Aboriginal Communities."

- Media Release

National Congress of Australia's First Peoples: Congress Comments on the Budget
https://nationalcongress.com.au/congress-comments-on-the-budget/
11 May 15: "Expenditure in the Budget cycle on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is difficult to gauge, as related Budget information is dispersed throughout portfolios and difficult to overview, ... This complexity effectively prevents transparency and accountability and generates misinformation and controversy. ...
Previous Budget: Almost half a billion dollars was cut from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs in the last Budget (2014-15). ... a number of community-based organisations were rejected in their applications under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS), on the basis that there were insufficient funds available. ... the government clearly stated that advocacy funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples was to be cut, ...
Concerns with Budget Pre-announcements: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are not likely to benefit from the proposals recently announced by government. Superannuation changes are of minimal benefit because our retirement population is extremely small and underrepresented. Child care support will not benefit the large number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents and families who are out of work."

About Us - National Congress of Australia's First Peoples
http://nationalcongress.com.au/about-us/
"The Congress was incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee in April 2010. As a company the Congress is owned and controlled by its membership and independent of Government. ... "

- News

Australian Human Rights Commission: Close the Gap releases position paper on Budget 2015-16
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/stories/close-gap-releases-position-...
8 May 15: "The Close the Gap Campaign has released it's position paper on the Federal Budget 2015-16, calling on Government to restore cuts of up to $534.4 million over five years from the rationalisation of Indigenous Affairs programs, grants and activities administered by the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Health portfolios. Co-Chairs Mick Gooda and Kirstie Parker said Indigenous health programs must be quarantined from Budget cuts. "The nation expects greater action from governments to close the unacceptable health and life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians," Mr Gooda said. ... "

- Media Release

Congress: Indigenous funding must be quarantined from Budget cuts
National Congress of Australia's First Peoples (Congress)
https://nationalcongress.com.au/indigenous-funding-must-be-quarantined-f...
8 May 15: "The Close the Gap Campaign has called on the Australian Government to restore funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiatives and to quarantine programs from further cuts in the 2015–16 Budget. ...
"Evidence shows that health is critical to achieving better education and employment outcomes. An investment commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is an investment in the social and economic wellbeing of our communities." [Kirstie Parker said] ...
Ms Parker and Mr Gooda noted that the implementation of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan was capable of driving progress towards the best possible outcomes from investment in health and related services, and warned against reforms to the Medicare system that could have a disproportionate impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. They also called on Government to build the capacity of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS). ... "

- Analysis

Close the Gap Campaign Position paper on the Federal Budget 2015
IAHA: http://iaha.com.au/close-the-gap-campaign-steering-committee-position-pa...
NACCHO: http://nacchocommunique.com/2015/05/11/naccho-2015-federal-budget-update...
NACCHO: https://nacchocommunique.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/2015-federal-budget...
AHRC: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/2015%20CTG%20Federal%...
8 May 15: "Budget priorities: The Close the Gap Campaign believes that the Federal Budget 2015-16 should quarantine the Close the Gap funding against any further reductions and contain the following:
1. Address the measures creating a potential negative impact on Closing the Gap from the Federal Budget 2014-15 including:
Restore the Close the Gap funding to previous levels ...
Tackling Indigenous Smoking programme ...
National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee ...
The creation of the Indigenous Australians’ Health Programme ...
Mainstream measures likely to have a disproportionate impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ...
2. Implementation of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan ...
3. Building the capability of the ACCHS sector ...
4. Funding national and jurisdictional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations ...
5. Agreements with the states and territories ...
6. The Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) ...
7. Remote communities ...
8. Census ...
9. Review of contracting mechanisms ...
10. National Disability Insurance Scheme ...
11. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy ...
Appendix 1: Executive Summary of the Close the Gap Campaign’s Progress and priorities report 2015 ...
The Close the Gap Campaign Steering Committee recommends: ... "

- Background

AHRC: Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Campaign
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-isl...
8 May 15: "The poorer health of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples when compared to the non-Indigenous population is no secret - and something can be done about it. Since 2006, Australia's peak Indigenous and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations have worked together to achieve health and life expectation equality for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is known as the Close the Gap Campaign. The campaign's goal is to close the health and life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation. ... "

- News

NACCHO 2015 Budget News: Can we expect more anxiety, and widespread concern at the potential impact of change?
NACCHO: http://nacchocommunique.com/2015/05/12/naccho-2015-budget-news-can-we-ex...
The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/08/after-a-year-of-rup...
12 May 15: " ... With the federal budget upon us, and National reconciliation week just around the corner, it’s worth taking stock of the space Indigenous affairs currently has in the life of the nation and what that means for non-Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner Mick Gooda, in his 2014 social justice report, referred to the deep funding cuts and uncertainty about government plans as creating one of the largest scale upheavals in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. Such upheaval is always likely to be met with anxiety, and widespread concern at the potential impact of the change. ... " Larissa Behrendt and Andrew Meehan

- Submission

NACCHO Aboriginal Health 2015-16 Budget Submission
http://nacchocommunique.com/2015/04/21/naccho-aboriginal-health-2015-16-...
21 Apr 15: "The primary health care sector that delivers the best results for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People is the least funded. Funding for ACCHSs is unrelated to population size or need, is not indexed for inflation or service demand and is not distributed equitably within and between the States and Territories. NACCHO advocates for a change in the way healthcare funding is allocated, which re-distributes an appropriate share of mainstream health funds to ACCHSs, taking into consideration expected population growth, indexation and health need." Mathew Cooke NACCHO Chair

About Us: What is NACCHO?
http://nacchocommunique.com/about/
"The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) is the national peak Aboriginal health body representing Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services throughout Australia. An Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) or an Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) is a primary health care service initiated and operated by the local Aboriginal community to deliver holistic, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate health care to the community which controls it (through a locally elected Board of Management). ... "

- Video

SBS News: Backgrounder: How the 2014 budget affected Indigenous affairs
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/05/11/backgrounder-how-2014-budg...
12 May 15: "NITV News has compiled an overview of how Australian Indigenous affairs were impacted by the 2014 Federal Budget. ... Last year's budget came as a complete shock to many Indigenous Australians. For weeks leading up to the announcement, the government had signalled that too much money was being wasted on red-tape in Indigenous Affairs. The scale of the cuts on budget night was massive, with $534 million taken out of the Indigenous Affairs portfolio in what the government called a "rationalisation." It unveiled a new funding model for Indigenous organisations - the Indigenous Advancement Strategy ... " By Myles Morgan; Source: NITV News

- Background

WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-aboriginal-peoples-a...
(last updated: 23 April 2015)

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)