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Aboriginal deaths in custody - Royal Commission (Hon. E.F. Johnston, QC) - Reports - Regional report of inquiry into - Underlying issues in Western Australia (Commissioner P.L. Dodson) - Volume 2

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ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY

REGIONAL REPORT

OF INQUIRY INTO

UNDERLYING ISSUES IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

VOLUME 2

Commonwealth, Western Australia

ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY

REGIONAL REPORT

OF INQUIRY INTO

UNDERLYING ISSUES IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

VOLUME 2

BY

COMMISSIONER P.L. DODSON

Australian Government Publishing Service Canberra

©Commonwealth of Australia 1991 ISBN (Volume 2) 0 644 14180 8 ISBN (the set) 0 644 14169 7

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Australian Government Publishing Service. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, AGPS Press, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601.

Printed in Australia by P. J. GRILLS, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra

11.1 Brief history of Aboriginal labour

Historically, Aborigines have suffered legislative restrictions and discrimination in every phase of employment, from the kind of work they could lawfully undertake, to wages, accommodation and workers compensation. Unions have offered little or no support to black workers, and employers have been aided by court decisions based on racist stereotypes. Legislation enshrined unconscionable employment practices by government and private employers alike ... 'blood' or 'colour' alone were the criteria by which discrimination at the workface was practised and maintained [McCorquodale, 1985:3].

As observed in earlier chapters and sections, one of the processes of devaluing

Aboriginality, was the externalisation of many aspects of social control among

Aboriginal people and groups. Sanctions and laws enforcing social propriety

and entrenching a commitment to social usefulness, were deliberately

undermined. This form of social usefulness could also be referred to as the

'work ethic'. What has become increasingly apparent is that while the labour of

Aboriginal men and women provided the means of many pastoral, agricultural

and marine industries today, recognition of that labour fell short of any form of

economic and social recompense. As times moved ahead and new political and

economic options have been pursued, Aboriginal people's future or participation

has been primarily left aside, or marginalised.

11.1.1 From rags and rations, to dole money and inactivity

In Chapter 2, it was stated that the only way the relationship between Aboriginal

and non-Aboriginal people, with regard to labour, can be discussed is as that of

'master/servant'. This relationship was one, established during the latter part of

the previous century and the early part of this century, where the colonial powers

exploited Aboriginal labour for their own purposes of expansion. At the tum of

the century, Aborigines were employed as shepherds, stockmen and women,

farm hands, divers and domestics. In return for their labour, Aborigines

primarily received payment in food and clothing. While some people remained

resident on pastoral and agricultural properties, others combined seasonal work

521

for the pastoralists with traditional means of subsistence. They were able to

retain access to bush food and medicine, because many of the properties (at that

time) remained uncleared.

Given the material considered above, and throughout Chapter 4, what is most

striking is that the conditions with regard to Aboriginal people and work are

significant in view of those who died in custody. That is, in Chapter 4, when

discussing the people whose lives are under direct consideration by the

RCIADIC, it was stated that, 'at the time of their last custody, not one of the

deceased had completed their secondary education ... [and] ... only five were

employed at the time of their last arrest' (p.81). It needs to be further stated that

two of those who were considered 'employed' were from Community

Development Employment Programme (CDEP) communities (see Section 11.1.4

for discussion of CDEP). Additionally, it was noted in Chapter 2, that a

Community Based Corrections officer, who gave evidence to my Commission,

advised that Aboriginal prisoners, when asked to provide information about their

employment history, nearly always said they were 'just a labourer'. He went on

to say that the answer suggested to him that they were saying, 'I am just a

nobody' (p.82). Views such as these- 'I am just a nobody'- reflect not only the

Aboriginal perspective in relation to non-Aboriginal people and their perceptions

when someone is considered 'just a labourer', or unemployed as the case so

often is, but comments such as these also deny the fact that Aboriginal people

made substantial contributions in the development of this country, often as

'slaves' to their 'masters'. This point is rarely acknowledged by non-Aboriginal

people. The following account graphically illustrates my meaning here:

Now in those days [the 1940s and 1950s], to our experience there was no such thing as money. We didn't see any money at all in the old days. All that the stockmen got as pay was perhaps two shirts and two pairs of trousers a year, while they were working. Boots, hat, canvas swag, and a couple of blankets were supplied too. That's about all. No money! The swags would usually last for two or three years. Anyone who owned a swag used to share it with those who didn't ... The government used to give the station owners or managers some sort of permit to work blackfellas such as myself and all the others here. The

522

permit gave them the status of a 'protector'. It gave them the same authority as the policemen, who were also protectors. If there was any trouble with the blackfellas, then the police used to sort it out. But, because he was the permit holder and as such a protector, the station manager could do pretty much as he liked

[Lawford in Marshall, 1988:15].

The permit system, also referred to in Chapter 2, was, in so many ways, to

continue the unequal aspects of Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations and work.

This was partly because the system reflected the alliance between the vested

interests of the colonisers (e .g. protectors, pastoralists, police) against

Aboriginal people. The system also served to establish the 'master/servant'

relationship and in so doing set a precedent to disallow future governments to

pay Aboriginal people 'a fair day's wage for a fair day's work'. In fact there

was not, as noted earlier, any form of equitable legislation in this regard until

1968 and introduction of the Federal Pastoral Industry Award. The permit

system was to stay largely in place in this State until the introduction of the

Award.

The influx of gold, the development of the wheat industry, railway construction,

and the pastoral and marine industries, were all ways whereby the colonial

government saw a means of sustaining economic growth, and of providing

future employment. While the pastoral areas of Western Australia were

traditionally in the northern and eastern parts of the State, it is essential to

observe that the south-west should also be considered in this regard. As

Haebich (1984) and Hodson (1989) point out, Aboriginal people in the south­

west were among those who were granted land to work for themselves.

However by 1914 almost all of their grants had been cancelled. Most of the land

occupied by Aboriginal farmers was granted under a special provision first

introduced in 1887 (under a piece of legislation termed 'Land Regulations').

However, that land could be resumed at any time by the colonial government.

Hodson (1989:79) states that, unlike non-Aboriginal people, the Aboriginal

farmers 'had no title against which to borrow the finance needed to carry out the

improvements required by the terms of occupancy. Their only option was to

523

hire themselves out as seasonal and contract workers, but since they also had to

support their families, they were able to accumulate very little capital'. The

outcome of this measure was that without assistance from the 'Aborigines

Department' (which was not forthcoming) Aboriginal people were unable to

meet the terms of their occupancy and therefore had their blocks resumed by

government authorities.

What is apparent from the preceding account are several points which can be

clearly put: Aboriginal labour was a mainstay in the development of this State;

the exploitation of that labour has never been fully recognised or compensated

for; Aboriginal people were forced into a 'master/servant' relationship by using

their own labour while development of their own resources was denied; with the

introduction of the Federal Pastoral Industry Award and increased mechanisation

into industries where Aboriginal labour had once been a solid contributor,

Aboriginal people were cast aside; in the present climate they are denied access to

employment owing to issues such as racism, lack of culturally appropriate

industries, inadequate training, and ineffective government policies. Today,

they are the most unemployed group of people in this country. The following

material explores some of the matters further.

11.1.2 Current responsibilities and practices of private and public sector interests

Figures from the 1986 Census indicate that at that time 3,804 Aboriginal people,

who were eligible for employment in this State, were unemployed. This figure

indicates that around 39% of the Aboriginal population are denied employment,

compared to the State average of 9.4% . While this is a State-wide estimate, in

areas where there have been specific studies undertaken, the seriousness of the

situation can be more particularly appreciated. For example, in Fitzroy Crossing

in 1986 it was found that only 5.7% (51 persons out of 882) of the total potential

workforce had regular full-time employment (Arthur, W.S., 1986).

524

In 1987 the Federal Government launched its Aboriginal Employment

Development Policy (AEDP). This policy was aimed at incorporating a series of

specific measures and programmes which were theoretically directed toward

'economic independence' for Aboriginal people by the year 2000. These policies

were tied into the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) at

a Federal level, and the Departtnent of Employment and Training (DET) at a State

level. These departments, and the role they play in relation to their ability to

empower Aboriginal people, 'are further referred to throughout this report.

The Aboriginal Employment Action Programme (AEA) is the private sector

component of this policy, aimed, according to policy guidelines, at increasing the

numbers and status of Aboriginal people employed with national companies, on

the basis of equity and merit. The three major industry bodies - the Australian

Council of Trade Unions (ACfU), the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and

the Confederation of Australian Industry (CAl) were all involved in the

development of the programme. Notably, an Aboriginal component was not.

The degree to which Aboriginal people have been excluded from the labour

market cannot be underestimated.

11.1.2.1 Regional economic development

Of central importance to my discussion in relation to exclusion from the labour

market, is the argument that the specific concerns of Aboriginal people cannot be

separated from the concerns of regional development (cf. Howitt, 1990; Crough

et al, 1989; Howitt et al, 1990). Essentially, I am of the view that Aboriginal

participation in regional economic development is fundamental to achieving

locally sustainable economies in rural and remote Australia, not an optional extra

to be considered as a welfare issue once regional plans are in place. Aboriginal

people are an integral component of regional economies. This could be said for

this State, and, indeed, for the entire country.

525

In particular, I am informed in this matter by research findings that have been

put before me, as well as research ·conducted for my Commission, by

Dr Richard Howitt (Criminology Research Paper 5, 1990). While many of Dr

Howitt's comments directly relate to the issue of Aboriginal people and mining

in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia, a number of the points he

addresses are relevant to the whole issue of economic development and

employment.

Essentially, I wish to put forward four basic issues which affect Aboriginal

participation in local economic development: local labour marlcet issues, such as

training, employment conditions, skill requirements, itinerancy and so on;

racism, particularly the structures of racism which affect Aboriginal participation

in economic, political and social activity; education, and the continued failure of

a crucial area of government policy to achieve basic goals; the region's narrow

economic base, and the virtual exclusion of Aboriginal people from participation

in it. Most of these matters are also considered elsewhere in my report (e.g. in

Chapter 12 on Education).

In raising these issues so explicitly I want to argue, in keeping with Howitt

(1990) as follows:

1. It is possible to identify the essential structural mechanisms which have disempowered many Aboriginal people and continue to marginalise them from their economic goals.

2. The existing policies and practices of the Aboriginal affairs 'industry' is as much a part of the problem as the policies and practices of private sector employers, and cannot be defended. They are certainly not contributing to ostensible goals such as self-determination and economic independence from welfarism.

3. Arguments for compensation, land rights and special programs are important, but we cannot, nor do we have to rely on policy changes to begin pursuing local changes. It is possible, and essential, for Aboriginal interests themselves to intemalise the processes of empowerment and create changes, rather than wait for changes to create justice.

526

4. Within the existing structures of the mining industry, the range of Aboriginal initiatives and government programs, there are opportunities for local diversification of the region's economic base in ways which encourage participation of Aboriginal interests in the creation of new wealth, and the independent pursuit of Aboriginal goals.

5. Aboriginal economic development strategies do not have to 'isolate themselves from the [diverse] cultural, social, political and personal goals of Aboriginal people. It is essential that the framework used to analyse and act upon local

opportunities and constraints recognises that empowerment essentially involves the simultaneous pursuit of all these concerns.

Initially, I tum to local labour market concerns and Aboriginal people. The data

presented throughout this report demonstrates that Aboriginal people have been

excluded from key sectors of the local labour market.

As Howitt notes (1990:83) it is worth observing that none of the public sector

departments involved in Aboriginal employment, development and training were

able to provide to him adequate data on the concerns of Aboriginal employment

and training. This is certainly reflected in the non-existence of any viable

strategies to address priority areas in local labour market reform. Such neglect

shows just how isolated from the 'main game' the Aboriginal affairs industry is,

and it reflects some ambivalence of Aboriginal affairs policies and practices to the

notion of Aboriginal economic issues rather than Aboriginal welfare issues. One

could be forced to conclude that the 'Aboriginal industry' might be more

interested in reproducing the need for welfare than engaging in empowerment

which will reduce welfare concerns to a reasonable component of the portfolio,

as it is in the broader society.

In particular the restructuring of the mining workforce, involving a range of

processes including multiskilling, decreased unionisation, increased levels of

contract labour and higher levels of female employment, has generally decreased

rather than increased the opportunities for direct Aboriginal employment. In this

sense, the restructuring has created yet another mechanism by which the current

527

generation of Aboriginal people are being effectively excluded from the

workforce. In the wider labour market, the need to equip workers and

unemployed people for participation in changing labour markets has been

recognised. The introduction of the industry training levy, the processes of

award restructuring and various reviews of employment, education and training,

have all been at least partly directed at this effort. Where employers'

restructuring of workplaces or work practices leads to redundancies, there has

generally been a social expectation and even requirement for employers to meet at

least some of the costs of retraining. Yet where a broader scale of restructuring,

restructuring at the regional and industry scale, intersects with the local

production of 'social' redundancies, 'nobody' is responsible. The private sector,

while largely cynical of the role of government intervention in the labour market,

nevertheless expects that responsibility for dealing with 'social' redundancies,

such as experienced by Aboriginal people in the Goldfields, will be accepted by

government. The public sector generally abdicates responsibility by pointing to

performance indicators and existing caseloads, as if to say, 'Well, what more can

we do?'. Many Aboriginal people, used to extemalising many crucial aspects of

decision-making and social control have found it difficult to effectively take

initiatives in the Eastern Goldfields, and have waited for 'someone else' to do

something (see also Howitt, 1990:85).

11.1.2.2 Racism and work

Findings contained in the report presented to me by the Aboriginal Issues Unit

(1990:21) stress that: 'Racial prejudice by employers, both Government and

private, was regarded as the primary cause of Aboriginal unemployment. It was

suggested that in country areas many employers were descended from pioneering

families and had inherited their racist attitudes. Because of their status in the

community they easily influenced newcomers to think the same. Jobs tended to

be given to white people either within the community or from elsewhere'.

528

In keeping with comments such as that made available to me by members of the

AIU and through conference material (e.g. RCIADIC Gnowangerup Transcript,

1990; RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton, 1990), it became apparent that the

structures of racism towards Aboriginal people are endemic in Australian society

generally (see also Howitt 1990:85). Throughout this report, I have attempted to

consider aspects of racism and its ability to disempower Aboriginal people.

According to Howitt's (ibid) findings in the workplace, racism has the effect of

marginalising and isolating Aboriginal workers from the cameraderie and

solidarity of the workplace. Where it is broken down, people begin to feel

comfortable and able to perform. Such barriers are also reflected in the wider

society, where, as noted earlier, few non-Aboriginal people not working in the

'Aboriginal industry' experience social interaction with Aboriginals on an •

everyday friendship basis. It is often the case that itinerant workers have had

little previous direct experience with Aboriginal people, and that long-term

residents have views coloured by negative experiences. It is this sort of nexus

that needs to be broken. The community structures within Aboriginal and

non-Aboriginal groups need to develop opportunities to address these concerns.

Again, one is drawn back to the centrality of education and the failures of

existing policies in the current structures to meet the needs of Aboriginal people,

and to the practicalities of the processes of challenging them.

11.1.2.3 Education and work

Education is not limited to the opportunities given to school children. It is

recognised that continuing education of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal

people is central to addressing marginalisation. On the one hand, the need for

strategically relevant programmes of skills development aimed at improving

Aboriginal direct and indirect employment outcomes, throughout the economy, is

needed. To overcome the legacy of previous decades of racism, neglect,

inappropriate poUcies, and entrenched patterns of inequity, Aboriginal people

need opportunities to access a range of skills, knowledge, values and

understandings. This concern should not be restricted to the specific skills of

529

particular occupations, but should address the broader issues of employment

such as self-confidence and management skills. However, equipping Aboriginal

people with the required skills to participate will not, on its own, achieve

equality.

11.1.2.4 An economic base

It is clear that Aboriginal people do not have available to them a sound economic

base: this is denied through dispossession; lack of compensation in relation to

land, labour, royalties, children; denial of access to employment opportunities;

and cultural and regional marginalisation and exclusion. Material contained in

Chapters 6 and 7 also informs this point. The vulnerability of Aboriginal people

who are without any form of equity, specifically affects those interests whose

future is tied into particular regions. To date, according to research provided to

me by Howitt (1990:88), few proposals to diversify the local economic base have

incorporated local Aboriginal groups in the planning and development process. It

is, therefore, essential to highlight some of the suggestions of Aboriginal groups

themselves for developing a diversified base for Aboriginal participation in local

economic development.

11.1.2.5 Aboriginal ideas for work

One set of suggestions involves use of secure land tenure over pastoral areas as a

base for training and production in the pastoral sector. In some cases, this has

also been linked to development of alcohol rehabilitation facilities and a broader

educational alternative for young Aboriginal people. This approach to economic

development integrates not only financial concerns, but also concerns of health,

education, cultural maintenance, and development of an independent capital base.

Another set of suggestions involves development of services to mining, including

contracting for small scale earthworks, land rehabilitation and labouring, etc. The

opportunities related to development of seed collection, small scale rehabilitation

530

earthworks and general service of the industry's rehabilitation needs has been

identified in this report as a major area for developing Aboriginal economic

development. It has been suggested here that development of a number oflocally

based enterprises in mining centres (such as Port Hedland, the East Kimberley,

Kalgoorlie, Leonora), in association with a resource agency based technical

service group, is worthy of detailed consideration as an area for immediate action.

A further set of suggestions involves development of a range of specifically

Aboriginal industries, including emu farming, value-added production in arts and

crafts, including integrated production of sandalwood artifacts, and a broadly­

defined cultural industry, including linking these activities to the tourist industry.

In the Goldfields region, the Kurrawang Emu Farm represents the most

advanced of these proposals, and is clearly moving towards a successful,

independent operation. As noted earlier, there is a need for consideration to be

given to support for specific economic development programmes in the arts and

crafts and tourism area, including artists in residence in settlements wishing to

develop this area, and provision of requisite infrastrucuture and facilities.

Aboriginal involvement in a range of retailing, small scale manufacturing and

other small businesses would service not only the Aboriginal population, but

would have the effect of bringing some of the wealth circulating in the wider

community into the Aboriginal sphere. In the case of Leonora Aboriginal

Movement, the Leonora Supermarket, purchased from funds provided under the

Harbour Lights Agreement, represents a significant move in this direction,

although earlier problems with management, and the need to incorporate training

for Aboriginal employment at all levels in the operation remain to be addressed in

that case (cf. Howitt, 1990:89).

A range of opportunities, involving for example Aboriginal management of

nature reserves and national parks, rangelands rehabilitation, and decentralised

settlement of Aboriginal lands as a base for cultural production, education and

land management, have only just begun to emerge for consideration. This again

531

raises the importance of government action to address the concerns of Aboriginal

people to secure recognition of their claims for land and compensation.

Perhaps a rethink of the 'trial and error' philosophy is needed. This would need

support from all levels of Government. That is, in any economic area, there is

going to be failed ventures. Mining companies tend to accept that one out of

every thousand exploration bids fails to produce a mine. The public sector needs

to reflect on why and how the mining industry takes that risk. A thoughtful

approach to this level of innovation, may have consequences for unemployment

budgets that entail DSS entitlements and CDEP (see 11.1.4 ). Any further

reviews by the Department of Education and Training (DET), and the Department

of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) should, in my Commission's

view, give these matters serious consideration.

11.1.2.6 A case study: Fitting the Eastern Goldfields into a broader context

Howitt's (1990) work makes available a detailed study in relation to the issues

mentioned above. I provide further material from his findings, and suggest that

matters for people from the Goldfields could be extrapolated to Aboriginal people

elsewhere in this State. The following material should be read in conjunction

with Chapter 15 on mining, and the matter of mining should be seen as a feature

peculiar to the region.

Howitt's report provides the first broad review of the relationship between

Aboriginal and mining interests in the Eastern Goldfields. It has revealed a

complex and difficult situation. Unlike other areas where this relationship has

been examined in detail, the Eastern Goldfields is not characterised by a small

number of relatively large and recent mines affecting a relatively small number of

Aboriginal communities. Instead, the region has a continuing tradition of mining

stretching back almost one hundred years, with many mines and mining areas

having gone through several cycles of development. Not only is the mining

532

sector characterised by a great diversity, but so is the Aboriginal population.

Local Aboriginal interests include groups committed to the maintenance of

traditional Law, strong Christian fundamentalist groups, groups with links to

mining, pastoralism and other industrial activity, and many others. This

diversity parallels the breadth of Aboriginal experience across the entire

continent. Recognition of this diversity is fundamental to any equitable strategies

for pursuing Aboriginal economic development in the region.

To date, the interests of some groups within the Aboriginal sector have been

marginalised because they have not been well-represented within the existing

Aboriginal politics. This is changing, but the rigidity of existing structures, and

the resistance of vested interests creates barriers to successfully empowering

such groups towards economic autonomy. While the Eastern Goldfields is

unique in terms of the specifics of the relationship between Aboriginal and

mining interests, it holds many valuable insights relevant to a broader context of

Aboriginal economic development.

11.1.2.7 Economic development and compensation

What is of concern to my Commission is that the processes of dipossession

continue to be effectively renewed with each generation. Various chapters

throughout my report reinforce this view (see e.g. Chapters 4 and 10). The

failure of the Western Australian Parliament, in 1984, to provide legislative

recognition in relation to secure land tenure for Aboriginal people, as well as the

ongoing consequences of colonisation and the need for compensation, means that

each new generation of Aboriginal people inherits the foundations of continuing

exclusion. In the last twenty years, for example, the continuation of this process

has been calculated to have denied Aboriginal people in the Eastern Goldfields

access to capital for economic development in the order of $78.3 million

(Howitt, 1990). In this sense the process of colonisation has been entrenched in

Western Australia as an ongoing mechanism for Aboriginal marginalisation.

533

An issue in which the Eastern Goldfields holds lessons of considerable

importance to the wider context, is in recognising the diversity of Aboriginal

goals and interests. The nature and reasons for this diversity in the Eastern

Goldfields has been emphasised partly because it is an issue which has immense

practical implications in terms of developing realistic local economic development

strategies, but it is one which has been virtually excluded from the policy context

by the acceptance of naively idealised notions of Aboriginality. Chapter 6

considers this matter in some detail. Failure to accommodate the diversity of

Aboriginal experience and aspirations has also, I believe, been fundamental in the

transformation of Aboriginal economic development issues, economic justice

issues and regional political and cultural issues into welfare issues by large parts

of Australian society. Part of that transformation could be provided through the

support of the union movement.

11.1.3 Union interests

Australian Unions have gained their current structures, policies and status

through a number of socio-political, historical and economic events. One of the

most important of these was the Depression of 100 years ago and, particularly

after Federation in 1901, where a system was established which saw the

evolution of compulsory conciliation and arbitration. The fact that the system

focussed on employment, workers conditions and wages meant one thing as far

as the Aboriginal population was concerned: that they have been primarily left

outside the Union process in Australia.

There was some potential alteration to this in 1968, following the introduction of

the Federal Pastoral Industry Award (see Chapter 2) where Aboriginal people

who had previously functioned as a convenient pool of reserve labour that

pastoralists, graziers, and agriculturalists could draw on as economic and

seasonal conditions required, were deployed from station properties. Massive

destabilisation of the Aboriginal people occurred and the resultant marginalisation

534

of Aboriginal labour as paid workers. This was contributed to by the result of

technological and structural changes at local, regional and national levels.

However Union involvement has not been entirely missing, for instance the first

Aboriginal strike in Western Australia in 1947 (see e.g. McLeod, 1987; Stuart,

1959). In more recent times, several unions came out in support of Aboriginal

people during the Noonkanbah drama in 1980 (Berndt, 1982:233-253; Vincent,

1983:327-338; Hawke and Gallagher, 1989).

At present, there is minimal Aboriginal participation in the Union movement.

Realistically speaking, given the low employment levels of Aboriginal people in

this State and elsewhere, that is not surprising. However, unions can sometimes

be large and powerful institutions, vested with recognition by governments and

the legal system. Their potential involvement in striving to achieve improved

material conditions and equity, may be one way for Aboriginal people, in

conjunction with relevant local Aboriginal organisations, to provide a base for

improved conditions and political empowerment.

An example of the struggle to obtain union coverage for Aboriginal workers, is

the attempt by the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union (FMWU) to obtain

coverage for the employees of non-Government Aboriginal agencies. In 1984

the Union applied, after consultation with Aboriginal groups, to the Industrial

Relations Commission (Application 1079) to alter its rules to enable coverage of

all workers employed by non-Government Aboriginal organisations. The

rationale behind this was to enable ready union coverage of all workers in those

settings. There was an awareness of the difficult circumstances, and less than

ideal conditions, which many employees found themselves in due to the poor

funding the organisations were forced to accepted from the funding agencies.

The Union recognised the unique characteristics of community based Aboriginal

organisations, and felt it was important to have uniform coverage within an

organisation rather than have the competitive forces of rival unions trying for

coverage within the one organisation.

535

The FMWU already had some involvement with Aboriginal employees via their

coverage of Aboriginal Health Worker's (AHWs) employed by the Community

and Child Health Services, and enrolled nurses under a separate award, at the

time of this application. Consequently, the Union had some understanding of the

issues faced by Aboriginal people in the workforce and, combined with a

commitment to social justice principles, wished to be participants in the process

of developing improved conditions for those employed in community based

organisations.

The application to the Industrial Commission was opposed by several unions

including the Federated Clerks Union, the Hospital Salaried Officers

Association, the Association of Drafting, Supervisory and Technical Employees

and the Royal Australian Nursing Federation. The Commission found that the

objections were of substance and rejected the application for coverage. The

FMWU lodged an appeal to the Industrial Appeals Court in 1985 (Appeal

No. 6), which was disallowed. Eventually the Aboriginal Medical Services

Employees' Award was accepted by the Commission and came into effect from

8 February 1988. This award gave the FMWU coverage for Field Officers,

Environmental Health Workers, Aboriginal Health Workers (with a five level

career structure), Enrolled Nurses, Gardeners, Cooks, Domestics, Drivers,

Storepersons, Alcohol Rehabilitation Assistants, and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Supervisors.

Other workers in the AHSs, such as reception and administration staff, are not

covered by the award and no other union has actively sought to represent the

interests of these workers. The interest in them expressed by other unions

during the initial application for coverage was more a territorial dispute between

rival unions rather than a dispute centred round the interests of the employees.

These employees still have no effective representation.

536

The other awards covered by the FMWU that are of relevance to employees of

community based organisations, include the HACC Award, various child care

industry awards, and the Aged and Disabled Persons Hostels Award, 1987. In

the government sector, the FMWU covers: Aboriginal Health Workers

employed by the Health Department who are covered by the Health Workers -Community and Child Health Services Award, 1989; awards for enrolled nurses,

teacher aides and Aboriginal teacher aides.

This discussion should not be seen from just an historical perspective. It is an

on-going issue. As discussed later in the section on health, the FMWU is

continuing to ensure that Western Australian employers provide Aboriginal

Health Workers with appropriate conditions and career paths as part of the award

restructuring process currently being negotiated. On 6 July 1990 the Australian

Industrial Relations Commission endorsed a new award, the Pitjantjatjara

Council Incorporated and Associated Organisations Interim A ward 1990. This is

a joint FMWU/Municipal Officers Association award and 'is designed to force

the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Commission (A TSIC) to release funds

based on the first Structural Efficiency Principle increase' (B. Daley, Assistant

General Secretary, Federal Council, FMWU, covering letter to the Award,

26 July 1990).

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), in response to its concern about the

exploitation of indigenous workers, adopted the Convention Concerning

Protection and Integration of Indigenous and other Tribal and Semi-Tribal

Populations in Independent Countries of 1957 (No. 107). This incorporated a

strong assimilationist position and consequently was the subject of growing

opposition which eventually lent to it being revised and the adoption by the ILO

of Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (No. 169), in June

1989. It should be noted that the dissatisfaction with the ILO 107 led, in 1982,

to the United Nations setting up the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples

(WGIP) under the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The WGIP is

drafting a declaration of the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples and takes

537

representations from indigenous peoples/nations. This contrasts with the ILO

which only has representation from employers, unions and the ILO.

Understandably, there is dissatisfaction that indigenous people did not have

direct representation in this process.

In order for the convention to be applicable in Australia it has to be ratified by the

Australian Federal Government. This process may take many years, though the

convention must be tabled in Federal Parliament by December 1990. Ratification

entails both State and Federal approval but does not require direct consultation

and ratification by Aboriginal people. Some of the difficulties with ILO 169, as a

revision of ILO 107, include: (1) its failure to remove assimilation completely

from the convention; (2) it concerns indigenous people but does not convey them

rights; (3) and rights that are referred to are collective and not individual; (4) it

fails to address the concerns of Aboriginal people regarding self-determination,

cultural integrity, land rights and discrimination.

In the next section I consider the Community Development Employment

Programme. This programme is a matter that was raised with me at a number of

conferences, primarily in the northern and eastern parts of the State. The

programme was also the focus of extensive research within my Commission.

11.1.4 Community Development Employment Programme

As noted throughout this Chapter, the matter of employment continues to be a

complex and contentious one. Given that the Community Development

Employment Programme (CDEP) affects so many Aboriginal people in this State,

and it falls within the parameters of being both complex and contentious, in the

following section I consider both the positive and negative aspects of this

programme. Initially, I turn to a discussion of some of the concerns my

Commission has had put before it in the way the programme is implemented and

administered. At the end of this Section, I consider how the programme could be

more productively applied to Aboriginal communities in particular settings.

538

The primary policy mechanism for achieving equity according to documentation

produced through ATSIC is Aboriginal Employment Development Policy

(AEDP). In discrete communities the programme mechanism is Community

Development Employment Programme (CDEP). In Western Australian there are

49 communities on CDEP, involving at least 4,000 Aboriginal people (ATSIC

response to RCIADIC Question 15). The reality of this programme is that

Aboriginal people are required to work for their unemployment entitlements. It is

also worth noting here that people on CDEP do not show up in employment

figures regularly released by the Commonwealth Employment Service as

'unemployed': Rather, they show up as 'employed' thus serving to mask the

serious nature of Aboriginal unemployment.

The basis of CDEP is the use of unemployment entitlements as wages for the

purpose of 'developing' a community. The aggregate of entitlements in any

given CDEP community is the total wage pool. There is an additional 20%

oncost factor for administration and equipment. However that 20% is not

supposed to be used as a wages top up. The crucial factor here, is that if the

hourly rate of pay is based on award rates and some people are able or inclined to

work more hours than the equivalent of their unemployment entitlement, then

there will be a shortfall, or someone will receive less than their basic entitlement.

It is with this concept that the unemployment entitlement suddenly becomes a

wage, and the confusion regarding this scheme starts. CDEP cannot provide a

full week's 'wage' for anyone on a community without depriving someone else

of their entitlement. The reason for this is that a community receives only the

sum of the total unemployment entitlement for the number of eligible people

living in the community. There are 'on cost support' monies, however these are

only to be used for administrative expenses and the purchase of equipment.

The following commentary is based on the ATSIC Manual for Community

Development Employment Programme and Aboriginal Enterprise Incentive

539

Scheme (AEIS) March 1990. The Manual is not well numbered, therefore

references are not always available and numbers vary.

Policy objectives

The objective of CDEP is to undertake community development activities where

there are no alternative employment prospects. If Aboriginal communities were

treated in the same manner as rural Australian towns, they would receive Grants

Commission funding based on equitable formulas, to provide essential services

for community operation. These would cover Municipal Utilities, Sport and

Recreation, Social Welfare Services and Administration, and the people

providing these services would be paid award wages. The reality is that this

municipal type funding is termed for Aboriginal communities in West Australia­

'Community Infrastructure Funding' which is allocated by ATSIC.

There is a statement in Appendix 11 on p.62 of the Manual that reads: 'CDEP

communities should be able to provide normal local government services and

have sufficient award positions funded for these, without needing to rely on

CDEP funding .. .'. This is not a reality for many communities, and like a

number of hard realities for Aboriginal communities it is often by-passed in the

consciousness of policy makers by saying that it 'should' occur.

The stated goals of CDEP

(i) Ongoing employment: This raises the question of how 'employment' is

defined. To most Australians it means a thirty seven hour week for Award

wages, doing constructive and useful work.

(ii) Improvement of communities' social, cultural and economic life: Specific

planning for this improvement requires people being aware of their

options, resources and rights.

540

(iii) Cater for specific interest groups: It is difficult to assess the extent to

which this occurs successfully. In a recent project evaluation fonn, the

only comment in relation to the project catering for women's issues was

'although funds may not be allocated to specific women's projects, women

are the direct beneficiaries of the project through wage payments'. Much

therefore depends on the primary motivation of participants and

administrators. If the prime purpose of the scheme is to pretend to provide

people with wages instead of individual unemployment entitlement

cheques, then it is not an issue. However, if the scheme is run according

to a carefuiiy devised development plan then the individual and special

interest projects are of considerable importance. In the Evaluation fonns

thus far sighted by this Commission there is no substantial indication of

specific interest groups' particular advancement.

(iv) Assist overall development goals: If communities had overaii plans and

goals then the above would be acceptable. However, the reality is that few

do so according to the CDEP Review of Funding and Administration

(Table 1, 1990).

(v) Participate in community management, administration and decision

making: This aspect requires the comprehensive training component that

appears to be totally lacking (Project Evaluation fonns Port Hedland,

Kalgoorlie ).

(vi) Development of skills towards commercially viable enterprises: To

achieve this requires again a training component, and a responsiveness to

initiatives as well as level of empathy, vision and practicality on the part of

government officials and Community Advisors.

The training component is usually funded by DEET. How DEET and ATSIC

and Aboriginal people in the community interact, is crucial to the effective

running of CDEP.

541

Strategies

'CDEP is to be utilised where there are adequate infrastructure and skills for

project management.' This first premise for the operation of CDEP already

poses an almost impossible stricture on its operation. There are few CDEP

communities in Western Australia whose members have all the necessary skills

for the administration of their own finances, essential services and employment

operations. Most communities are comprised of people for whom English is a

second language. They are dependent either on unskilled or on non-Aboriginal

administrators. The latter are often of good will and intention, but not always

adequately qualified or skilled.

The employment of these administrators is designated as the Council's

responsibility and often the procedures for employment are carried out

inconsistently. References are often not checked and judgements made on

superficial contact or because someone is considered 'a good bloke'. Very few

councillors have had any real training in staff selection or interview skills, and

there is no recognised or even incidental career structure in community

administration. The reality of working conditions in communities is often not

apparent or explained to applicants for such jobs.

There is also a substantial variation between the salaries and conditions for the

non-Aboriginal workers in a community and the locals on CDEP. The average

daily rate for administrators, teachers and health workers is in the vicinity of

$100 a day, whereas on CDEP the average weekly rate is $100.

There is little cohesion or compatability of administrative systems or sharing of

resources and experience between communities or organisations except by

occasional chance personal encounters. A prime example of this is the

introduction of computer systems to Resource Agencies and organisations.

A TSIC have IBM based systems. In one region of the State two of the primary

542

resource agencies in the area have installed computers based respectively on

UNIX and MACINTOSH. This means that data cannot be shared or accessed

without expert operators. This sort of issue is crucial for communities in remote

areas who have limited resources.

Owing to the lack of administrative skills, and in many communities a dearth of

people who have little more than primary level standard of literacy, it is not

always possible for community council members to adequately supervise

employees, because they are not aware of (i) the rules in relation to finance, and

(ii) the options in terms of management and accounting structures. Therefore,

although councils are formed, the reality is that the administrators continue to

hold the power because they understand the 'system'. A significant example of

this situation was presented to my Kalgoorlie conference in relation to the

employment processes for a community in that region:

CDEP monies are divided into two sections; money, and the other is money for employment. The paid jobs vary. Most of them have very little impact upon the community. They involve driving a tractor around the community. There are dangers and generalization because in fact that doesn't happen in all communities but it certainly happens in most. In terms of decision-making I attended Ngaanatjarra Council meeting where the administrator of the council put before the council the CV s of two people for a particular job and that job was a community nurse with special responsibility. Now he said that there had been a number of people applied for the job, however he had selected the CVs of two people. One was a nurse called Sister*** who had worked in the communities and everybody knew. And the second was a nurse from Victoria. The community made the decision to employ the nurse they knew. The field officer who was with me at the time thought that was

very strange because he had been speaking to Sister*** two or three weeks beforehand and she had told him that she had been employed by the council. Now this may be a cynical view but it is my view that effectively the council selected two ends of the spectrum. The Aboriginal people made a choice but the choice

they made was based on very limited information. Now I don't suggest that there is any sort of conspiracy there but I believe that is the way the council is operated [RCIADIC Transcript in confidence, 1990: 105 -1 07] .

543

When there is mismanagement on the part of the administration it is blamed on

the Council's lack of ability to supervise. It is then the Council's lack of skill

which is acknowledged. However, it appears that little is being done by the

responsible funding bodies to increase the Council's awareness of their rights

and responsibilities. A very clear example of this lack of accountability,

supervision and inconsistent administration is the allocation of $85,000 in the

1988-89 budget to the *** Community. The money was allocated under the

Aboriginal organisations training scheme. This money was specifically allocated

for the education and training of Council Members in the five major communities

near ***. The money was designated in the 1988 financial year, an

advertisement was placed in newspapers by the administrator of*** Community

in March 1990, calling for expressions of interest from consultants to do

Community Development Plans for the five places. Consultants from Perth,

who were expected to prepare their own terms of reference, were appointed in

July 1990. The original purpose of the funds i.e. the education of Councillors

appears to be sometimes forgotten or put aside. Discussion with Council

members and individuals in these communities reveals that few people appear to

have any idea why the consultants are there and what they are actually doing.

This situation therefore raises questions which have been difficult to find

adequate answers for, such as: (i) who is supervising the work of the

consultants; (ii) will further monies be allocated for the education of Council

members when this was the original purpose of this allocation; (iii) what will be

the use of any plans drawn up by the consultants if the council and community

members are not aware of what they are doing; (iv) if the money is wasted, who

is responsible; (v) who bears the consequences of any mismanagement; (vi) what

is A TSIC or DEETS role after the allocation of these training monies to monitor

their expenditure.

The issue of individual income security does not appear to be a consideration in

the operation of this scheme. It would also seem to be presumed by the policy

makers that Aboriginal people have no need of a constant secure income. This

may be because policy makers have some inaccurate notion of kinship systems

544

that will operate to ensure everyone is treated equally. Kinship systems as noted

earlier, are often reciprocal therefore support must be returned in some way.

Additionally, it is usually essential to have access to motor transport to go fishing

or hunting to supplement resources, and hard currency is required for the use of

motor vehicles.

As indicated above there is some confusion regarding this Scheme because the

funds being used are unemployment entitlements. The first premise in operating

a CDEP should be that the individuals concerned are fully aware that they are

giving up their right to their unemployment entitlement. There are obvious

communication and clarification problems that require better explanations of the

Scheme. The lack of individual contact is aptly illustrated by an examination of

the 'Participant Schedules'. One such schedule from a major Kimberley

Community an hour's drive from a major town, has 145 participants. In the

Date of Birth column there are eleven people listed as being born in 1900. Is it

possible that eleven ninety year old people are out working for unemployment

entitlements? And why are they not on a pension?

Further, seventy nine participants have birthdays on the first of July or the first

of January. Thirty three of these have the year of birth after 1970 (Participant

Schedule DSS, July 1990). This would appear to indicate that even those born

in the last twenty years have not had their births registered, or if they have there

is difficulty accessing the correct information. The continuation of the colonial

practice of assigning birthdays to the first of January or July has overtones of

racehorses or breeding stock. If birthdates are not correctly established how are

people able to access their entitlements in terms of benefits for children, and

aged pensions. Unless the individual participants are fully cognisant of the

realities of the scheme, it does not have a rational and equitable foundation.

545

Project instructions

The first sentence in this section states project instructions are deliberately

flexible, to allow communities and groups to operate CDEP projects in a manner

best suited to their needs and aspirations. This 'flexibility' is a misleading term

as it allows for ad hoc methods of operation, but restricts the use of the funds in

a true developmental sense (see comments in the section on Project Activities). It

does not appear possible to complement CDEP funds with funding from other

sources (e.g. enterprises and other Government programmes to provide a full

wage for more workers).

The content of the Manual appears confused in this regard concerning whether

the funds are a 'wage' or a 'benefit'. If the funds were proper wages money,

the scheme would allow for a combination of funds either from other

government agencies or from the proceeds of commercial activities. (If this

occurred people would be entitled to earn a full week's pa)" or at least the

equivalent of award wages.) However because they are considered wages then

the restraints of receiving benefits are imposed. The prime example of this is the

confusion over CDEP participants eligibility to receive Family Allowance

Supplement (FAS). FAS is an income supplement for low income earners. If

CDEP is to be considered as a wage there is no question about the recipients

being entitled to the FAS supplement. This does not however appear to be a

widely utilised subsidy in Western Australian CDEP communities. The 1989

Review of CDEP shows that from a survey of Participant Schedules and DSS

computer records for twelve of the 49 communities on CDEP in this State, there

are 253 married couples. Of these, 189 are receiving Family Allowance but only

75 are receiving FAS. It would therefore appear that the take up of FAS is one

of the 'flexible' aspects of the scheme that is dependant on the knowledge and

initiative of local ATSIC officers or community administrators for utilisation. On

a percentage basis across the country, Western Australia has the lowest take up

rate- 45% for the Family Allowance Supplement.

546

The next set of points in the Project Instructions (p.4) is that the Community

Council or funded organisation is responsible for :

(a) Selecting Work Activities:

Selection of work activities cannot occur if a community is not

conversant with a variety of possible options. If people are not

aware that in mainstream society, rubbish collection, social and

recreation services are funded through other channels. If the

options in terms of at least subsistence if not commercial

production of foodstuffs, are not explored and considered then

people are not in a position to plan, utilise existing resources and

make informed decisions.

(b) Developing Policy On Wages Structure:

Wages policies and structures are matters that non-Aboriginal

Australians take for granted, they are a facet of daily life. The

union movement is an everyday part of life for sectors of

mainstream society. As noted earlier, this is not so for most

Aboriginal communities. They have come from a 'station work

for rations' system, or 'mission handout' background. As

observed earlier when award wages were introduced into the

cattle industry, Aboriginal people were forcibly moved off the

stations they had helped to build. Newspapers, television and

even radio are innovations. Most people would only see a

newspaper in passing when they come into town. They are

therefore, not informed about news of strikes, pay claims, wage

rises and conciliation and arbitration procedures. The adage that

'knowledge is power' is particularly apt when applied to the

current situation of Aboriginal people in isolated communities.

Their access to knowledge of how the 'system' works is

extremely limited and often appears to have no relation to the

reality oflife on a community.

547

(c) Planning and administering work activities and keeping

appropriate records; and (d) Maintaining an accurate schedule of

participants and keeping the Regional Office informed of

changes.

The next part of the Programme Instructions state that 'Officers and communities

must make every effort to ensure that CDEP does not provide a means by which

Governments, departments or agencies reduce or fail to provide funds or

services for which they are responsible'. This historical statement cannot

possibly be enforced because people are not always aware of their rights or how

the system works, and they are not in a position to claim or take a stand with

funding agencies or government agencies. General evidence of this is found in

an examination of funding on a regional basis throughout the State. Where there

is a high uptake of CDEP funding the Community Infrastructure (CI) funding

decreases substantially. Conversely where there is little CDEP uptake the CI

funds appear to be greater (refer Chapter 7). Again this relates to the lack of

equity and formulas in the provision of services to communities and the lack of

information services. There follows in this same section a virtual repeat of a

statement from the strategic goals relating to the Regional Office of ATSIC,

ensuring that communities seeking CDEP funding have the 'administrative and

supervisory infrastructure and skills to manage CDEP projects'.

The Annual Reviews thus far sighted by this Commission present a discouraging

picture of their usefulness. In the P3 review form of one community the

reporting officer comments:

***has been on CDEP since its inception (5 years) but has yet to really run it efficiently. There is still much work to be done in areas of: basic understanding of CDEP by Council and participants alike ...

In Section 8(b) of the same P3 form, when reporting on the quality of

administrative and supervisory resources, one of the problems which was

548

identified during the previous year (a problem still in existence) was the 'lack of

individual time sheets and pay sheets'. These sheets, often determined by the

Chairman and another Council member, sometimes revealed that various people

were 'forgotten'. It is unlikely that non-Aboriginal people or organisations

would tolerate this situation.

Another observation that is repeated several times in the same P3 fonn is that

there was no funding or input from DEET in tenns of training for that twelve

month (1988-89) period. In section 9 of this same report the writer states that

DEET 'will be approached' to fund a mobile trainer. The sentence implies that

there is no security in terms of a positive response from DEET. The point to be

emphasised again is that although this community has been on the CDEP for five

years it is deemed still not to have a good basic understanding of the scheme. If

the resources for training are not being provided, there does not appear to be

much chance of an improvement in the situation.

Operational guidelines

The programme description prefacing this section states ' ... Because a CDEP

creates employment, it has the effect of removing eligibility for unemployment

benefits'. Therefore if an individual on a community or CDEP does not want to

participate in the scheme, but does require income maintenance in the fonn of an

unemployment entitlement, it is necessary for that person to go and live

elsewhere. Reasons for not wanting to participate in the scheme are not

necessarily, in fact very rarely, related to a persons inclination to work; indeed

the more industrially sophisticated a person is, the less likely he/she would be to

accept the inequitable and insecure conditions of CDEP.

An examination of participant schedules reveals that the weekly amounts paid are

invariably less than the basic entitlement. As noted earlier there is the problem in

some places of no time sheets and people being 'forgotten'. In some areas there

is not enough work and the allocation of work can depend on an individual's

549

relationship with the supervisor. In some places there are people employed on

full wages to do a specific job and others are expected to perform the same tasks

for CDEP 'wages'. This situation appears to occur frequently in schools and

clinics. It is in this area that people's level of ignorance in relation to industrial

matters is apparent. However industrial action as a solution on the part of an

Aboriginal community has no muscle. Who is really going to care if a group of

Aboriginal CDEP workers go on strike?

Programme guidelines

The introduction again stresses the 'flexibility' of the Scheme, and the emphasis

on community participation and decision making. It does not take cognisance of

people's lack of understanding of their options. It is stated that the CDEP

scheme does not alter an individual's right to apply for and, where entitled,

receive unemployment benefits (p.6). The key word here is 'where entitled',

given that on the previous page (p.5), it states: ... Because a CDEP creates

employment, it has the effect of removing eligibility for unemployment benefits.

Therefore if individuals are unhappy with the operation of the scheme and do not

have the political power or facility with the English language to express their

concerns, they have to leave their home and live elsewhere or simply put up with

the situation.

As noted earlier, in Western Australia there are 49 communities on CDEP.

Twenty seven of these have participant numbers between one and six hundred

people. The 1989 review of CDEP found that only two of the forty nine

communities had completed a community plan. These two communities have

participant rates respectively of 17 and 27. For the community with the

participant rate of 17, 1989 was their first year on CDEP. For the other it was

their second year of participation. Six communities indicated they were in the

process of 'planning' a 'Community Plan'. In the other thirty four communities

there was no reference to such a plan. Thirteen of the communities where there

550

was no plan have been on CDEP for more than five years. Seven of these

communities have been on CDEP for more than nine years.

On page 8 of the Manual, under 'project activities', there is a reference to CDEP

resources being used to assist with income generating activities providing that

'profits created ... are only used ... to top up the wages of the activities of CDEP

employees or as payments to increase incentive'. This is the only reference in

the document to the possibility of 'topping up' wages, even though it would

appear to be the most practical way of developing projects that would, in the long

term, ensure social justice, provide industrial equity, contribute to the

development of a stable economic base and provide a just and appropriate

incentive for people to work.

The last part of the Programme Activities section indicates that the primary

responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander enterprises rests with

ATSIC and DEET. These two government departments appear to have

significant control of primary Aboriginal funding. Effective coordination of the

various programmes and development activities should not therefore be too

difficult to achieve.

The last paragraph indicates that when a 'work programme' is designed it should

fit into the immediate and long term goals of the 'Community Development

plan'. As mentioned above, only two very small communiti es out of forty five

in Western Australia have Community Development Plans.

The next section deals with pay rates, where it is observed that work must be

paid at award rates or equivalent. It does not mention the number of hours to be

worked. Generally speaking the minimum adult hourly rate is in the vicinity of

$8 per hour. The current base benefit rate is $141.40 per week. Therefore if

there is to be any equity of income in a community, people would only be

required to work for seventeen hours a week or three hours a day. This is

however a generous estimate because of the significant numbers of participants

551

under the age of twenty one and seventeen. For these age groups the base level

of benefit decreases rapidly. It is here again that the 'flexibility' of the scheme

comes to the fore in generating confusion. Whilst the manual says that work

should be paid at an award rate, an officer of DSS indicated that the converse

was the practice, viz, that people are paid at their age and status entitlement rate.

The Participant schedules sighted by this Commission, show that a married

couple at 3 July 1990 were entitled to $247.40 per week. A single person over

twenty one was entitled to $161.11 per week. Twenty one year olds were

entitled to $137 per week. Nineteen/twenty year old participants were entitled to

$112.15 and seventeen year olds to $64.60. If work is paid for at an hourly

rate, and the rates are set according to age, then for a twenty hour week, a

seventeen year old would be paid $3.23 per hour and a married man $12.37 per

hour. If award wages are paid equally across age groups a married man with

dependants would have to work four times as many hours as the single

seventeen year to attain his basic unemployment entitlement. If more hours are

worked by individuals whose entitlements are less, then some people are

receiving considerably less than their entitlement under unemployment

entitlements. In order to attempt to clarify this situation the Department of Social

Security in Broome was approached. The response is detailed as follows:

[a] married man is paid at the married mans rate i.e. higher hourly rate. If the wife does work her husband is still paid at the married rate and her earnings are extra. Ques: how does that work out in terms of equity for other workers given the total pool of money is the aggregate of entitlements--isn't someone likely to miss out? Resp: all live in extended family, no one is really depriving anyone else, it's up to the bookkeeper to see everyone is treated fairly [Broome DSS officer, 25 July 1990].

The view that Aboriginal people live in an extended family, and thus should all

support each other despite the inappropriateness of government policies and

administrations is difficult to comprehend. A some what different picture was

presented by Mrs H.E. Thomas in Kalgoorlie:

552

You see a lot of them over there at Nanny Goat Hill, most of them wouldn't get any income because a lot of them have been on that - what do you call it? The CDP or something - out at Coonana. Then when they come into town here they sort of hang around but they're still sort of on the roll out there. They can't get unemployment here until they have notified Coonana that they're finished; they don't want to be out there any more. Then they can apply for unemployment. Because of the waiting time at Social Security - going in there waiting, standing in a queue and

that they get bored very quickly and they want that attention straight away, to do their business and get out. So a lot of them don't do that and a lot of them out there will be walking around with no money in their pocket just depending on the ones that do get an income. And the feed they get - they go in and rob the Kentucky Fried bins, that's where they get thei r supper from

[RCIADIC O'Dea Commission Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:185].

In part (c) of the manual (p.lO), the development of clear policies in relation to

employment practices is advocated. Here there is the first reference to 'income

maintenance'. The term is mentioned again on p.11 in a sentence describing a

community's obligations in terms of payment. Comments such as these are

worthy of substantial assessment in the context of social justice, the purpose of

the DSS and the concept of income maintenance available to the wider society.

The ultra 'flexible' regulations detailed in this manual provide and, in effect,

often encourage mechanisms to deprive Aboriginal people of the subsistence

level of income made available to all Australians who are unable to find

employment. An Aboriginal field officer summarises the situation:

'the CDEP. Now, that's the Community Development Employment Programme and it's a good idea to make Aboriginal people work, but it's slave labour. These people are working picking up rubbish and, you know, they're sick and tired of picking up rubbish. They've got to do something constructive. Now, the thing is, to keep them in their communities, it's got to be consented to be there. As far as I'm aware, you've got

Aboriginal people working out there for their dole money. Now, as far as I'm aware of that CDEP, every quarter the amount of people that live out in that community, all their dole money is sent out frorri the start of the quarter and the number of the people that are there - that's the amount of dole money they get there. Now, these people are working for it, and if they don't work they miss a day or a week - they don't get paid at all or

553

they get $40 sit down money, which means, you know, they're either starving which creates the problem of: let's go and live in Kalgoorlie- Nanny Goat Hill- and let's go and sit down and get the dole cheque and we don't have to work picking up rubbish

[RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, June 1990:557].

A significant point to be aware of is that the use of this programme reduces

unemployment figures dramatically. In addition, the combined total of

unemployment entitlement moneys appears to be a substantial sum. The

Government does in fact claim that CDEP monies are part of the Aboriginal

Affairs budget. In Western Australia for the financial year 1988-89,

$63,657,825 was spent on Aboriginal Affairs.

In addition to the above, on p.ll of the manual it is noted that if an individual

participant chooses not to accept the work offered, or to work only a reduced

amount, then the community is only obliged to pay the individual according to

the actual work done, plus any income maintenance payment. Additionally, a

significant sub-section of section 2 is ATSIC Monitoring (p.13), where the terms

of reference for annual reviews and project evaluations are listed. In one part it

inquires whether CDEP is being used as a substitute by government agencies and

employment institutions, in order to avoid their various funding and other

responsibilities. This is a difficult aspect for ATSIC to assess, given that they

are the primary funding body to Aboriginal communities. This situation in itself

may be inappropriate. However there does not appear to be any 'court of appeal'

or mechanism for communities to tum to in order to access adequate funding to

bring their standard of living into accord with Social Justice Principles.

Communities do not have access to secure and constant sources of municipal

funding, and the very minimum of health and education services are provided by

the State in most places. Power, water and housing, in many instances, are

funded by the Commonwealth. Community support services and municipal and

recreation services and utilities are increasingly left to CDEP funded projects.

Further, on p.l3 of the Manual it is stated that corrective action will be taken in

respect of 'any criticisms and recommendations made'. In an earlier review, a

554

Pilbara CDEP community lists problems which were identified in the previous

year, and which were still in existence, as:

... no starting time or place identified .. . lack of individual time sheets and pay sheets (the Chairman and another Council determine who has worked and thus who gets paid) - this causes some problems when they forget people; - there are many who are getting paid for not working. This then is a disincentive to those who are working - the Council are trying to rectify this with the rule 'no work - no pay' but until point 2 is adhered to this will never work 100%; -lack of any identified work teams­ those that do work usually work as individuals; and - lack of any

supervisors except the Chairman - this puts stress on both the Chairman and the workers.

The above list of problems are severe from several perspectives. In general, the

terms of reference provide a comprehensive list of factors to be considered in the

evaluation of CDEP. However, such an evaluation can only be carried out by

individuals who take the task seriously, and attempt to come to terms with some

of the hard realities of the situation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission responsibilities

The summary of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)

responsibilities is contained in seven short points.

(a) Advice to communities on the operation of the scheme.

(b) Monitoring of participant information.

(c) Arranging timely release of funds.

(d) Liaison with DSS and AEDP agencies.

(e) Review of each CDEP.

(f) Acquittance of grants.

(g) Maintenance of the CDEP computer system including updated unemployment benefit rates.

555

The various issues discussed so far, raise serious questions about the quality of

(a) 'advice' given to the participating communities. It is this advice and its

quality on which the operation of CDEP hinges. The lack of basic understanding

of the scheme and poor quality administrative support has also been noted several

times. These issues relate specifically to (b) and (d). The AEDP agencies

referred to in (d) are DEET and the AAPA. We have been unable to find specific

evidence that there is ongoing systematic coordination with these agencies. In

one region the review forms indicate that DEET had no involvement at all over

the twelve month period. Fundamental issues have to be raised two years in

succession. The review process (e), evidence of which is contained in the P3

forms sighted by this Commission, does not appear to have any specific

usefulness. If the advice given to people is not adequate, then in my

Commission's view, the consequence is a serious miscarriage of justice against

both individuals and communities. There needs to be mechanisms put into place

whereby Aboriginal people can seek redress.

Provision of services and CDEP

The provision of services in some Aboriginal communities is supplemented by

the use of labour via the use of CDEP funds. In one northern Aboriginal

community the Health Department of Western Australia (HDW A) provides the

health services. This consists of a full time nurse and 1.5 Aboriginal Health

Workers (AHWs). There are an additional 4 AHWs employed under CDEP.

There conditions of employment are very different depending on the job

classification and the employer. The nurses are paid an availability allowance (the

equivalent of 25% of their salary) plus an on-call allowance. The AHWs

employed by the Health Department of Western Australia do not receive an on­

call allowance nor an availability allowance nor does the Department provide for

relief for when the Health Workers are on leave. Even when that leave is

extended due to accumulated leave and taking leave with out pay. The AHWs

employed under CDEP are paid $7.68 per hour and regularly work up to

30 hours a week. The Health Department, until very recently, insisted that any

556

training provided to the CDEP AHWs be paid for by the community. After some

determined and prolonged advocacy, the Department has agreed to allow this

community's CDEP health workers access to on the job, and in-service style

training available to the Health Department of Western Australia AHWs. This is

on the basis that the health workers have first option at attendance, but there will

be no cost to the community.

It should be noted that the same community has 3 CDEP Environmental Health

Workers who do not have supervision, assistance or training from the HDWA

nurse. To quote the nurse, 'We concentrate on the health side of things!'

(RCIADIC Transcript in confidence, 1990).

Summary of CDEP

It is clear from the above that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are the only

individuals in Australia currently working for unemployment entitlements. It is

also clear that Aboriginal town communities do not enjoy the same standard of

municipal services as are available to members of the wider community. Nor do

they have the security of funding in maintaining the existing minimum of

services. In addition, there is confusion in the guidelines created by considering

CDEP funds as wages for some purposes. and as a benefit for others, and there

is little evidence of adequate planning or monitoring of the Scheme.

Additionally, owing to the lack of administrative expertise in most Aboriginal

community councils, including those whose members may have English as a first

language, power over the finances of various communities is often in the hands

of outside administrators. In my Commission's view, it is not always possible

for community council members to properly supervise employees because they

are not aware of the rules in relation to finance and the options in terms of

management and accounting structures.

While putting forward certain criticisms of CDEP which have come before my

Commission, however, it is important as noted earlier, to also be aware that in

557

certain circumstances CDEP can be of value. For instance, as noted by Altman

(1990) and Coombs (1990), wisely used CDEP has the capacity to 'place

resources within the control of the communities themselves for the support of

activities chosen by them' (eg: support for traditional ties to the land; income

support for the production of art and craft; local transport services)

(correspondence from Coombs to RCIADIC, 15 August 1990). Further, as

clearly put in a recent report from Northern Australian Decelopment Unit

(NADU) (1990:9):

CDEP is clearly not the final chapter. The discussions with communities raised three key issues ... [these are]: the nature of work and training offered under CDEP; the equity of income distribution; and administrative arrangements ... While many people felt that CDEP had been an improvement on unemployment entitlements, it is clear that aspirations have been rising and there is a frustration at the 'sameness' of work under CDEP ... and the fact that working did not give them any noticeable increase in standard ofliving ... the central point is to provide reassurance to communities that CDEP as it now stands is not seen as the final step and to continue with efforts to link work with community development goals.

Bearing the above in mind, it is interesting to note, too, that ATSIC are currently

undertaking research in relation to the 'social and economic impact of CDEP on

Aboriginal communities' (see Weekend Australian Newspaper, 15 September

1990).

Essentially, while nothing can alter the fact that a large proportion of the adult

Aborigines in this State are currently being required to work for unemployment

entitlements, there may be significant ways in which CDEP can meet the real

interests and aspirations of Aboriginal people The critical challenge is how best

that might occur in a framework which encompasses the philosophy of

self-determination and economic development and opportunity. It is clear that

Aboriginal people are not in control of this Scheme, nor does it appear to allow

for their intervention in the modification of its objectives as it meshes with the

AEDP. For that matter, the officers who implement the policy seem to have had

558

more determination over outcomes, policy change and modification than the

Aboriginal people whose lives are directly influenced by this Scheme.

Education, also a critical matter in relation to economic development and work, is

the issue to which I now tum.

559

Chapter 12

LIMITED ACCESS TO EDUCATION

There is probably nothing in the history of this country which has promised and

denied so much to Aboriginal people than the education system. No other

institution has made more attempts to assimilate, socialise and continue the

process of colonisation. As Christie (1988: 18) notes:

White education is in some way the essence of the invasive aspects of our culture.

At the same time no other institution has issued so many reports or made so

many recommendations. People have been consulted, research projects initiated

and Aboriginal people have said many times what they want, but despite the

many proposals and suggestions over a number of years, it appears little has

been heard and much is still to be done.

Schooling, which is not necessarily the same as education, is a particularly

important and powerful socialising agent for non-Aboriginal society. It is the

normative way for introducing a child into myths, values, customs, philosophy

and history of western culture, ie. into its own very specific world view.

Aboriginal people, who traditionally never had 'schools', as they never had

'hospitals' or 'churches', have their own education system. Aboriginal children

were educated in the 'school' of their relations. They learned about their world

and that of their ancestors in the context of daily living. People learned as they

lived and they learned in order to live: there was no separate department or

compartment for 'school'.

Not only do Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people sometimes educate their

children and adults differently, but their ways of teaching and learning can also

560

be culturally different. One perspective is that an Aboriginal world view is

essentially interactional while that of the Western world is transactional.

Aboriginal people are more concerned with relating to the world, non-Aboriginal

people in changing the world. Another interpretation is that western culture is

specifically oriented towards industrial technology and the economy of the

capitalist system while Aboriginal culture is aimed at the reinforcing of unity and

harmony within relationships. Some educators argue that both cultures are

incompatible in the domains of education (eg: Sayers, 1988; Christie, 1985;

Harris, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989).

From the perspective of Aboriginal people, education has served to explain and

justify aspects of western law. The definition of crime itself, laws, criminal

behaviour, restitution, correction, rehabilitation and punishment are all reinforced

in the schooling process. Apart from legal issues this is the way in which history

has been taught. It has been clearly shown that school curricula have influenced

the stereotypes which non-Aboriginal people today have of Aboriginal people

(cf. Morrison, Chaney, Sherwood and Jackson, 1982).

One of the non-Aboriginal assumptions about education is that schooling and

education are synonomous. However much learning is done outside of school

and perhaps at times not much learning is done inside school. Hence when

people talk of 'finishing school' they often think they are completing their

learning as well. A further assumption about education is that it is considered

'child business'. Adults work, drink and play football but children go to school

to learn. This is being overcome with the provision of more adult education but

it creates a problem for non-Aboriginal people in believing that learning can occur

outside a bUilding (e.g. health outside a hospital or religion outside a church).

It is not surprising that for many Aboriginal people school, and hence education,

is seen as 'white-fella' business. In 1986 the Census showed that in Western

Australia 'only 75 of Aboriginal respondents had post-school qualifications

561

compared with 32% of the total population', and this being with a group of

people of whom more than 60% were under 25 (Education Planning, 1990).

As a system aimed at giving people knowledge, and hence the ability to have

choices and power over their lives, education has failed the Aboriginal people of

this State. Something which was denied the people for years later became an

imposed obligation. Significantly, Aboriginal people were then blamed for not

participating in a system which was foreign to them, which threatened to

assimilate them, over which they had no control nor which was seriously

prepared to adapt according to their needs. Despite all these difficulties,

Aboriginal people· have attempted over recent years to shape education into

something of value for themselves: setting up independent schools, enclaves

within tertiary institutions and courses particularly adapted to Aboriginal needs as

well as seeking a stronger say in educational decision making. It is quite clear

from RCIADIC meetings and conferences that many non-Aboriginal people do

not know how to improve the delivery of an education service to Aboriginal

people. However it is equally clear that some Aboriginal people do have very

specific ideas and proposals about how things can be improved.

What has become clear from my Commission's meetings and conferences is that

the issue and implications of education for Aboriginal people requires serious

consideration, both by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Many Aboriginal

people have spoken about their desire for their children to learn traditional skills

and those necessary for living in non-Aboriginal society. However many are

also not aware of how education has changed in the past twenty years, of the

valuable initiatives in some areas, the choices they can make or the various

options available for their own education.

12.1 Historical perspective

As the Western Australian Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (W AAECG)

Report (1987) noted very little has been published about the history of education

562

as it affects Aboriginal people in Western Australia (W AAECG, 1987:8). Not

only are many people unaware of how the policies and treatment of the past affect

Aboriginal people today, but also how Aboriginal people now see education

affecting themselves. As indicated elsewhere in the report, since colonisation in

1829 the policies affecting Aboriginal people have. caused dislocation and

destabilisation and have failed to address real needs and aspirations. Education is

no exception.

For many years Aboriginal people were not considered capable of receiving

education and for some period of time were actually excluded from

government schools (WAAECG, 1987:9; RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie,

1990). Then they were only allowed to be educated up to grade 3 level

(RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990). It was not until 1949 that Aboriginal

children were first generally allowed into the schools of Western Australia

(W AAECG, 1987:8) and in the 1960s it was largely at missions that Aboriginal

people received any education.

Some important dates regarding education are:

1905 The 'Aboriginal Act' gave the responsibility of educating Aboriginal children to the 'Aborigines' department.

1911 Two systems of education existed. One centralised for non-Aborigines and the other without direction and relevancy operated for Aborigines.

1919 The Education Department was firmly committed to the policy: 'if non-Aboriginal parents objected to admission of Aboriginal students, then Aboriginal students must be excluded.'

1932 A Conference of affiliated Parents and Citizens Associations in Perth moved that the regulation 85 of the Education Act should apply throughout the State. The Education Department supported the resolution and the right of the Minister to expel Aboriginal children whose presence might be considered injurious to the 'health, welfare and morality of other children.'

1940 Aboriginal children were admitted to Government schools but only if they met the required standards of health and hygiene. The consideration that Aboriginal children were only educable to

563

the 3-5 levels were influenced by the belief that as a race they were dying out.

1945 The Teacher's Union at their annual conference moved for special schools with trained teachers for Aboriginal children and also the introduction of a special curriculum.

1950s The time when attempts were made to assimilate the Aboriginal person totally into white society [O'Brien, 1989].

In the 1960s education was seen by members of various interest groups as

offering some hope to Aboriginal children who were presented with a mixture of

the 'civilizing' virtues of non-Aboriginal values and customs with Christianity.

They were taken into homes, hostels or dormitories where they would spend the

majority of their child and adolescent years. Here they were taught the basic

'3Rs' with girls then being directed into domestic work and boys into rural

employment. No formal education was offered to Aboriginal adults, and

Aboriginal children were not considered capable of higher academic

achievements. Dormitories continued in some parts of the State into the early

1970s.

In the history of this State, schools have been used for a variety of reasons as

government and churches considered best. The legacy is that many Aboriginal

children experience and continue to experience school negatively. The

phenomena of children 'opting out', truanting or leaving school at an early age

provide a sense of 'failure' and a felt inadequacy to change the environment

which people are facing. This has the effect of both lowering their self esteem

and also preventing them from being able to deal with the pressures and values of

mainstream white society.

Within the past decade there have been a number of both State and Federal

reports concerned with Aboriginal Education. The House of Representatives

Report (1985) indicated that Aboriginal education was characterised by:

• lower levels of access;

• lower levels of achievement;

564

• lower retention rates, particularly at secondary school; and

• often inadequate or inappropriate curricula' [Aboriginal Education, 1985: 21].

This was followed by the WAAECG Report, 'The Aboriginal Voice in

Education' (1987), the first report to offer a comprehensive Aboriginal

perspective on education in Western Australia.

In October 1989 the Commonwealth launched the National Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP), a policy in response to the Hughes

Report, The Report of the Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force, 1988 . In

February 1990 there was also published by DEET a discussion paper 'A Fair

Chance For All', on the issue of National and Institutional Planning for Equity in

Higher Education. The Commonwealth AEP Policy had four main purposes:

(1) to ensure Aboriginal involvement in educational decision making;

(2) to provide equality of access for Aboriginal people to education services;

(3) to raise the rates of Aboriginal participation in education to those for all Australians;

(4) to achieve equitable and appropriate educational outcomes for Aboriginal people.

The significance of this national policy is that it is 'the first policy formally

endorsed by any National Government .. . because it responds to the call of the

Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force for a concerted national effort' (Barlow,

1989), although we have yet to see whether it will be any different from the

policies of the 1960s. The principal words in this new national policy, as also

contained in the DEET discussion paper, are involvement and equitable.

Aboriginal people are to be involved more 'in educational decision making' to

ensure 'equitable and appropriate educational outcomes' (AEP, 1989). The

policy seeks more involvement of Aboriginal people in the education system, not

565

necessarily by offering more independence, authority or power over educational

issues (such as education policy, curriculum, employment of teachers etc.) but

by being more 'involved' in decision making. The equitable outcome, such as

retention rates and access to schools, will be that which non Aboriginal people

achieve. Hence Aboriginal education will, at least as defined by outcome, be no

different from non Aboriginal education. And non-Aboriginal people will

continue to control and define such outcomes.

One view of this National Policy, which has been put to this Commission, is that

education, under the guise of achieving equality for Aboriginal people, ultimately

seeks assimilation. Hence Aboriginal people are being offered what appears an

equitable solution but ultimately not an equal one (Coombs, 1990). As Barlow

(1989: 13) points out 'Aboriginal and Islander people have made it very clear that

they do not necessarily seek the same outcomes from education as do, say, the

upper middle class white Anglo-Australians in Toorak or Potts Point - though

they may'.

Hence my Commission has difficulties in reconciling this National Educational

Policy with the aspirations of Aboriginal people and their expressed education

needs. Obviously improvement in the outcome of Aboriginal people in the

education system is urgently needed. Resources available to Aboriginal people

are also urgently needed to attain these outcomes. That the final criterion of this

outcome be what non-Aboriginal people are achieving is at least questionable and

assimilationist, although this report recognises that for some Aboriginal people

that will be what they want.

Finally there is the Equal Opportunity Commission Report, Second Review of

the Provision of Public Education in Western Australia (1990), following on its

first Report in 1987. It revealed that the education situation in Western Australia

requires urgent action. It highlighted:

a considerable level of frustration with 'empty promises' ... the lack of perceptible action ... no tangible results [see also:

566

McConnochie, 1982; Sherwood, 1982; Fitzgerald, 1984; WAAECG, 1987; Equal Opportunity Commission, 1990].

12.2 Issues from deaths in custody

Whether education is referred to in its more restricted meaning, as being related

to schooling, or in its larger meaning, of being related to learning as a positive

influence in a person's life, education is largely absent from the life stories of

those who died in custody. Rather than providing a means of being socialised

into either Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal society, education seems to have been

more of a 'de-socialising' experience (cf. Capp, 1988).

A number of those who died in custody spent their earlier lives in the care of

people other than their family, in institutions, hostels and missions, and generally

suffered the experience of being dislocated from their family and community at

an early age. For example Robert Anderson spent his early years in the

dormitory at Wiluna Mission, and was then removed from his family for some

years to board at Karalundi mission school: he left school at the age of fifteen.

Bobby Bates was taken from his mother at thirteen and put into Hillston Hostel.

Nita Blankett was placed by her mother at the age of five to live at Roelands

Mission. Albert Dougal was removed from his parents and taken to Beagle Bay

at the age of nine. Paul Farmer went to Tambellup Mission at the age of ten.

Mission education was one to two hours per day and the education department

was critical about him learning traditional ways. He was given an exception

when he failed to attend school. Christine Jones was taken from her parents at

the age of two and brought up at the Church of Christ Mission at Carnarvon: no

education was provided. At the age of eleven months Wongi was admitted into

the care of the department and later to the Church of Christ Mission at Norseman,

where he attended school. Benjamin Morrison was educated at New Norcia

Catholic Mission from the age of five until twelve. Steven Michael was

committed into the care of the Child Welfare Department at the age of one and

admitted to Marribank Mission. Kim Polak came from Mount Margaret Mission

and spent much of his early life in hostels.

567

Schooling does not appear to have been a significant, valuable or lengthy

experience. Stanley Brown was illiterate and worked at De Grey Station from

the age of nine until thirty two. Daryl Garlett was educated at the local State

school but left to work as a farm labourer. Bernard McGrath attended North

Kalgoorlie Primary School where he truanted, was suspended twice and seen by

school authorities to have 'behavioural problems'. Corporal punishment was

regularly administered but had no effect. Jimmy Njanji neither spoke nor

understood English. Robert Walker, had problems at school at the age of 14

because of his involvement in Aboriginal issues, such as the Tent Embassy (see

e.g. Langton, 1983, for pictorial comment on the Tent Embassy) and land rights.

Whatever schooling those who died in custody may have had, most of it was

associated with institutionalisation. Several were brought up in dormitories on

missions where there were great variations in the amount and quality of education

offered. For some, schooling was interrupted because of family movements,

parental separations or inability of parents to care for them. In a number of cases

the person was offending at an early age and was taken into institutional care.

Very few achieved high levels at school and even fewer would seem to have

found education as something which could help their lives. For most of those

who died in custody, if not all, education was not an experience which provided

them much confidence, hope or belief in themselves or a future with meaning.

12.3 Retention rates

Retention rates, that is the rates by which Aboriginal people participate in the

various educational processes, are but one way of examining how Aboriginal

people are being affected by the present education system. However one of the

difficulties in establishing clear retention rates for Aboriginal children in Western

Australian schools is that the figures upon which such estimates are based are not

reliable. For example, in 1986, there was a significant discrepancy in the

recorded numbers of Aboriginal students in Western Australian secondary

568

schools. Statistics given by the Schools and those with Abstudy differed by

11%. The difference between Schools and ABS statistics was 38% (Educational

Planning, 1990). However in that year the lowest rates of Aboriginal students

participating in the schooling processes were in the Northern Territory and

Western Australia, with Western Australia demonstrating the lowest rate of all

states in the 16-17 year age group.

Table 12: State and Territory Differences in Aboriginal Participation Rates in School and T AFE, 1986

NSW VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT ACT AUS

SCHOOL

5-9 Years 89.1 84.5 79.4 82.7 76.4 87.8 71.8 94.2 80.9

10-15 84.5 82.8 84.8 82.5 80.2 90.6 78.4 91.5 83.1

16-17 27.9 33.2 31.8 23.7 17.1 18.2 23 .2 35.4 26.3

TAFE

16-17 6.7 6.2 2.2 8.0 4.8 16.8 1.8 6.3 4.8

18-20 6.2 6.6 2.3 6.5 2.8 6.6 2.1 10.1 4.0

21-24 3.8 3.0 1.3 4.0 3.0 3.8 1.1 8.5 2.6

Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1986 Census of Population and Housing, Quoted in the Report of the Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force, 1988.

There also do not seem to be detailed figures which indicate how many

Aboriginal children are not at school or who miss early years or substantial

periods of schooling. It has been said that nationally one in eight Aboriginal

children aged 5 to 9 years do not go to school or pre-school (quoted in Walton,

1990:3). In the Northern Territory it has been estimated that in the homelands,

up to 80% of children are without access to schooling (ibid:4) and while there are

less outstations or homelands in Western Australia, it would be reasonable to

expect that there are a significant number of Aboriginal students of compulsory

age in Western Australia who do not have access to schooling. Educational work

569

being done by Dr Nugget Coombs and Helen McCann with the Pitjantjatjara

people indicates that in Central Australia:

there were at least 88 children aged between 3 & 16 years who had no access to school programmes in the place of preferred living by their families [Submission to RCIADIC from H.C. Coombs, 1990].

In Western Australia the general participation rate of Aboriginal students in

secondary education is lower than in primary schooling:

According to data from the 1986 census, the education participation of Aboriginal children in Western Australia aged 5-9 years is only 87 per cent, and the participation of Aboriginal children aged 10 to 15 years is only 81 per cent. This compares with education participation rates of and close to 100 per cent for non-Aboriginal children in these age groups [quoted in Ministry of Education response to RCIADIC questions, 1990].

What is clear also is that the retention rates of Aboriginal students in Western

Australia to Year 12 have been extremely low for many years, even when

compared with Aboriginal retention rates in other states. In 1979 not only was

the Western Australian percentage of those who had reached Grade 12 the lowest

of all states, 5.8% (only the Northern Territory being lower with 3.9%), but

most states with the exception of Victoria, showed increases over the following

five years, 1979-84. Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory

showed almost 100% increases over that five year period whereas the Western

Australian rate actually decreased from 5.8% to 5.4% (WAAECG, 1987).

State Ministry figures, pointing to the retention rates in Western Australia11

government schools, indicate a growth in retention rates from 2.8% in 1982 to

9.9% in 1989 (figures provided by the Ministry to the RCIADIC, 1990). Other

figures, a combination of both government and non-government schools, reveal

a growth from 9.9% in 1986 to 10.7% in 1989 with the addition of

non-Government schools apparently increasing the percentage of those reaching

Grade 12 (figures provided by the Ministry to the RCIADIC, 1990). Whichever

570

group of statistics one takes, the retention rate of Aboriginal students to Grade 12

in Western Australia, while gradually increasing over the past decade, is still

extremely low, particularly if one compares it with the non Aboriginal retention

rate in 1989 of 56.4% (figures provided by the Ministry to the RCIADIC, 1990).

It is also significant to note that in Queensland in 1989 45% of students on

Abstudy continued into Year 12, compared with a Queensland statewide figure of

64% (AITAP, 1990). In 1979 the retention rate of Aboriginal students in Grade

12 in Queensland had been 11.4% (W AAECG, 1987). Queensland, which had a

rate in 1979 approximately twice that of Western Australia, ten years later has a

rate approximately four times.

The retention rates of Nyoongah students from the south of Western Australia

showed that, for the Southern Region in 1989, the retention rates for Aboriginal

students was just over 10%, compared with non-Aboriginal students of 40-50%

(Katijin, 1989). In 1988 only 13 students throughout the southwest reached

Year 12, in some schools the retention rate was 0% (T AFE, Great Southern

Regional College, 1989). The difference between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal

retention rates was especially noticeable for the later school years. In the

southern area only four Aboriginal students had passed Year 12 in the past seven

years (Fighting for Rights, 1990: 19).

In 1990 a Report to the Australian Research Council examined the 'participation,

retention and achievement of Aboriginal students in secondary mathematics'.

(Malone et al, 1990). Of a group of 9000 examinees in 1988 who sat the Tertiary

Entrance Examination in mathematics in Western Australia only 19 were

Aboriginal students (ibid). The findings of this report were:

(a) high absentee rates among many Aboriginal students that severely hampers continuity of conceptual development in daily lessons. Extended family contacts provide social havens and sanction absence from school.

(b) Eurocentric (Western or European) school policies which ignore Aboriginal children's needs for bicultural education. For example, non-observance of National Aboriginal Week.

571

(c) classroom teaching that socially isolates and 'batch processes' Aboriginal students with little regard for their individual abilities, learning needs and future aspirations, and which fails to recognise that social influences have a major influence on students learning.

(d) unduly critical teacher attitudes that tend to blame the Aboriginal child for failing to respond to standard teaching approaches.

(e) a 'cultural-communications' barrier between the school and home that prevents a well informed, cooperative approach to resolving student behavioural problems.

(f) a poorly resourced unit curriculum, in Western Australia, especially for non-academic classes, that results in teachers using learning materials that are unsuitable for many Aboriginal children [Malone et al, 1990].

12.4 Aboriginal perspectives

In 1979 Stephen Albert, the first Chairman of the National Aboriginal Education

Committee, said that the role of Aboriginal people in education had changed

during the 1970s from consultation to involvement and was moving towards one

of responsibility (Hughes and Wilmott, 1982). The evidence which was put

before this Commission indicates that even the stage of consultation had not been

reached in many places.

Aboriginal people are, and have been for many years, unhappy about the

education system. They do not believe it meets their needs, they want to be

consulted about it and have some control over its delivery to their children. As

one Aboriginal person said: 'For many Aboriginal people, the education system

does not fit. It was designed for European people' (RCIADIC Submission, Kerr,

1990).

Resistance by Aboriginal people to non-Aboriginal education or schooling has

often been interpreted by non-Aboriginal people as a lack of interest by

Aboriginal people in their children's welfare, as being 'lazy' or 'uncaring'.

572

However Aboriginal people have been consistently clear as to what they want

and need from education (Beazley, 1984; WAAECG, 1987; Thies, 1987; Equal

Opportunity Commission, 1990). However, as one Government department

admitted, Aboriginal people have not had access to the power or control over the

education which has been affecting them:

although they believe in the value of Education, they don't know how to influence it, or where to go to find out about it [Submission to RCIADIC from Department of Education, Employment and Training, 1990].

The 1985 and 1987 Report: 'The Aboriginal Voice in Education' involved

consultation with Aboriginal people in Western Australia on a larger scale than

ever attempted before. This report is currently the most authoritative and accurate

report on Aboriginal Education in Western Australia. The report concluded:

The picture is not bright ... We believe that the word 'crisis' is not too strong to describe the present situation [W AAECG: 13].

The W AAECG study of 1987 found that:

Nearly all Aboriginal adults express[ed] a strong desire for their children to succeed in school. On the other hand, Aboriginal people are neither willing nor able to discard their culture and language. On the contrary, they desire a situation wherein their

Aboriginality is recognised, accepted and valued by mainstream society, its schools and other institutions [WAAECG: Appendix].

It would seem that despite the recommendations which have been made for

many years there has been a failure by Commonwealth and State

Governments and of Catholic Education to adequately respond to the

aspirations and needs of Aboriginal people.

Most Aboriginal people are clear what they want from the education system.

They are insistent that their children need to be taught the 'Aboriginal way', with

their communities having their own schools, their own teachers and own

573

curriculum. They see it as necessary for teaching their children the important

things about Aboriginal life. They also see the value of non-Aboriginal education

in helping to overcome the intimidation they experience in dealing with people

who speak English, in being able to understand western law and answer back to

police, in standing up for their rights (RCIADIC Meetings, Roebourne,

11 October; Yamatji Ngura, 30 November; Eastern Goldfields, 5 December

1989; Fremantle, 27 January; Beagle Bay, 14 March; Djarindjin, 15 March; One

Arm Point, 16 March 1990).

Aboriginal adults are often conscious of the difficulties associated with being able

to say and get what they want from schools. And Aboriginal students talk of the

importance of being supported in school by their parents (RCIADIC Transcript,

Geraldton, April 1990:469). _

In 1987 the WAAECG (1987:14) saw itself as 'providing the leading advisory

role in implementing the package of policies recommended'. Today its role

needs to be strengthened and expanded, so that Aboriginal people through

regional committees can take more than an advisory role in setting the directions

of Aboriginal education in this State. The W AAECG needs to be able to

negotiate with educational authorities the priorities and principles which

Aboriginal people wish to set for the future.

12.5 Non-Aboriginal perspectives

In the past non-Aboriginal people have not acknowledged that they have much to

learn from Aboriginal people. Nor have they seen that where there are problems

with Aboriginal children in schools that it is the non-Aboriginal education system

which needs examination. Christie (1988) observes:

The major stumbling block for meaningful development has been the reluctance of white educators to critically examine the invasive .assumptions of formal education, and their refusal to acknowledge that they can learn anything important from

Aboriginal people, their refusal to pay more than lip service to the

574

aim of learning to speak and understand Aboriginal languages, and their assumption that learning about aspects of Aboriginal culture, tradition, nature, commitment, power etc. is just a fringe interest to be pursued in one's spare time. Quite simply, most white educators cannot commit themselves to the idea that they have anything really meaningful to learn from Aboriginal people.

Throughout the investigation and research of the RCIADIC non-Aboriginal

people stated that the education which is presently being offered to Aboriginal

people needs to be changed and improved. They spoke of the vast problems in

the present education system; of it 'failing' them, of being 'wrong', unable to

cope with their needs, being 'irrelevant', like a 'conveyo r belt' which provides a

final unhealthy and hopeless situation (RCIADIC Meetings, Port Hedland ,

10 October; Laverton, 4 December; Eastern Goldfields, 7 December; Leonora,

8 December; Kalgoorlie, 8 December 1989).

Many non-Aboriginal people, parents, teachers and principals have commented

about issues which relate to the failure of education to assist Aboriginal children:

the poor health, hygiene, nutrition and hearing difficulties of some children, lack

of resources for study at home, a lack of support or interest in the school by

parents, and a lack of contact between the school and parents, mixed messages

from home and at school. These factors are compounded by an often irregular

attendence at school or a mobility between schools by students. Alcohol use in

the home also affects children's ability to learn (Submissions to RCIADIC from

East Carnvaron Primary School, Carnarvon Education Support Centre,

Rangeway Primary School, O'Connell, Stella Maris College, 1990; RCIADIC

Transcript, Geraldton, April 1990:466).

A number of non-Aboriginal people commented about the inabili ty, inadequacy

and even an unwillingness by themselves and their schools to understand or deal

with present-day Aboriginal culture. In particular there was a recognition that

schools and teachers are ill-equipped in being able to communicate with

Aboriginal parents and in dealing with the experience of racism in a school.

Cases were mentioned of schools where 'we don't see too many of the

575

Aboriginal parents' but nothing was organised to try and change the situation

(RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton, April1990:474).

It was also alleged in a submission to my Commission that 'Teachers frequently

have lower levels of expectation of Aboriginal students and students perform

accordingly' (Submission to RCIADIC from East Carnarvon Primary School,

1990). Aboriginal students often find themselves battling from an early age with

self esteem as they suffer the racism of fellow students or teachers. Not only can

anti-social behaviour develop when children have experienced being a 'failure' at

school, but a person who is unsuccessful at school can take from school a sense

of failure for life (RCIADIC Submissions from East Carnarvon Primary School,

Carnarvon Education Support Centre, Collins, Skillshare, Rangeway Primary

School, O'Connell, Kalgoorlie District Education Office, Pires, Department of

Education, Employment and Training, 1990). Group and family support is

particularly important at an early age if children are not to lose interest, and be

able to cope with living in another culture with its many accompanying problems

(RCIADIC Submission from Stella Maris College, 1990; RCIADIC Transcript

Geraldton, 1990:401).

The difficulties which underly the serious and significant differences between the

Aboriginal view of education and how the non-Aboriginal education system

largely operates, has been summarised as thus:

Timetabling and curriculum planning have established in white education a tradition that learning should be drawn out, homogenized, consistent, and long term with all the rhythms and responsiveness ironed out. We have almost got our educational planning to the stage where we can take a five year old and tell what s/he will be studying and when, every school term for the next fifteen years. To Aboriginal people, that is like

imprisonment [Christie, 1988:13].

However non-Aboriginals also often tend to perceive that many Aboriginal

people are both interested and concerned about education. This is revealed in the

following comment:

576

When the hostel was running it was because the parents wanted their children educated. They lost interest in education when they saw it as detrimental to their well being and their life style. It was the desire of the Parents that their children follow in their

footsteps [RCIADIC research notes, 1990].

However the gulf between the perceptions and expectations of education between

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people remains significant. It is also quite

obvious that in many ways the non-Aboriginal community is largely confused

and unsure as to what to do to enable education to become a more positive and

more helpful experience for Aboriginal children.

12.6 Bicultural education

There have been a number of suggestions over recent years to promote the ways

in which Aboriginal people can maintain their own culture and ways of learning

as well as also learning the skills of the western culture. It has been described

variously as two-way learning, bilingual or bicultural education. Aboriginal

people want their children to develop the skills which numeracy and literacy

offer, and which enable a community to also have control over the direction of

the lives of its members. They also want their children taught Aboriginal values,

history and culture of their people (Harris, 1989; WAAECG, 1987).

In the opinion of the Western Australian State School Teachers Union:

Aboriginal parents want the education system to develop their children to their full potential in all areas, as well as giving them a sound basic groundwork to be successful in the increasingly technological world of today while maintaining their own

Aboriginality [State School Teacher's Union Submission].

Consultation with Aboriginal people in the Kimberley about this revealed they:

want to see a system which will achieve and maintain a 'way through' for young people ... a system of education which will enable each person to be educated to as high a level as she or he

577

desires and is capable of, in order to be a productive person in the community. They want to develop a system of education which caters for diversity with diversity [Thies, 1987:85].

In 1987 the W AAECG recommended: 'the first step towards achieving a

fundamental re-orientation of schools would be the adoption of a Bicultural

Education Policy'. This policy:

means that teachers of Aboriginal students will adopt appropriate curriculum and teaching methods. It suggests changes to programmes in all schools, whether they have Aboriginal students or not. Schools will consult their local Aboriginal communities and come to regard them as important primary resources. It implies changes of attitudes and values by teachers and education authorities ... [W AAECG Appendix: 2].

Bicultural, bi1iilgual, and two way learning are all differerent ways of describing

the right of Aboriginal education to self-determination in regard to education. In

some places it will take the form of separate 'domains' for Aboriginal and non­

-Aboriginal areas of learning. In other places there will be less clear distinctions.

The important element is that Aboriginal people have the right to choose the form

of education they wish, and to also have the various options of education

available to them.

What has been made clear is a determination by Aboriginal people 'not to 'lose'

the next generation of children as many of the last were 'lost' ... the dangers for

the young today of 'falling down in between' the two cultures, ill-equipped to

cope in either' (Thies, 1987: 91). Bicultural education is a means of ensuring

that western education is not provided at the expense of one's culture and identity

but as a support.

12.7 Aboriginal educators

The role of Aboriginal people in education is critical. The increased use of

Aboriginal Teacher Aides, Aboriginal Education Workers (AEWs), Aboriginal

Teacher or Teaching Assistants, Aboriginal Education Community Development

578

Officers (AECDOs) and Aboriginal Home-School Liason Officers, in the past

decade has made an important contribution towards Aboriginal involvement in

education.

AEWs can be crucial links of communication between teachers, the principal, the

child and the family. Truancy and discipline problems can be overcome

(RCIADIC Transcript, Esperance, April 1990:16). It was only in 1985 that

AEWs were first employed in Senior High Schools and by 1988 there was a total

of 135 AEWs employed in government schools. In 1989 they were upgraded to

AECDOs which then provided a career structure for AEWs (Ministry of

Education, 1990).

However, while important, the focus on the employment of AEWs and AECDOs

can blur the need for more Aboriginal people to take greater areas of

responsibility in schools, to be involved in guiding education policy and for

having more Aboriginal teachers. As it was expressed at one Conference:

We've tended to employ aides and not really gone beyond that [RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:213].

In my Commission's view, there is an urgent need to go beyond the present

situation where too many Aboriginal people are employed in schools as

gardeners, cleaners or assistants of various sorts. Their skills and contributions

to that of education are often undervalued and need to be recognised and

developed. It is important that more Aboriginal adult educators, counsellors and

liaison persons in schools become accountable to the local Aboriginal community

who, through the establishment of local committees, have more authority and are

more involved in local policy making for Aboriginal students (see also AIU

'Fighting for Rights', 1990:20-21).

579

The policy within the State Ministry is to increase the numbers of:

educational administrators, teachers, curriculum advisers, teacher assistants, home-school liason officers and other education workers ... [Ministry of Education, 1990].

but the problem is not simply one of gaining more people, but in keeping people

within the education systems. In 1979 there were 14 qualified Aboriginal

teachers in Western Australia. A decade later there were approximately 95, with

20 teachers graduating between 1987 and 1989. Apart from the problem of the

numbers falling far short of a targetted 1,000 qualified teachers nationally by

1990 (143 teachers for Western Australia) (cf. Wilmot) the evidence is also that

many qualified Aboriginal teachers are not choosing teaching as a career. For

example, in 1990 there appear to be only 53 qualified Aboriginal teachers

working within the various education systems in the State (Educational Planning,

1990).

It has been agreed for many years that Aboriginal people prefer to be trained on site rather than have to live elsewhere for a lengthy period of study. In 1975 it

was recommended that courses for teacher aides be conducted with a combined

on-site training with short residential courses at Pundulmurra (Report on

Education in the Kimberleys, 1975). In 1984 the Beazley Report recommended

more flexible forms of training for Aboriginal teachers with 'some training

opportunities being available in country centres' (1984:328). In 1988 the

Ministry initiated a programme whereby AEWs could undertake teacher training

by studying part-time. This would take 5112 years to complete but it would be as

part of their work, which would be reduced to half-time. This programme,

similar to the Remote Area Teacher Education (RATE) Programme in the

Northern Territory, is only offered to 20 people every year.

It has been suggested for a number of years that school boards be instituted in all schools with large numbers of Aboriginal students. My Commission was

advised that State Ministry policy is:

580

to expand the support network and establishment of school-based decision-making groups in all schools and, wherever possible, to ensure that Aboriginal parents are represented on these bodies at a level that is commensurate with Aboriginal enrolments in each school [Ministry ofEducation, 1990:9].

However a large number of school boards or committees which do exist today

are only used when principals decide when consultation is to be used. Rarely are

they involved in the more serious levels of policy making, teacher appointment or

curriculum development. Too often they respond only to the decisions which

principals have already made. An exception would seem to be Aboriginal

Independent Schools who:

seek to maintain their Aboriginal ownership, while increasing Aboriginal decision-making capabilities with respect to education policy [Ministry ofEducation, 1990:9].

As one Aboriginal person said of being on an education advisory committee:

I get the feeling that really ... when you are put in those advisory roles, consultant roles, that you are really just token blacks ... And that has been my feeling for a number of years [RCIADIC Transcript, Broome, 1990:542].

From research findings put before me, it seems that it is not simply a matter of

involving more Aboriginal people in schools. Aboriginal people must have some

control and influence over the curriculum and the whole philosophy within a

school rather than being accountable to a Department in Perth or Canberra it

would be preferable for particular Aboriginal people to be part of a local

committee which sets policies for Aboriginal education in that particular area.

12.8 Educational discipline

The evidence from our conferences, and the many submissions given to this

Commission, lead me to the conclusion that for many Aboriginal students

schools are 'stressful institutions'. This can especially be so where a student has

581

non-Aboriginal people as teachers and principals, a non-Aboriginal curriculum

and discipline, when one changes school and finds different programmes and no

Aboriginal friends, and in general finds no Aboriginal role models to emulate

(Capp, 1988). The reinforcing of non-Aboriginal values through school

discipline can increase tension within the child. Breaking school rules, and

subsequently being sent home, has become for many children the only ways in

which some can break out of the conflict of pressures they experience between

school and home (AIU, Fighting for Rights, 1990:19).

Many reasons were offered to explain why a child might truant from school: not

being able to hear or understand what a teacher was saying, not understanding

the subject, being homesick, ill or not being able to keep up with other children

(RCIADIC, Transcripts, Esperance, April1990:15). It was also put to me that:

After a while they just give up and then the absenteeism starts and from that it is just a downhill run [RCIADIC Transcripts, Esperance, April 1990: 80-81 ].

Truancy was also mentioned by Aboriginal people as the result where

suspension and expulsion practices appeared to be aimed at Aboriginal students,

particularly low achievers (AIU, Fighting For Rights, 1990: 19).

The health of Aboriginal children at school affects more than their ability to learn.

It may influence the way they are treated by people unaware or ignorant of the

causes of their behaviour. Take the high number of Aboriginal children with

hearing difficulties such as COM (Chronic Otitis Media), a middle ear infection.

A submission in the Northern Territory Commission has said:

There are approximately 7500 Aboriginal school children enrolled at about 80 Aboriginal schools in the Northern Territory and in every classroom, in each school, it is estimated that 25% to 50% of children have a hearing loss, caused by COM (Chronic Otitis Media) in one or both ears. This means that up to half the children in any classroom cannot hear their teacher properly

[Submission to RCIADIC from Quinn, 1990].

582

Three elements associated with COM are: pain, a difficulty in processing

information and hence in being able to become part of a class or learning

environment. A further complication is that COM is intermittent and hence a

child may have it, lose it and gain it at a later stage. Hence for teachers there is

both their ability to perceive COM and accurately interpret behaviour associated

with it. Preliminary research by staff of the Broome Catholic Education Office

(CEO) suggests that the percentage of Aboriginal children with COM in the

Kimberley region is very similar to that in the Northern Territory.

Quinn's (1990) submission goes on to suggest:

A mild or moderate hearing loss in early childhood interferes with the language acquisition process and to the process of personality formation. Language deficits and personality problems possibly might project from the pre-school years into school settings, accounting in part for academic problems, slow learner labels, social and academic ostracism, juvenile delinquency, school drop out, street gang involvement, drug abuse and eventually adult criminal behaviour.

It is important that teachers learn to recognise health problems, such as COM,

and behaviour associated with it. Their own role in assisting children to cope

with such difficulties is most important. One submission to this Commission

recounted the story where a young Aboriginal man was being interviewed by the

police over a serious offence. The man was extremely deaf and, despite being

innocent of the charge, gained the impression from the police that he was to be

charged. He ran away, was eventually found after an extensive search in another

community some hundred kilometres away and only after much anxiety

experienced by himself and his community (it was feared he might harm himself

as he had shown a tendency to harm himself when very upset). It was both the

person's inability to hear and the police inability to communicate which led to a

potentially very dangerous situation (Submission to RCIADIC, Marchant, 1990).

It was also pointed out how inappropriate discipline can set children along the

track which leads to imprisonment: 'Kids are turned off school for many reasons

583

but one being the discipline procedure. 'Shame', humiliation and degradation by

the present system just leads to turning off from school. It appears that the

procedures currently in place are setting the kids up for the penal system'

(Submission: Skillshare, 1990). (See also submissions: East Carnarvon Primary

School.)

Parents can be criticised and blamed if their children do not attend school and

school authorities often bring in police where children are iruanting. Aboriginal

police aides are sometimes given this invidious task (RCIADIC Transcripts,

Roebourne, February 1990:175; Geraldton, 1990:268; Carnarvon, 1990:14).

There have been occasions when police have come into a school, their behaviour

being both insensitive and inappropriate. One case was mentioned of the police

who arrested a school employee during 'smoko' time for an offence which had

been committed the previous year. The arrest was in view of the students and

staff (Submission, CEO, Geraldton, 1990).

In terms of expulsion from Western Australian schools between 1985 and 1989,

29 out of 133 were Aboriginal students; from 1987 onwards 25 out of 67 were

Aboriginal students, an increase over five years of 15% (Equal Opportunity

Commission Report, 1990:vii). The fact that the number of Aboriginal

expulsions has increased 15% between 1985 and 1989 is of concern. Of greater

concern is the perception of the report of the Equal Opportunity Commission that

'counselling and punishment procedures were being 'short-circuited' (Equal

Opportunity Commission, 1990:vii). It would seem that those involved in a

person's behaviour in school are not communicating with parents as soon as it is

desirable or necessary.

Aboriginal parents spoke of their own difficulties with discipline and punishment

as a result of their own history:

And I know for a fact too that a lot of our ex-mission children refuse to smack our own kids for what happened to us as we

584

were little ... I can't bring myself to flog them [my own children] like I was belted [RCIADIC Transcript, Esperance, 1990:43]. And ... Nor is it easy to overcome what parents themselves experienced as education [RCIADIC Transcripts, Esperance,

1990:82].

Often schools communicate their difficulties with a particular child by sending

parents a letter, ignorant that there are parents who have difficulty with reading or

understanding what the teacher or school is saying (O'Brien, 1989). People

associated with schools acknowledged the difficulties of imposing discipline on

Aboriginal students. They referred to the devastating effects which discipline

often has on Aboriginal children because it is in conflict with the different 'child

rearing practices' between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal people (submission to

RCIADIC from Rangeway Primary School, 1990). Stories have been given to

this Commission of the use of isolation, suspension, and food deprivation as

ways in which Aboriginal students are disciplined and punished. Not only did a

number of people see that there were:

different child upbringing practices' at work but that certain school methods of punishment or discipline probably did more harm than good [Submissions to RCIADIC from Skillshare, Ryan, Willaway, 1990].

One teacher explained how decisions about discipline were made:

We have to impose a discipline system that is required by the majority of the students - or required by the majority of the parents [RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:223]. ,

The Ministry has introduced a programme for introduction into schools in 1989,

Managing Student Behaviour:

to ensure that proper standards of discipline are maintained ... The programme was developed in response to schools' perceived needs for more effective management of some disruptive students. Allied to this were issues relating to teachers' working conditions, accountability of schools and the phasing out of corporal punishment ... The programme encourages students to

take responsibility for their own behaviour and is backed up by the use of 'time out' rooms [Ministry, 1990].

585

The use of a 'time-out' room was not perceived by some parents as helpful:

the time out room is a really small room, it is like a little cell and it's freezing cold there and the kids sit in it all day [RCIADIC Transcript, Esperance, April 1990: 19].

This programme, carried out by at least one school apparently isolates 'problem'

children in a place called 'the cottage' for some days. One parent responded to

such discipline by saying: 'I do not want my children sent to "the cottage" as

disciplinary action. "The cottage" is similar to a gaol. What does this

claustrophobic atmosphere do to rectify behaviour other than instill fear of being

enclosed. Surely an alternative to "the cottage" could be sought' (Herb Wimbus

to the Principal, 10 April1990). A further submission to my Commission also

referred to 'the cottage' as a reminder of 'the "sweat boxes" used in the Japanese

prisoner of war camps' (Submission to RCIADIC from Skillshare, 1990). My

understanding is that the 'cottage' has closed down since this submission was

provided to this Commission.

While there has been some improvement in facilities for children with learning

and/or emotional difficulties there remains the need for parents to be counselled

before problems become acute. For many years Aboriginal children were put

into special classes and separated from non-Aboriginal children. When students

are put into special classes today Aboriginal people can still remember the stigma

of such a move (O'Brien, 1989). Too often teachers can explain away a child's

behaviour as simply a consequence of one's family or community living.

Teachers need professional help in diagnosing children's difficulties at an early

age, being able to discuss them with the parents and being able to seek assistance

for the children concerned. Without sensitivity and understanding in this area

school inevitably can become a form of alienation or 'prison' for both Aboriginal

parents and children. The use of discipline and related forms of punishment are

valuable only if children experience them as helpful. And in these areas schools

586

need to be communicating better and receiving much greater input from

Aboriginal parents.

12.9 Curriculum content and teacher training

In the course of this Commission it became obvious that there is a widespread

lack of information about the history and culture of Aboriginal people in this

State. Not only were people largely uninformed about Aboriginal life in the area

where they were living, but the attitudes and impressions they had were often

poorly informed. For example in one area people did not seem to know much

about its early history and that local Aboriginal people had been massacred:

Knowledge of this massacre known as the Flying foam massacre [sic], is limited to a very few people. It is definitely a chapter of history that is deleted from several local history books [Submission to RCIADIC, Billing, 1990].

Rarely, is history presented from an Aboriginal perspective so that

non-Aboriginal people can see a valid and alternative way to see history. As one

Aboriginal description of history explains:

Basically our view of history is not a movement away from the present towards a distant future. History stays in the place where it has been made. It says and becomes the foundation of the present and the future [Marika-Mununggiritji et al , 1990].

'Much of the information which exists about Aboriginals in Australian schools is

often stereotyped, inadequate, anachronistic and even racist' (Aboriginal

Education, 1985:172). In addition Aboriginal children often stayed away from

school when the teacher said they were going to do Aboriginal studies: 'They

were worried about being stigmatised as dirty or lazy or of low intellect'

(O'Brien, 1989). This deficiency in education is directly linked to what has been

lacking in school curricula (O'Brien, 1989). Despite recommendations in favour

of Aboriginal studies programmes education authorities have still to implement

Aboriginal studies courses for all students in Western Australian schools -

587

'developments in this area are generally at an early stage' (Ministry of Education,

1990). The Beazley Report believed:

that Aboriginal Studies should form a stronger and more integrated component in the curriculum of all schools [and recommended the development of] Aboriginal studies materials for the pre-primary-to-Year 12 curriculum [1984:329].

The House of Representatives Report recommended:

State and Territory departments of education, in conjunction with their Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups, develop guidelines on the teaching of Aboriginal studies in their schools. These guidelines should include a contemporary perspective of

Aboriginal society [1985 :175] .

There is currently a Ministry of Education proposal to introduce Aboriginal

Studies Units into all schools within the coming triennium. The role of

principals and teachers in introducing such a curriculum into a school is most

important, especially in the attitudes they display towards what will be offered.

'The success of Aboriginal studies depends largely on the attitude of the school

principal and the staff (Aboriginal Education, 1985: 174).

In a survey of teachers in Western Australia in 1989 the vast majority of teachers

(90%) supported the introduction of Aboriginal Education units; 93% said that

they should be available for all students and 92% said they should be available

for all schools. However only just over half, 59%, said that such studies should

be compulsory (Gray and Pratt, 1989).

There have been a number of occasions when Aboriginal people expressed

dissatisfaction with teachers. Probably the most serious was a feeling that

non-Aboriginal teachers do not seriously 'push' Aboriginal students as hard as

non-Aborigines. There is evidence that 'the standard of performance of

Aboriginal and Islander children in schools will depend largely on the attitudes

and expectations of teachers' (Coutts, 1988). Students are easily identified as

588

low achievers with teachers finding it difficult to understand their behaviour and

too readily judge what they perceive from their own ethnocentric base.

Reports into Aboriginal education have been clear for some years about the

importance of teacher training including training in Aboriginal culture and history

and orientation programmes for new teachers of Aboriginal students. The

Beazley Report of 1984 recommended: 'that all teacher education pre-service

courses include components of Aboriginal education and Aboriginal studies'

(1984:330). This was followed by the House of Representatives Report in 1985

which said:

all teachers should be adequately prepared by pre-service training to appreciate the special needs of Aboriginal students. This should include general background in Aboriginal culture, the history of Aboriginal people and their place in modem Australian society. This presentation should aim to ensure that future teachers are trained to function sensitively and knowledgeably in cross-cultural situations [ 1985:194].

The W AAECG Report (1987) also recommended that it be:

a high priority that all student teachers be required to complete a full semester Aboriginal studies/Aboriginal education unit. This unit should be separate and distinct from multicultural studies or any other entity or discipline. In order to inform and sensitise trainee teachers about Aboriginal history, culture and contemporary issues, the emphasis of the unit should be

Aboriginal studies [p.19, Appendix].

What is of concern is the lack of support for these recommendations. In the

teacher survey referred to earlier, conducted among teachers in some Western

Australian schools in 1989,93% believed that while non-Aboriginal students do

not know enough about traditional and contemporary Aboriginal life, less than

half 47% said that it should be compulsory for teachers 'to attend and pass an

Aboriginal Education Unit as part of their teacher training course' (Gray and

Pratt, 1989).

589

What is also of concern is the high turnover of teachers of Aboriginal students,

especially those in remote areas. For example in the Kimberley in 1990 there

was a turnover of teachers in the Catholic Education system of about one in three

(Principal, personal communication); in Broome there was a turnover of teachers

at the District High School for the years 1985-1989 of between 21-34% each

year (The Broome Study, 1989:19).

The initiative of the Catholic Education System to offer annual in service training

of new teachers to Aboriginal communities and their exploring of incentives for

appropriate teachers to continue teaching after some years is to be encouraged.

However there are other teachers who have been teaching Aboriginal children for

too long and in the minds of some Aboriginal people: 'senior staff were left too

long in the one school. If their attitude happened to be poor, then Aboriginal

students were particularly disadvantaged' (AIU, Fighting for Rights, 1990:19).

Teachers must become accountable to local Aboriginal parents. A trial period for

teachers in remote areas would be of benefit to both teacher and the community.

A contract for a teaching period would also give the local community of parents a

greater sense of responsibility for their children's education (Capp, 1988).

12.10 Language

For many years Aboriginal people were prohibited from speaking their own

languages; they were forced to speak English while in school and sometimes

punished if they spoke their own language (O'Brien, 1989). This can continue

today where Aboriginal people are told to speak only 'good english' and where

the language they do speak, especially Kriol, is considered as an inferior

language (Hudson, 1984).

Kriol, the language many Aboriginal children are born into and which has

become the language of a number of Aboriginal communities in the north of

Western Australia, is a dialect of the creole spoken in the Northern Territory and

590

parts of Queensland. The language is now written and there is some support for

recognising it as a valid Aboriginal language (Hudson, 1984).

In the Northern Territory it has been found that where children have learned in a

bi-lingual environment they have achieved more educationally than children from

the same community whose only learning experience has been in English

(Aboriginal Education, 1985:109; Beazley Report, 1984:326). Apart from

helping to provide a good cognitive base for learning a second language learning

to read and write in the language one is born with provides much for a person's

confidence and self esteem (Hudson, 1984).

As noted earlier, my Commission has been informed by the Beazley Commission

which in 1984 recommended:

the encouragement of bilingual education, by offering Aboriginal languages in schools, by using Aboriginal languages as a teaching medium in conjunction with English and by teaching English as a second language to students whose first language is

Aboriginal or a Kriol [1984:328].

The W AAECG recommended the setting up of Aboriginal Language Resource

Centres in 1987 (WAAECG, 1987:8). However it was only in 1989 that

Western Australian State Education policy acknowledged that English was a

second language for a number of Aboriginal students (Whisson, 1990).

The Ministry of Education began a project, in cooperation with the Catholic

Education Office, to teach Aboriginal languages in primary schools which have a

high proportion of Aboriginal students. This programme is a small but

significant step towards the recognition of Aboriginal culture and identity in the

schooling process. However there are many advantages in making Aboriginal

languages available to all Western Australian students. Not only does it support

the cultural identity and integrity of Aboriginal students but it also enables

non-Aboriginal people to perceive the world in a quite different but enriching

cultural way (cf.Watson & Chambers, 1989).

591

12.11 Independent schools

It is significant that of all the Aboriginal Independent schools which exist in Australia the majority are in Western Australia, with the largest concentration

within the Fitzroy Crossing area. In 1990 there are nine independent schools at

Strelley; Noonkanbah; Millajidee; Warrimabah; Ngoongah Aboriginal

Community School; Christian Aboriginal Parent-Directed School Coolgardie

(CAPS); Yiyili Community School; Wangkatjungka Community School.

Pungurr, in the Pilbara Region was established in 1988. These schools have

arisen out of an Aboriginal desire to have a more community controlled school.

As schools they are distinct in that they attempt to have more Aboriginal control

and curriculum, qualities which have been lacking in Aboriginal education in

Western Australia. When examining the independent schools in Western

Australia the Beazley Report spoke of:

obvious benefits, which included higher student attendance rates, improved self-esteem and greater relevance. There was evidence of a greater number of Aboriginal groups and communities seeking to have their own schools. The factors underlying this trend are varied, but include disenchantment with European forms of education, fear of cultural destruction, irrelevance and family disintegration. These problems often manifest themselves in poor attendance of Aboriginal children, with attendance rates declining markedly in recent years [1984:327].

The right of such schools to exist and be supported has been clearly established

in Australia. Parents with religious convictions have had the right to set up their

own schools (Aboriginal Education, 1985:137). The Government, through the

Department of Aboriginal Affairs, has supported such initiatives for Aboriginal

independent schools by claiming 'that Aboriginals have the same right as other

citizens to establish their own independent schools and to create and adopt

educational programmes so that they accord with their cultural values and chosen

lifestyles' (Quoted in Aboriginal Education, 1985: 139).

592

That Aboriginal parents and communities might seek to establish their own

independent schools is an initiative to be encouraged. That Aboriginal people

seek and are given greater responsibility for the educational needs of their

children is consistent with the major thrust of my Commission's report. It is also

consistent with the recommendations of the House of Representatives Report in

1985 which said: 'as expressions of Aboriginal self-determination and

Aboriginal community control, Aboriginal independent schools should be

encouraged' (Aboriginal Education, 1985:143).

One of the difficulties associated with establishing such schools is often one of

finance. Independent Aboriginal schools do not have the economic base or

political power to support their own schools, as do other independent schools.

They are far more dependent upon government finance and resources and much

more vulnerable to the forces of non-Aboriginal people. The difficulties which

the Aboriginal people on the Carnarvon Reserve encountered in 1977 in trying to

address the educational needs of their children has been documented elsewhere

(e.g. Saggers and Gray, 1988). In attempting to resolve a number of important

issues, such as truancy, the relationship between education and their culture and

the purpose of education, the community discovered a multitude of forces which

operated overtly and covertly to prevent establishing their own independent

school (ibid).

It is important that funding and expertise be made available to support and

develop independent schools. Communities seeking to explore new possibilities

need to be supported and encouraged but also offered the range of options which

are available. With the increase of movement of Aboriginal communities to

outstations it is becoming even more critical that Aboriginal people be able to

choose the education they want for their children and for themselves. As the

Beazley Report was 'encouraged' to see the gradual development of 'outstation

schools' it noted that 'it wishes to encourage this trend, for it is based on the

strength of the group in Aboriginal life' (1984:327).

593

Independent schools are important resources for Aboriginal communities. They

enable Aboriginal people to experience more fully self-determination and

responsibility for their education needs (Beazley Report, 1984:327). In

presenting a report on their Community school to the AlA TSIS Conference in

July 1990 the Yirrkala Community School Action Group said:

We are now able to make all decisions, plan, evaluate, raise important issues and make recommendations for our school - the way we want it to be [Marika-Mununggiritj et al, 1990].

With control over their own schools Aboriginal people can set the direction they

wish to take in regard to their own learning and training. They are also important

resources for the non-Aboriginal community as they offer an alternative to the

meaning of learning and being educated in Australia.

12.12 Funding

Institutions or colleges which predominantly teach Aboriginal children or adults

complained of the problems they faced with funding. The Early Intervention

Education Programme (Roeboume), the Roeboume Education Centre, Nulungu

College (Broome), Pundulmurra (South Hedland) have all experienced financial

difficulties in recent years. For example, Pundulmurra has 82% of the 2.5% of

Aboriginal people in T AFE yet it receives a budget of less than $1 million

compared with $9.5 million for Hedland College and Karratha College. It trains

300-350 Aboriginals students from various areas in the north of the State in a

year compared with the handful at either of those colleges (RCIADIC Transcript,

Roebourne, February 1990:670). As a college, Pundulmurra is geared towards

the needs of Aboriginal students and has been successful despite its funding

limitations (RCIADIC Transcripts, Geraldton, April 1990:395).

While the proposed changes to the AEP funding will provide more security from

Federal funding in future years, as provided on a triennium basis, it is

particularly important that institutions providing appropriate educational care for

594

Aboriginal students are supported. Hence there is a need to establish Aboriginal

Boards or Committees who can oversee and monitor the standards of education

being offered.

A number of informants spoke to my Commission about difficulties experienced

with Abstudy, in particular the time it took for people to be approved or paid.

They spoke about 'children refusing to attend school because they had no

uniform or books' (submission from Department for Community Services,

1990). Stories were told of DEET approving children to go to school but not

paying the school for more than six months; of parents being paid money which

was supposed to go to a boarding school and then the school being billed for

outstanding costs; of children being approved to go to a school by one local

DEET office and another DEET office not paying for their board (submission

from Nulungu College, 1990). Not only were people forced to wait extensive

periods of time for payment but, without an avenue for appeal within the

Department, they were dependent upon bureaucratic decisions.

Research has also shown that Abstudy provided less than unemployment money

and, as a result, was not an incentive for men and others who are supporting a

family:

After their Abstudy and whatever other subsidies are given by the Commonwealth government after the living allowance - the living component is taken out of that allowance there's only $15 a fortnight left for these kids to spend. If they stayed in Gcraldton they would be far better off, they'd have a lot more money ... the majority would be dropping in the region of probably $30 a week

[RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton, 1990:397].

The Commonwealth Government has established the Aboriginal Student Support

and Parent Awareness Programme (ASSPA), to replace the parental meetings

and school student excursion elements of Abstudy from the beginning of 1990.

The purpose of this programme is to increase student participation by developing

parent involvement and decision making. Funds which were linked previously

to Abstudy are now transferred to ASSPA with the purpose of providing

595

'financial assistance for a variety of activities which will enhance educational

opportunities for, and increase participation and attendance of, Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander school students' (Student Support and Parent Awareness

(SSPA) Programme, 1990:5). This development appears to have been met with

parent support and involvement. It is a significant, but small, development in

bringing parents into planning and decision making within a school. However it

is important that consultation with Aboriginal parents about education needs and

priorities goes beyond the area of government school grants to that of school

policy itself. The programme also says that 'travel costs for committee members

to attend ASSPA meetings cannot be paid out of SSAP funds' (ibid:6). It is

most important that committee members receive both financial and personal

support to be able to carry out their functions on a regular basis and that

decisions made through SSPA be considered as an essential part of broader

educational policy in a school.

12.13 Tertiary education

Some Aboriginal students find it difficult moving from school to the work place.

Factors such as a shortage of jobs, employer expectations, fellow workers'

attitudes, a lack of academic and skill support for those doing apprenticeships are

often present in the work field. There are other pressures such as peer group

pressures, lack of family support, family obligations and ceremonies. These

factors together place enormous stresses upon young Aboriginal people seeking

employment after leaving school (Nulungu 1982, Submission: Department of

Employment and Training, 1990).

In the view of my Commission, there is a need for courses to be provided which

meet the expressed needs of Aboriginal people:

If you go there with a course that they've asked for and you do it carefully and in a professional way with tremendous care and you put people in there with hearts who care about the people, who make an effort, a few will drift away, then they'll drift back again [RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:208].

596

The Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Tertiary Aspirations Programme

(AIT AP) which aims to 'identify and assist Aboriginal and Islander students who

have the potential to achieve the standard to pursue tertiary education, particularly

in universities' (AITAP, 1990:4). Of the 17 who graduated from Year 12 in

1989, 14 went on to further tertiary studies.

There are colleges and institutions where Aboriginal students do better than

others. While T AFE is set up for mature age students they, and other tertiary

colleges, often attract younger people who have left school and who are attracted

by the less restrictive environment, being with their own people and being in a

course specifically designed for Aboriginal people. These are places where there

are other Aboriginal students, Aboriginal tutors and lecturers and where the

teaching is adapted to meet the needs of Aboriginal students (submission from

Kalgoorlie College, 1990).

Access courses (e.g. TAFE's Aboriginal Access Programme), enclaves and

bridging courses are proving valuable for Aboriginal students who wish to

develop their skills or who wish to go further in education or employment

(RCIADIC Transcript, Esperance, 1990:21). In these cases it is apparent that

there are a large number of Aboriginal students who are seeking further education

but who wish it to be in an environment which recognises and respects their

Aboriginality. Outreach courses are also proving more popular as too are some

pre-apprenticeship courses (cf. submissions from Pundulmurra, Kalgoorlie

College, Department of Employment and Training, 1990).

There is much to be said for regional colleges which can adapt and meet the

educational needs of Aboriginal people in local areas (RCIADIC Transcript,

Kalgoorlie, June 1990:206). It is well established that Aboriginal people are

reluctant and find it difficult to leave their families and communities to undertake

study in another location (Fitzgerald, 1984; RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton,

April 1990:397). Tertiary colleges could contract through regional colleges to

597

run courses. These colleges then contract with local communities (RCIADIC

Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:214).

In relation to employment in a local area tertiary colleges need not only offer

training courses for young people who might wish to work in the pastoral,

mining or tourist industries but actively seek from such industries a commitment

of employment after such training.

In this State too, the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University of

Technology, is providing a number of courses that are especially relevant to

Aboriginal people's access to tertiary education. These courses include a

'bridging course' whereby students are provided with a year's study that assists

them to go from secondary to tertiary scholarship. Another course is one that

provides people in communities with the opportunity to undertake a 'Community

Development Course'. The aim of this course is to provide people with skills

that are of benefit at a community level, while not detracting from aspects of their

Aboriginality.

12.14 Catholic education

Of all private and public education systems within Australia it would be expected

that the Catholic Education system would be one which understands the desire

often expressed by Aboriginal people for their own education system. The

Catholic Education system has endeavoured more so in some regions than others

for more than 100 years to maintain an independent schooling system.

The Catholic Education System offers a resource in terms of Aboriginal

communities and Aboriginal education. For example, in the Kimberley region

there are 13 Catholic schools (anotherto be started in 1991) with 1 ,455 primary

and secondary students. There was also the appointment of the first Aboriginal

female principal in Western Australia which occurred at Clontarf Aboriginal

College in Perth in 1990. The Catholic Education Office (CEO) offers a system,

598

with religious content, supposedly different from that of the State system. In

terms of appreciation of Aboriginal culture and Aboriginal involvement in their

schools the Catholic school system at times appears more innovative and positive

about Aboriginal culture than often found in the State system.

One difficulty which the CEO presents is that while it is often appreciated by

Aboriginal people for the services and dedication it offers (many schools began

with few resources and in physically difficult conditions) it possesses no

different mechanism from Government schools for enabling Aboriginal people to

experience that the schools actually belong to the community. In this way

Catholic schools are not unlike Government schools. Principals and teachers are

accountable to people outside the Aboriginal community. A further difficulty of

the Catholic system is that, like the Government school system, it can build an

enclave within an Aboriginal community. Not only does the school report to

outside 'authorities' but if they do work through the community it is often

through the community advisor or project officer (cf. Capp, 1988).

In many cases the Church has sought to have its own land within Aboriginal

communities with classrooms, library, and staff housing, forming a separate

physical reality within the community. New buildings are imported and erected

and rarely, if ever, are local Aboriginal people involved. As well, the

maintenance of such buildings is often in the care of outside non-Aboriginal

people. Not only are local Aboriginal people denied opportunities for work and

maintenance, but also training to take up such work and maintenance. As a result

'education' becomes even more alien and non-Aboriginal. This obviously raises

the question as to the purpose of education in such a community where there is a

divorce between the spoken aims of education and what work people might

realistically do when they leave school. It is important, as one report has already

indicated:

Education must be related to community development as perceived by the communities themselves [Aboriginal Education, 1985:202].

599

The CEO needs to consider ways in which Aboriginal people can experience and

believe they have some power and control over the education which they are

offered. If schools do have parent or community boards they are simply

advisory or in many cases token. The Catholic Education System, being part of

the Catholic Church, has become part of mission history. As missions provided

resources and resource people to communities, they also provided institutions

which assumed power over Aboriginal people and so can the CEO system. It is

important that the CEO consider its method of handing over control of its schools

to Aboriginal people and becoming more accountable to them.

12.15 Summary of education

From findings put before the RCIADIC, 'education' has become so narrowly

defined and experienced in the history of this country that few non-Aboriginal

people appreciate what they can learn from Aboriginal people, what Aboriginal

people can teach them, and what education Aboriginal people themselves have

been doing for thousands of years.

The intentions of the Prime Minister to educate the Australian people about the

benefits of a treaty or some form of reconciliation with Aboriginal people (West

Australian, 3 February 1990) indicate again the importance of the need for true

two-way education for all Australian people. Aboriginal people themselves have

to take some initiative in this area, and not simply wait for school authorities to

do things in a way that will satisfy them.

As a system, education is failing non-Aboriginal people as well as Aboriginal

people:

The education system has a lot to answer for in relation to relevant curriculum and studies to areas of Aboriginal culture and heritage. A lot of white people see Aboriginal culture and Aboriginal people as being something totally irrelevant in contemporary times and that Aboriginal people are seen as

600

walking museums. There isn't a valid education system for Aboriginal people and there needs to be a developed, an appropriate one to ensure that they can enter into the non-Aboriginal society on their own terms [RCIADIC Meetings, Leonora, 4 December; Kalgoorlie, 7 December 1989).

All aspects of the media, school curricula and general community attitudes reflect

the heritage of racist thinking about Aboriginal people. With a more assertive

attitude towards educational curricula and programmes, community attitudes will

improve and this in tum will have an effect upon the Aboriginal community.

Funding and resource support is required for those colleges which are attempting

to meet the educational needs of Aboriginal students especially as outreach

education is important and very expensive. Long term strategies such as the

Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Education of the Great Southern Regional College

of T AFE need to be encouraged (RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, June

1990:220). The proposal for Aboriginal Education Cultural Centres in Western

Australia (see submission to RCIADIC from Kerr, 1990) needs to be combined

with proposals for an Aboriginal university and that of other Aboriginal tertiary

institutions.

Within the past decade there have been many reports concerning Aboriginal

education in Western Australia, various recommendations have been made.

Some repeat the recommendations of previous reports. However the result is

that few such recommendations have been fully implemented. As the WAAECG

concluded:

Furthermore, our research suggests that putting bandaids on the worst wounds is not the road to follow. Rather a co-ordinated and holistic approach needs to be taken . . . further action orientated research is essential if we are to effect major improvements to the achievement rates of Aboriginal students in

Western Australia [1987:13] .

The emphasis on bicultural education needs to be established as policy for

Aboriginal education in all schools. 'Two way' learning can easily become 'one

601

way' learning: two cultures at work but learning only going one way. For

proper two way learning non-Aboriginal people, especially, have to allow

separate educational areas to exist, one where non-Aboriginal learning occurs,

but another where Aboriginal people control the learning that occurs.

The challenge upon all involved in the education process is to develop both a

curriculum and a schooling process which dignifies and empowers Aboriginal

people. Because of the history of education in this State, all students in Western

Australian schools should be offered a unit of Aboriginal history and culture as

part of their studies in both primary and secondary school. All teachers likewise

should take a course in Aboriginal culture and history as part of their training.

And professional people, such as police, prison officers, government and health

workers, whose work brings them into contact with Aboriginal people, should

also be introduced to Aboriginal life and culture as part of their initial training.

In-service training should then be regularly offered in local communities

involving Aboriginal people. Essentially what is needed is an approach to

education which transcends the parameters of non-Aboriginal society and which

allows both Aboriginal people a place for their own teaching and learning in

Australian Society, and non-Aborigines the opportunity to learn about and

appreciate Aboriginal history and culture. Non-Aborigines should no longer be

denied this opportunity.

602

Chapter 13

HOUSING

... the site that they [the local Aboriginal people] selected [for the Village] was not the site they got today .. . you have got families living in - you have got 15 people living in one house down there, no wonder you going to have your problems - juvenile problems, the drinking problems, your unemployment problems, you know, your wear and tear and damages and houses ... when it becomes wear and tear it becomes the responsibility of one - of that one particular tenant and naturally that tenant is going to - cannot coping - is going to tum to alcoholism, or whatever

[RCIADIC Transcript, Roeboume, 1990:41].

The submission of the Western Australian AIU (1990), presented to my

Commission under the title 'Fighting for Rights' sums up one of the major

concerns of Aboriginal people in this State:

Participants were unanimous in nominating housing as the major issue for Aboriginal people. Statistics were supplied, but these were not exhaustive, and much more research is needed. The areas of planning, decision making, evaluation, allocation of resources, and Aboriginal involvement in decision making were all examined as were the roles of appropriate authorities. Overcrowding, over-concentration of Aboriginal families in certain areas, and racism were among the matters discussed

[1990:23].

The provision and maintenance of housing to Aboriginal people in this State, in

urban, rural and remote settings, together with the realities of matters to do with

racism, a shortfall in housing supplies, appropriate architectural designs,

overcrowding, kin obligations, and adverse effects of contemporary Aboriginal

social life, means that housing is a significant and often contentious issue.

603

Before considering some of the evidence which has come before my

Commission, the following provides an overview concerning housing policies in

Western Australia

13.1 History of housing policies and Aboriginal people in

Western Australia

The real beginning of any sort of housing policy for Aboriginal people in

Western Australia, is to be found in the immediate post war years. The

overwhelming majority of Aborigines at this time lived away from the main

towns and cities, most residing on missions, government settlements,

agricultural properties and pastoral stations. In the south-west, an increasing

proportion lived on unoffi<;ial reserves, often sited near rubbish tips, which were

to be found on the outskirts of many small country towns. Smaller numbers

lived in metropolitan areas, discouraged from the central city by a curfew which

remained in force until 1954 (Biskup, 1973:256; Howard, 1981 :22). But in the

wake of various post-war developments, attitudes toward Aborigines were

starting to change, and within these changes came the first official recognition of

Aboriginal housing needs. Aboriginal experience as soldiers, and the change

their presence brought to some areas, also highlighted the need for a better deal.

The seeds of the changing approach were in the assimilationist thinking that had

started to emerge as an alternative to the prevailing emphasis on exclusion and

segregation. The change was further encouraged by increasing official and

public concerns at the squalor and poor hygiene of Aboriginal camps such as

those located in the metropolitan area, Moora, Kellerberrin and Narrogin (see,

for example, Haynes 1972:69). The poverty of these camps was underlined in a

submission to the Western Australian Aboriginal Land Inquiry (the 'Seaman

Inquiry'), by the Southern Aboriginal Corporation (1983:5-6) which noted that

many such camps, and reserves upon which they were situated, were either on or

near rubbish dumps and gravel quarries.

604

Consistent with assimilationist thinking, the 1950s saw the gradual appearance of

a programme of 'transitional' housing. This involved, as a first step, the

formalisation of the unofficial areas set aside for Aborigines on the outskirts of

towns, so that areas became designated reserves. Following this came

government provisions of rudimentary housing and ablution facilities, which

were meant to assist Aborigines in making the transition to 'civilised' life. Little

was said about how long the supposed transition would take, or whether it was

expected to eventually result in Aborigines living side by side with

non-Aborigines throughout the State.

These transitional houses were standardised from a prototype into three models

each corresponding to a different level of 'sophistication'. Ideally Aborigines

were to be moved up through each level as they adjusted to its use. It seems to

have been thought that Aborigines could be systematically 'processed' through

these three designs and, if they failed to live up to official expectations, they

could be relegated to a prior level. Level 1 houses were steel framed, with iron

walls and an open fire place and no ablution facilities; level 2 houses were

somewhat better provided, the design including four rooms and indoor ablution

facilities; level 3 houses were a further step toward the European conventional

model being complete with electricity, although still only galvanised walls.

During the 1950s and early 1960s, the policy of transitional housing became

entrenched government policy. It became increasingly apparent, however, that

this policy was not achieving its stated objectives. A later survey conducted by

the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Housing

(1975:221) documented the failure of the policy and speculated that it had not

been successful primarily due to the lack of experience by Aboriginal people who

had not lived in such houses before. The inference seems to be that Aborigines

had failed in the exercise of being able to live like 'civilised Europeans'. Makin

(1970:151) in his study of Perth's Aborigines in the 1960s, also noted that the

Department of Native Welfare could see no easy solution to the problem of

overcrowding, 'because it considers those concerned are too backward for more

605

conventional housing'. It does not seem to have occurred to the authorities that

the failure might have had something to do with Aborigines not being involved in

the decisions to do with housing design, location and administration. There

seems little doubt that the houses themselves were inadequate in design,

extremely unpleasant to live in, and unsuited to Australia's climatic extremes.

This is well illustrated by the use of unlined galvanised walls, which were totally

unsuited to either hot or cold weather conditions. The logical sequence to a

programme of transitional housing was the provision of conventional houses

within the residential areas of the main population centres. 'Town housing', as it

was called, was increasingly stressed particularly for 'urbanised' Aborigines,

eventually displacing the transitional programme altogether. The houses were

managed for Aboriginal residents by the Department of Native Welfare until1972

when control of the houses transferred to the State Housing Commission (SHC)

(which became known as Homeswest in 1984).

The town housing project was not considered a success. Again according to the

survey conducted by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on

Aboriginal Housing (1975:221), the programme failed because of lack of

Aboriginal readiness to make the transition from reserve to town, Shire

opposition to Aboriginal housing, and significantly lack of adequate funding

from the Federal Government.

Overall, the amount of town housing provided in the 1960s was low, great

enough perhaps to increase expectation, but too limited for the numbers looking

for dwellings. Under the administration of the Department of Native Welfare,

with its limited budget and its timidity in the face of non-Aboriginal

opposition/opinion, there was little prospect of the situation changing.

According to Heppell (1979:13) the conventional houses provided in Western

Australia by 1971 (329 in all) were sufficient to house only about 5% of the

State's Aboriginal population.

606

A significant change came in 1971 with the abolition of the Departtnent of Native

Welfare and the transfer of housing responsibilities to the State Housing

Commission. This was followed in late 1972 with the election of the Whitlam

Labor Government at the Federal level, with its commitment to Aboriginal

'self-determination' and vastly increased resources to Aboriginal affairs.

Aboriginal housing became a priority of the new government, its aim being to see

that 'all Aborigines should be housed in conventional houses to the same

standard as that of the European community' (House of Representatives Standing

Committee on Aboriginal Housing, 1975:221).

Later came a number of initiatives on the State level. One was the strengthening

of the Homemaker Service, a community-based welfare service funded by the

Department for Community Welfare (DCW) which had been established in 1968.

Homemakers were employed on a part-time basis to assist Aboriginal families in

areas such as home-management, child-care and social adjustment (DCW Guide

to Services, 1981 :7). This initiative was followed in 1978 with the

establishment of the Aboriginal Housing Board (AHB), under the auspices of the

State Housing Commission. The AHB was meant to play both an advisory role

to government and to administer the existing stock of Aboriginal housing. The

AHB however was not given any real power and there is little evidence to

suggest it has had any influence on SHC/Homeswest policy. For instance,

according to Gevers (1983:6), against the advice of AHB , the Commission

allocated 75% of the Federal Assistance Aboriginal Housing Grant to village

programmes in the north-west of the state in 1982-83. This left approximately

$600,000 from the total allocation of $7,000,000 for rental housing construction

in the rest of Western Australia.

The shift in philosophy implied by the talk of 'self-determination' and the

commitment to Aboriginal equality in the area of housing, were not matched by

official practice. For its part, Homeswest continues to operate in terms of

assimilationist ideas. One manifestation of this is the approach colloquially

referred to as the 'salt and pepper' or 'social mix' policy. This policy authorises

the 'sprinkling' of Aboriginal families throughout the metropolitan area. South­

west Aboriginal, Ken Colbung, an early critic of this approach, described the

logic behind the 'salt and pepper' or 'social mix' policy:

The white people come along and say, 'look, we want to put you into our society, but we are not going to take you as one big group because you might bash us up so we will put you here, one you there, and another there, here and all around' ... The white people were mad ... [Colbung, 1975:29].

Within the 'salt and pepper' policy, the Commission said it expected Aborigines

to:

.. . maintain an accepted standard of domestic hygiene, social behaviour and credit worthiness, and to these ends assistance will be given by the officers of the Commission with the co-operation of the Department for Community Welfare, the Community Health Service and the Homemaker Service [House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Housing,

1975:223].

Again, a response from Ken Colbung:

Sure you say 'we put them in good houses and they don't even know how to look after them'. If you had been living for years on the rubbish tips and nothing else you wouldn't know how to look after a house either ... [1974:29].

The State Housing Commission soon adopted, and Homeswest continues to

follow the so called 'saturation point' policy, which involves a limit established

by housing authorities on the number of families of Aboriginal descent who can

be accommodated in particular areas. Once the 'saturation point' is reached,

further Aboriginal people cannot be housed in that area. This means that even

though a house may be vacant, and an Aboriginal family in need of a home, it

will remain vacant or be allocated to a non-Aboriginal family regardless of time

spent on waiting lists.

608

13.2 Aboriginal housing needs

The number of houses provided by public housing authorities has also proved to

be far short of Aboriginal requirements, despite the large increase in funds

allotted in the 1970s. Various estimates have been made of the size of the

shortfall. For example in 1977 Henderson (1979:452) calculated that the

housing backlog for the State as a whole was 3,000 units. She further indicated

that the rate of new construction and acquisition was not keeping pace with the

rate of new family formation (225-250 families per year). Perhaps indicating that

some progress had been made, the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority

reported a backlog of 2,500 units in 1981 (AAPA Annual Report, 1981:3).

Gevers (1983:6) reported two years later that:

there are currently 905 Aboriginal families listed with the SHC for rental accommodation. If these families are only allowed access to the SHC ... they will experience lengthy waits before being housed ... families deemed to be in 'emergent' need of housing must wait at least 15 months for housing whereas other families (placed on a wait tum basis) must wait up to five years.

In response to a request from my Commission, Homeswest provided the

following details regarding current 'Aboriginal Rental Applicants'.

609

Table 13: Aboriginal Rental Application,Western Australia, 1990

BRANCH OFFICE TOTAL

Mirrabooka Region 207

Fremantle Region 81

Cannington Region 113

Albany Region 52

Bunbll_IY Region 77

Merredin Re_gjon 132

Gerald ton Region 186

North West 358

STATE TOTAL 1206

(Source: Homeswest, Perth, 31 May 1990.)

Given that, as observed earlier, Aboriginal people constitute only 2.7% of the

population in this state, the backlog of 1,206 units is alarming. What is even

more alarming, is that evidence gathered by my Commission, demonstrated that

the figures collected by Homeswest may not always reflect the reality. For

instance, in Kalgoorlie I heard that:

there are 80-90 people homeless who are living at Nannygoat Hill [RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, June 1990:553].

And in Carnarvon, it was reported that 'there is a 12 month waiting list'

(RCIADIC Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990: 178). A further example is that in

Northam, there were 21 Aboriginal families currently listed for housing. One of

these was for a large family needing a five bedroom home (RCIADIC Transcript,

Northam, 1990:201-203).

Some of the major concerns put before me in relation to housing were

homelessness and waiting to be accommodated. Significantly most of those who

died in custody were described as 'homeless'. Overall, two of the major

610

concerns expressed throughout various meetings and conferences were racism

and powerlessness. As an example of this view, in Carnarvon, Homeswest

representatives stated:

I do have a tendency to speak down to people, but it is not just the black community in Carnarvon [RCIADIC Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990:175].

A lot of vandalism goes on after people leave the property [RCIADIC Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990: 177].

Views such as these are, unfortunately, common place. (See also Equal

Opportunity Commission Report on The State Housing Commission', yet to be

released by State Government, which provides detailed di scussion concerning

matters raised here). What makes these views especially alarming is that they

have the direct and indirect capacity to affect Aboriginal people's approach to

housing authorities. Given that, as noted elsewhere, Aboriginal people primarily

have to exist on some form of DSS entitlement they are, as a consequence, only

in the position of seeking access to accommodation through government

instrumentalities. Difficulties associated with access, and manifestations of

powerlessness, are reflected in the following accounts:

• People living in the Geraldton hostel are often people who have been put out of Homeswest housing [RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton, 1990:492].

• they have to pay off rent arrears and repairs to the last place before they can get another one [RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton, 1990:492].

• Some of the 'fringe dwellers' in Kalgoorlie have been living there since 1972 [RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:72].

• People's priorities are everything except paying the rent, and it's like, 'well I had to bu food this week', or 'gotta buy my kids some clothes', or 'school costs' [RCIADIC Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990:460].

611

The judgements fonned by the housing officer do two things: (i) reveal attitudes

toward Aboriginal people who are struggling to survive, and (ii) reveal the

Aboriginal struggle.

The Aboriginal struggle to survive is also manifest in what can be cited as fonns

of resistance. The following points demonstrate my meaning here:

I have never struck such anti-feeling towards me as white personnel ... it all happens on pension day ... I myself have been subjected to well, not physical abuse, but in a car trying to get at me ... [we have] instructions not to go near, [the] village on pension day [RCIADIC Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990:174-175].

According to an AHB official, there are some improvements in relation to

housing in the goldfields regions. Given that this region is one where the

material conditions of Aboriginal people struck me as among some of the worst I

have ever witnessed, the following comment is, perhaps, somewhat misleading

and symptomatic of where policies and practice differ:

In Kalgoorlie I seem to be very pleased with the way things are going with Aboriginal housing at present because we have a programme where we are constantly building houses with building programme for each year. We also have other aspects that we are very pleased with in the fonn of funds made available for the relining of the older type houses where they are tin-lined.

[There] maybe one or two white people that are occupying Aboriginal Housing Board homes. That is where perhaps we have not had any applications for the houses at that time and there has been an overflow of white people so we have housed them [RCIADICTranscript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:149-151].

Of interest also is that 38% of public housing in Kalgoorlie is occupied by

Aboriginal people, as the following table indicates:

612

Aboriginal Non-Aboriginal

Coolgardie 28 13

Leonora 35 42

Menzies 5 3

Kalgoorlie/Boulder 76 850

With regard to Aboriginal housing in the State, the following graph, compiled

from ABS data, reveals how peoples housing needs are distributed:

Graph 5: Aboriginal housing, Western Australia, 1986

3000 2500 2000 1500

1000 500 0

Ownd. Purchsd. H/Wst .Other/Govt. Other L/Lord. Inad. Despn.

Overall, there continues to be an obvious and urgent need to address the housing

requirements of Aboriginal people in this State. While there are signs that there

are measures in place to consider the views and experiences of Aboriginal

people, such as the establishment of an independent Appeals Tribunal to hear

complaints against Homeswest by tenants, and Aboriginal people are now being

involved in the construction and design of housing in some areas (see response

to RCIADIC questions to Homeswest, 6 and 7 July 1990), there still exist major

613

discrepancies between government policy and practice with regard to Aboriginal

people and their housing demands.

Complaints about housing from Aboriginal people in this State are not rare, nor

are they new, and again we find an area that has been well researched and

documented, but where government has failed to act.

The sorts of concerns reflected throughout my report which impinge on matters

to do with housing, can also be found in the following reports and publications:

Equal Opportunity Report on the State Housing Commission (1990, yet to be

released); AIU Submission to RCIADIC (1990); AAPA Inquiry into services to

remote Aboriginal Communities (1990); Equal Opportunity Commission into

Essential Services to remote Aboriginal Communities (1990); Submission to my

Commission from Brewer Street Rights and Advocacy Service (May 1990).

These are just a few of the most recent documents that have been produced on

this crucial matter.

614

Chapter 14

THE STRUGGLE FOR HEALTH

At the outset, it is essential to recognise that traditional and contemporary

aspects of Aboriginal health care can often be contrasted in both practice and

philosophy to present day western medicine.

Traditionally, health care was embedded in beliefs and practices about life and

death, and relationships to kin. Health care was not viewed separately from

other aspects of Aboriginal life, and knowledge about health was generalised,

except for the particular role played by traditional healers, or 'mabam', and

certain rituals performed by women and men when occasion called for collective

care. From a non-Aboriginal perspective, the essential difference in health care

perceptions and remedies, lies with the cause of illness. This is because

Aboriginal people broadly believed, and in many areas continue to believe, that

mortality and morbidity are brought about by influences largely outside their

own control. These are sometimes referred to as 'supernatural' forces, and

Aboriginal people, within particular language groups, have their own

terminologies to describe these 'supernatural' forces. Overall, preserving health

and curing illness were, and are in many instances, important features of

Aboriginal life. The combination of health being viewed as a shared, public and

collective responsibility for all members of a group, becomes manifest in beliefs

and practices that range from performing a certain ritual, to the collection and

use of bush food and medicine to engender wellbeing. This approach differs

markedly from western medicine with its emphasis on an impersonal,

technological and disease-specific approach. Some of these complex matters

and the need to appreciate Aboriginal perspectives of health care, combined with

the lack of appropriate delivery care and resources, and the marginalised material

615

conditions still experienced by many Aboriginal people in this State in relation to

health, are reflected throughout the following material.

Health is a crucial factor in the present day quality of life of Aboriginal people.

More importantly the quality of life of Aboriginal people is the crucial factor in

detennining the health of the Aboriginal community. If we consider the people

who come within the Tenns of Reference of the Commission, it is immediately

obvious that ill-health is a common link. In this section the broader perspectives

of health and the Aboriginal community are considered. It is intended to discuss

the deaths in custody in relation to the poor health status within the Aboriginal

community, and the consequent high incidence of Aboriginal deaths outside

custody so that a clear connection can be made between them. Establishing the

deaths in this context is essential if the structural detenninants of ill-health, and

hence premature death, are to be addressed. These include the socio-cultural,

political and economic factors which detennine the lack or denial of access to

services, material resources, and empowennent.

At the time of colonisation the health of Aboriginal people was high when

compared with that of the British colonisers (National Aboriginal Health

Strategy, 1989; Swan, 1988; Kamien, 1980). This is in stark contrast to the

current health status within the Aboriginal community which has been described

as worse than any other world population for whom records exist (Health

Targets and Implementation Health For All Committee, 1988:2).

It is appropriate to consider what definition of health is being used, as there is

some diversity within the Aboriginal community regarding what is the

appropriate definition of health for their community or group. The World Health

Organisation (WHO) defines health as not just the absence of disease but a state

of complete physical, mental and social well being. The National Aboriginal

Health Strategy (NAHS) 1989, discusses the concept of health used by

Aboriginal people and concludes that an appropriate definition of health is:

616

Not just the physical well-being of the individual but the social, emotional, and cultural well-being of the whole community. This is a whole-of-life view and it also includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life [p. x].

The NAHS Working Party (NAHSWP) document goes on to comment, when

examining primary health care, that Aboriginal people should exercise

self-determination, and hence responsibility, 'with respect and regard for all'.

They contrast this with the specific agency style approach adopted by the wider

community and the way this has led to 'a pre-occupation with diseases and

organisations rather than with the underlying, often non-medical, causes of ill

health' (p.xi). This definition of health and approach to service provision is in

accord with the direction of the WHO over recent years with the Alma Ata

Declaration of 1977, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) and the

conference on Healthy Public Policy held in Adelaide (1988). Though some

governments and service providers are starting to use these broader definitions of

health to guide their approach to health care issues, the majority of health care is

still provided in the context of the curative/medical model of health.

14.1 Historical perspective

The current poor health status within the Aboriginal community can largely be

attributed to the extreme poverty and social and cultural deprivation resulting

from the oppression and dispossession which has occurred in Western Australia

since 1829. The failure of the non-Aboriginals to allow Aboriginal people to

continue maintenance of their own life style; the exposure to new introduced

diseases; the disruption of communities by forced relocation (Bassett-Scarfe,

RCIADIC Transcript, Albany, May 1990; Haebich, 1988:67,85,113,208-211);

and of family groups by the forced removal of children, resulted in marked

changes in health. This was compounded by the denial of access to basic

requirements for a healthy life namely: sustainable income, shelter, education,

basic resources (clean water, food) and services such as health care and waste

disposal (Swan, 1988). What is so often forgotten or overlooked in terms of

Aboriginal health is the importance of land for spiritual as well as material

617

welfare. If Aboriginal people did require health care there was no guarantee that

they would receive it, owing to the absence of health services near them, the

inability to pay for services, and the reluctance to treat Aboriginal people.

Haebich (1988:143-144) records the increasing denial of access to hospital

facilities from 1911 on with some hospitals providing only tent accommodation,

some providing 'out patient' services only, and some requiring seriously ill

Aboriginal people to be accommodated in the local gaol. This led to the

development of poorly resourced health care facilities solely for the Aboriginal

community. By 1935 there were only three local hospitals which Aboriginal

people had sure access to in Western Australia: Wyndham, Broome and the

leprosarium at Derby (Haebich, 1988; Saggers and Gray, 1990).

Despite government's early attempts at imposing assimilation policies on the

Aboriginal community as early as 1939, it was not until 1951 that this was

accepted as official government policy. With the substitution of assimilation for

segregation, access to health services was more at the 'whim' (or prejudice) of

the provider or institution. In the 1960s it was not uncommon for Aboriginal

people to wait in separate segregated waiting rooms before seeing the doctor, or

to be refused service (Saggers and Gray, 1990). Even in the 1980s there were

stories of Aboriginal people in the south-west having to wait in separate areas if

they wished to see the local doctor. In some isolated country towns, up until

1990, Aboriginal people were required to travel some 75kms to the next town in

order to see a doctor (RCIADIC Transcript, Gnowangerup, May 1990). People

living in remote communities today are still reliant on fortnightly visits provided

by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) (RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie,

1990).

In 1973 the Commonwealth Department of Health and the Department of

Aboriginal Affairs (DAA) proposed a National Plan for Aboriginal Health which

aimed to remove the inequities in health between the Aboriginal community and

the wider community by 1983. Despite this and the recommendations of the

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, prioritising

618

strategies to address some of the health inequalities, communities and groups still

do not have access to clean water, let alone other basic services important to

ensure health is maintained (NAHSWP 1989, Lord St camp, RCIADIC

Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990).

14.2 Current health status

There has been a significant improvement in some of the markers used to

measure health status. However, infant mortality is still up to three times that of

the wider community, life expectancy at birth remains twenty years less than that

of the wider community (the average age at death of the people whom the Royal

Commission is primarily investigating in Western Australia is 32 .5 years), death

rates are up to four times greater and the incidence of nearly every disease is

greater than in the wider community (NAHS, 1989; Health Department of

Western Australia, 1990).

Information supplied by the Health Department of Western Australia includes the

view that Aboriginal health has not improved during the 1980s. However, an

indication of the inaccuracies in the current state of Aboriginal health statistics,

can be seen in the variation of the infonnation supplied to the Commission by

Health Department of Western Australia regarding the incidence of suicide in the

Aboriginal community. On 20 March 1990, the Health Department of Western

Australia's Director of Epidemiology wrote to the Commission stating that eleven

Aboriginal people had committed suicide in the period 1983-1988. The

Department's later response to specific questions in July 1990, included the

statement that there had been twenty-one suicides in the Kimberley alone during

the 1980s. It is significant to note that seventeen of these suicides occurred

before 1988, and eight after 1988.

A recent report by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

states that the rate of tuberculosis in some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities is up to 20 to 50 times the rate of the wider population (The Age

619

Newspaper, 12 July 1990:6). Some health problems may not be immediately

obvious but have a significant impact on the person affected. Recently the State

Wide Ear Health Advisory Committee (SWEHAC) conducted a survey of ear

problems in two Aboriginal communities. They found that 45% of children and

36% of adults in Wiluna, and 40% of children and 45% of adults in La Grange,

had significant ear health problems (perforation or hearing loss) in at least one ear

(SWEHAC, 1989). The consequences of hearing loss and access to education

are obvious.

It is important to observe that the data collected to date does not address the issue

of well-being as a marker for ill-health. Current data collection is oriented

around defined diseases, and tends to be based on health service/client contact.

Consequently, it has limitations as far as accuracy is concerned. The readily

available data regarding health status consists of hospital separation (discharge)

data, death certificates, data from other health agency/client contact or

occasionally from population surveys. The latter give the most accurate

information but are expensive and time consuming and are usually performed in

small 'representative' sample populations and then extrapolated, rather than in

the whole population, which can often prove to be unreliable (see

e.g. Streatfield, 1990).

Hospital or other health agency/client contact data only provides information on

the client population that they actually have contact with and depends on what the

health care worker records. These tend to result in underestimations of illness

patterns due to the failure of the providers to access all those in need within a

community and also because only the major health problems dealt with at the time

of contact are usually recorded. Death certificates again underestimate the true

ill-health patterns in the population, as they usually only include the major health

problems suffered by a person around the time of death, at best, or an inaccurate

cause of death at worst. There are also problems with the date that death

certificates are actually lodged and recorded. There can be up to a 20% error in

the date of registration of a death compared with the actual date of death. For

620

example in a current mortality survey being conducted in Western Australia one

death, which occurred in 1984, was not registered until1989.

Another difficulty with Aboriginal health statistics is who defines a person's

Aboriginality. With both health agency/client contact data and death certificates,

this person is usually the health care worker, and is often based on skin colour

rather than the person's own identification as Aboriginal. A significant point is

that Aboriginality has only been recorded on death certificates since 1983.

In keeping with the definition of health used by the NAHSWP, it is appropriate

to monitor health outcomes in a manner consistent with that definition. Namely,

it is inappropriate to say there is less of a certain disease or group of diseases and

hence conclude that health is improving if the social or cultural well-being of the

community is deteriorating and not being monitored, or commented on.

There is substantial evidence in the lives of Aboriginal people to support the

correlation between socio-economic status and health status. The difficulties of

trying to maintain one's health, when the basic necessities of life are not readily

accessible, and are often denied, has been a recurrent theme in the community

consultations conducted by the Commission. Issues such as poverty,

overcrowding, unemployment, lack of access to mainstream services, as well as

poor resourcing of existing Aboriginal and some mainstream services were

frequently raised.

The Black Report (1980) concludes that unequal health status can only be

understood in relation to social factors such as poverty and poor working

conditions. This report supports the notion that just the provision of seiVices and

the removal of the economic constraints on access to health care, via the free

National Health Service, is not enough to remove the inequities in health. Whilst

there continues to be a relative deprivation there will continue to be inequalities in

health. McMichael (1987) comments on the same trends existing in Australia,

with social factors being the strongest determinants of health. His analysis of

621

Australian mortality figures shows a consistent correlation between poverty and

almost all cause of death categories. When considering morbidity (illness)

figures, poor health again correlates with social class. In particular there is a very

strong connection between unemployment and mental health. Employment does

more than merely provide the material resources for existence. It also impacts on

self-esteem and social identity. Consequently unemployment may cause anxiety,

depression, loss of self-esteem and increased suicide rates. It has been shown

that even short term unemployment can have long term negative impacts on

health, let alone the effects of chronic unemployment which is common in the

Aboriginal community.

The issues concerning denial of employment should be clear from the earlier

section. However figures from 'Health for all Australians' (1988), show that

53% of the Aboriginal community in Australia are dependent on income from the

Department of Social Security (DSS), compared with only 11% of the

non-Aboriginal community. Of the people who are central to this Commission,

those who died in custody in Western Australia, most were in receipt of some

form of income from DSS. The preceding discussion should not be interpreted

in a simplistic manner. The provision of employment alone, as with the

provision of health services alone, will not address the poor health status and

must always be considered in that context. Any consideration of employment

opportunities for Aboriginal people needs to include, what is appropriate

employment in an Aboriginal context. The ability to be able to meet ones social

and cultural obligations must be accommodated.

There has been much comment recently about the increasing incidence of

'lifestyle' diseases within the Aboriginal community. These include such things

as cardiovascular disease, diabetes (up to eight times more common in the

Aboriginal community) and high blood pressure (more than twice as common).

There has not been sufficient comment as to the reasons for this increase. It is

important to place this change in health patterns in terms of increasing social

622

inequalities. Then an understanding of the structural economic detenninants of

this are more readily recognised. Otherwise it is too easy for commentators to

blame the victims of these changing health patterns and ignore the unequal power

relations which exist between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal society.

14.3 Service delivery

Many Aboriginal people don't feel that they can access mainstream services and indeed they've been made to feel that way [RCIADIC Transcript, Albany, 1990:291].

Nyoongars tend not to approach hospitals unless they are very sick. There is a psychological distance, which is as great in its effect as the geographical distance experienced by Aborigines in the north of the State [Wilkes in Choo, 1990:64].

Community based, community controlled Aboriginal Health Services (AHSs)

have largely developed in response to the inequality in health status of Aboriginal

people, when compared with the rest of the Australian population, and the

inequity in access to mainstream services.

In 1971 the first community controlled Aboriginal Health Service commenced

operation in Redfern, Sydney. In Western Australia the Perth Aboriginal

Medical Service was the first and commenced operations in East Perth in 1973.

Currently there are 64 AHSs funded via the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Commission (ATSIC) (formerly Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA)). The

overriding role of these Services is to provide broad-based culturally appropriate

services which enable the local community to be in control of the Service. AHSs

attempt to approach health care issues at the curative, educative and preventative

level as well as advocating for social change. It was the conclusion of the

NAHSWP that the variation in political and philosophical approaches to health

between the Federal and State governments and the Aboriginal communities had

led to the uneven development and promotion of programmes in Aboriginal

health and well-being. Consequently there have developed inequalities in access

to community based services depending on where people live. It has also led to

623

the ongoing battle the AHSs engage in for continued or increased funding to meet

their perceived needs.

The demands made by DAA for AHSs to justify ongoing funding by

performance indicators which relate to changes in disease patterns and numbers

of client-service contacts, rather than in community development terms, means

that there is a continuing ideological division between the service providers and

the principal funding body. The recent history of the AHS in Roebourne reflects

this. The need for appropriate and acceptable health services for the Roebourne

Aboriginal community was accepted by DAA when they agreed to fund the

Marwankarra Health Service from 1983. However, as a result of a review, the

Marwankarra Health Service had its funding cut in 1989 by DAA who told them

which staff to sack and what services they could no longer provide, including

ceasing to fund the doctor's salary. The staff positions following the sackings

were not filled in order to make savings to cover the budget over run. They now

have to rely on Medicare rebates for the doctor's position which is staffed for six

hours a week by a doctor from Wickham, some 30 kms away. They have had to

cut back on maintenance for vehicles (all five of which are 5 years old and can

not be replaced, due to DAA's refusal to fund capital costs). DAA also split the

funding into a health centre and an alcohol centre without informing the Service

(E. Tierney, Mawarnkarra Health Service, RCIADIC Transcript, Roeboume,

1990:313-16). DAA's justification for ceasing the funding for the doctor's

salary, following the review, included that the position represented duplication of

existing mainstream services (RCIADIC Transcript, Roebourne, 1990:409).

A further example of the failure of funding bodies to understand the broader

issues involved in the value of community controlled services is the comment at

the RCIADIC Roebourne conference, by an ATSIC employee, that the

community should try to encourage the Health Department of Western Australia

to get its doctor to work in with the AHS more (RCIADIC Transcript,

1990:428-9). It should be noted that mainstream services do not usually equal

community controlled services in their ability to empower workers or consumers,

624

nor in their ability to provide an appropriate service which is flexible and more

readily responsive to community demand. It would seem more appropriate that if

the funding body has difficulty with the way a community organisation utilises

its funds, they should provide support to enable a community to initiate more

appropriate utilisation, or fund the agency adequately so that the community's

needs may be more readily met. This would be consistent with the WHO's

philosophy on appropriate methods for effective primary health care service

delivery. Another difficulty AHSs have is the time it can take to convince

funding bodies of the need for their service. For example, the Geraldton

Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (GRAMS) operated for two years with

voluntary workers before funding was approved (RCIADIC Transcript,

Gerald ton, 1990:21 ). The staff from AHSs commented on the need for

additional resources so that they could more adequately service their

communities. Discussion provided in the next Section (14.4) regarding NAHS

funding needs to be considered in light of these comments.

The difficulty in obtaining adequate resources to operate community based health

services is not restricted to Aboriginal groups, as highlighted by the battle of the

Multi-Cultural Women's Health Centre in Fremantle. It took three and a half

years of voluntary work before they received any funding (for one full time

worker, a half time receptionist and a nurse for three days a week). They have

been lobbying for some time to get funding for an Aboriginal worker with no

success (RCIADIC Transcript, 1990:208-1 0).

The Aboriginal Health Services incorporate Aboriginal belief systems and

concepts of health and illness into their style of operation, and hence achieve a

much greater degree of success in acceptance by members of the Aboriginal

community with whom they work. They aim to be multipurpose resource

centres, with health rather than medicine as the focus , which are community

controlled via participation of the local community. They tend to approach health

in a broad perspective and in community development terms (RCIADIC

Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990). Some of the benefits are: a service which is

625

acceptable and accessible to the community it serves; the holistic approach to

health which means more of a person's issues are dealt with, rather than just the

presenting complaint; some prevention of overt or covert racism by staff;

prevention of unethical behaviour; a social and cultural awareness of the people

they serve; avoidance of inaccurate diagnoses due to erroneous presumptions

about ways of living; provision of cultural support to its community; having as a

priority the raising of the community's health status; provision of education,

employment and training to the Aboriginal community; flexibility to

accommodate changing needs (RCIADIC Transcript, Roe bourne, 1990: 313;

RCIADIC Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990:369).

Some simple examples of how AHSs remove some of the barriers to access to

health services are: not using an appointment system for most of their services;

employing a majority of Aboriginal staff; and not charging clients or, if they are

required to as part of their funding requirement, bulkbilling for all their clients.

Most AHSs use and respect traditional Aboriginal health practices. There is a

great variation between the individual AHSs depending on the community which

runs it. One of the advantages of having local community based services is that

they can provide services in a manner which is desired by the community, and

hence they are more likely to be utilised by them. However one of the biggest

restrictions on the type of services offered by AHSs is what the funding agency

will fund. For example, the inability of the Marwankarra AHS to employ a

doctor; the ten year battle by the Perth Aboriginal Medical Service (PAMS) to

obtain funding for a dental clinic despite the precedent in some AHSs in other

states; and the difficulty experienced by most Services obtaining funds to employ

sufficient Aboriginal Health Workers (AHWs) to meet the communities' needs.

Sorrie AHSs in Western Australia call themselves Medical rather than Health

Services. This could be interpreted to reflect the style of service provided

i.e. more of a medical model style vs the broader approach favoured by those

who use a broad definition of health. However it seems to be an historical

artifact which individual health services have not seen as a priority to change. It

is important to be aware of the role that doctors and other non-Aboriginal staff

626

play in the AHSs. In some services the doctor/s exert their influence and tend to

control the direction of the service and its interaction with the community. This

power may be given to, or assumed by, the non-Aboriginal professionals in

AHSs. O'Connor (1988) comments on this occurring with the Wiluna AHS.

During the Commission's Broome conference the following comments were

made:

Our medical director said that the job was getting too big for the individual services so we should have a body that would administrate the secretarial and all the financial side of the AMSs for looking after money and writing letters and submissions and this sort of thing [RCIADIC Transcript, Broome, 1990: 13]; And, we usually get our directions from the medical director which is our leading light [RCIADIC Transcript, Broome,

1990:14 ].

This may be acceptable if the doctor is using a social model of health. However

if a more narrow approach is being followed (such as the medical model) then

the most likely consequence is the community being less able to maintain control

of the direction of the service. Certainly at the least there is a reinforcement of

the powerlessness within the service and the community and the much greater

chance of developing conflicts between the doctor and the AHS administration.

It is vital for the community to maintain effective power within the AHS. This is

one of the tenets of the reorientation of health services as outlined in the Ottawa

Charter for Health Promotion, the WHO Health For All programme and the

NAHSWP report.

There are also criticisms of the Aboriginal Health Services within the State.

Some of these arise from basic ideological conflicts with the notion of the need

for so called 'separate' services for the Aboriginal community. The word

'duplication' was frequently used by critics of the AHSs. The reality is, as stated

in the transcripts of the Carnarvon Conference, if mainstream services were

meeting Aboriginal health needs, then why is the health status of Aboriginal

people so poor and why do all AHSs report the inability to meet the demand

placed on their services? Another issue is, if mainstream services meet the needs

627

of the wider community so well, why do so many non-Aboriginal people utilise

the services of AHSs, in particular, Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service

(BRAMS) and GRAMS (RCIADIC Transcripts, Broome and Geraldton, 1990).

Certainly the AHSs need to acknowledge that there is room for improvement in

the quality of the service they provide. The absence of 'in-service' style training;

the absence of orientation programmes for new staff (especially for non­

Aboriginal staff); the inability to meet community demands due to insufficient

resourcing; the need to ensure that clients have ready access to health care

workers of the sex of their choosing; and the occasional refusal to comply with

clients' requests regarding medico-legal matters, are some of the issues

mentioned during the Commission's consultation process (RCIADIC Broome,

Geraldton, Roeboume and Perth Transcripts, 1990).

The use of AHSs by non-Aboriginal people can create a potential problem of

Aboriginal people having to compete with non-Aboriginal people for service at an

AHS. Despite the claims of ATSIC (1989), there are still significant numbers in

the Aboriginal community in Western Australia who do not have ready access to

a community controlled health service (e.g. the south-west, central desert,

Fitzroy Crossing, Wiluna). Considering the poverty that exists in these areas it

is unrealistic to expect people in need of health care to travel any distance to

available health care (see e.g. Toussaint, 1989:30-35, regarding socio-economic

indicators for Fitzroy Crossing). It is also against the Alma Ata Declaration

(1978) which states that for primary health services to be effective, they should

not only be affordable, appropriate and acceptable, but also accessible, as well as

having community input.

The need for a National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health organisation as

stated in the NAHS and supported by the Aboriginal Health Development Group

Report is an important structural step to enable AHSs to support each other,

share information, prioritise needs and directions. This will need to be resourced

as it would have a separate role to the proposed Council of Aboriginal Health

(CAH) and Office of Aboriginal Health (OAH). Similarly, there is a need for the

628

State community controlled Aboriginal health services organisations to be

adequately resourced. The consequent support, information sharing and

identification of priority need and directions would not be fulfilled by the

proposed State Triparite Forum. The role of the forum should be broader and be

more involved in promoting and resolving issues related to intersectoral

co-operation (NAHS, p.40).

14.4 Aboriginal Health Workers and employment

There are two Aboriginal Health Worker Education schemes in the State. One is

run by the Health Department of Western Australia (HOW A) and the other is run

by the AHSs in the state. They follow different ideologies and educational

processes. The Health Department of Western Australia scheme is an in-service

style education programme for people employed as AHWs. The Aboriginal

Health Worker Education Programmes (AHWEPs) run by the AHSs tend to be

more oriented around skills and information sharing, to increase the level of

health awareness and, in some cases, advocacy skills, in the Aboriginal

community. The lack of resources in the AHSs, and in the Aboriginal

community in general, means that a lot of the graduates from the AHS AHWEPs

tend not to be employed in the AHSs nor in the Aboriginal community.

However many do go on to employment or further study following successful

completion of their courses (personal communication between Joan Winch and

Liz Gray, Perth Aboriginal Medical Service, 1989).

The Health Department of Western Australia employs AHWs throughout the

State. However, there are only 84 in the State, some of whom are part-time.

The career structure for AHWs employed by the Health Department is extremely

limited. They are covered by a separate award (Health Workers- Community

and Child Health Services Award, 1980) and may be employed as an AHW, an

AHW Special or a Regional Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer (RAHLO). There

are only 7 RAHLO positions in the State. They have no real supervisory role,

just a liaising one with the AHWs in their region (The AHW Review, 1986).

629

AHWs employed by AHSs are covered by a different Award (Aboriginal

Medical Services Employees' Award (Award No. A.26 of 1987)) which

provides for seven different levels of employment: 'Field Officer',

'Environmental Health Worker', 'Conditionally Registered Health Worker', 'A

Fully Certificated Health Worker', 'A Fully Certificated Health Worker -Medication Certificate Grade 1 ', 'A Fully Certificated Health Worker -Medication Certificate Grade 2' and 'Regional Health Co-ordinator'. The wages

for these jobs are incremented at five levels from year one to year eight and this

represents an income range from $361.80 to $662.00 per week. These wages

are the minimum under the award and do not include district allowance, outpost

availability allowance nor a supervisory allowance, all of which are included

under the A ward.

The Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union of Australia (Western Australian

Branch) is the union responsible for the workers covered by both awards. In the

past the AHSs have adopted a rather loose approach to both employing people at

certain levels under the Award and ensuring that people are able to progress

along the career path available to their employees. Currently negotiations are

being conducted under the second stage of the award restructuring process to

ensure that there will be a commitment by the respective employers to enable

workers to proceed along the career path laid out in the A ward. The creation of a

career path under the Community and Child Health Services A ward is the aim of

the union (M. Nolan, Organisor, FMWU).

In considering the relative merits of the State AHW scheme vs the community

controlled AHW programmes, the different selection criteria for acceptance and

selection must be considered. The community controlled programme tends to

accept people who are nominated by their community and accept people with a

wide range of educational experience. They also concentrate on advocacy skills

as well as health education and service provision skills. This reflects their

understanding and commitment to the broader aspects of health. In comparison

the State programme has higher entrance requirements regarding educational

630

experience and there is little consultation with the local community re

acceptability of the AHW. In many centres there are only young women

employed as AHWs which has meant that some of the needs of men in the

community are not well served by the health worker. Similarly, in other areas

where there is a male health worker employed, women's needs are not

necessarily met by the AHW. Nathan and Japanangka (1983: 185) raise the same

issue of the perceived need by communities to have access to AHWs of both

sexes. Again the WHO Alma Ata Declaration must be considered. For a

primary health service to be effective it must be acceptable, affordable,

appropriate and accessible, as well as have community input.

The current situation regarding AHW education is another example of the

inability of state and community based programmes to reach mutual agreement.

The Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University, with the support and

co-operation of the Aboriginal Health Services has developed and had accredited

an Aboriginal Health Programme. The Centre has not been able to obtain the

resources to fund it and hence cannot run it (RCIADIC Transcript, Perth,

1990:151,162; RCIADIC Transcript, Carnarvon, 1990:380). The support from

the AHSs is based on the level of Aboriginal control within the Centre and the

links it has with Curtin University, which will enable Aboriginal people to have

greater access to tertiary level education. The HDWA's preferred option is that

T AFE should provide AHW training (RCIADIC Transcript, Perth, 1990:317).

The view of the Aboriginal Health Policy Review Team is that there should not

be a debate about who provides the education, rather there should be

accreditation of the courses which meet the required standard of education, and

Aboriginal people should decide which course they prefer to enrol in. This

debate is another example of the power of the State to determine what is 'right'

for Aboriginal people and hence, potentially, disempower access to a preferred

option.

In February 1990 the Health Department of Western Australia released a report

on the Aboriginal Environmental Health Programme with particular reference to

631

future directions for the employment of Aboriginal Environmental Health

Workers (AEHWs). This contained some recommendations encouraging

delineation of who is responsible for establishing the infrastructure necessary: a

patronising statement regarding educating the community management and the

AEHW on the operation and safe use of 'hygiene, cooking, heating, cooling and

water supply systems' (p.i); and recommendations regarding the education,

location, payment and career structure for AEHWs.

The report states that the single most important limiting factor in the inability of

the Aboriginal environmental health programme to achieve its goals in some

communities has been the inability of the communities to pay the AEHWs a

living wage (p.4). Perhaps more relevant is the Department's lack of

understanding of the true causes of the poor environmental health Aboriginal

people are confronted with. This is demonstrated in the introduction of the

report which includes the following:

Many Aboriginal people have not yet been taught the necessary skills and understandings to maintain a healthy dwelling or community settlement. Nor have many been able to acquire the necessary attitudes and beliefs that motivate people to make their homes and communities healthy places in which to live. Their parents did not have these skills, attitudes, and beliefs and so could not pass them on [p.l].

The issue of appropriate education and awareness of health care workers who

interact with Aboriginal people is crucial for the delivery of health services and

increases the likelihood of positive outcomes from interaction between the people

and the health care provider. As Toussaint (1989) has observed, the failure of

the health care system to meet the needs of Aboriginal people, primarily rests

with its cultural inappropriateness and inability to be sensitive to the

socio-economic constraints which daily impinge on Aboriginal people.

Community controlled health services address some of the issues related to this.

However, as noted earlier, the failure to ensure non-Aboriginal workers receive

appropriate education and orientation prior to commencing work with the AHSs,

or any other health care service, requires urgent action.

632

It is essential to ensure that each interaction between Aboriginal people and health

care services, is as free of paternalism and personal agendas as possible. This is

encapsulated in the WHO's Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion which states

that health services need to be reoriented toward the needs of the community, be

provided in a manner which fosters empowerment within the community, as well

as becoming accountable to the communities they serve. This reorientation needs

to occur so that the services provided are determined by the community and not

the providers. Such a reorientation would enable greater effectiveness and

acceptability of the health care service.

14.5 Aboriginal health and the Federal Government

Federal Government after Federal Government has been more concerned about its political relationship with states and territory rather than justice for Aboriginal people, and their moral rights [NAHS 1989:30].

It was observed earlier that following the 1967 Referendum the Federal Government has had the power to intervene in the states in the area of Aboriginal

health. Since the early 1970s the Federal Government has been providing

financial resources to the States and territories to community controlled

organisations. Currently this is via grants from ATSIC and the Department of

Community Services and Health (DCSH) to State Government departments

(either for direct health activities or for health related services such as housing,

water, waste disposal, power), to community controlled organisations, and via

Medicare directly to providers if they bulkbill, or to the consumer if not. Since

1984-85 there has been a decrease in the amount of money granted directly by

DANATSIC to the states for specifically Aboriginal hea!th service provision.

The HDWA received approximately $10 million which has progressively

decreased down to $2.4 million in 1989-90 and zero in 1990-91 (RCIADIC

Transcripts, Health Department of Western Australia response to questions,

1990). The money no longer provided direct to the Health Department was

supposed to be redirected to community based services or health-related

633

infrastructure. Only a small proportion was reallocated to Aboriginal community

controlled organisations.

The 1988-89 Annual Report ofDAA states that its objectives in health are:

To raise the standard of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health to that of the Australian community generally.

To ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's needs are reflected in, and that they have equitable access to, programmes as clients, staff and decision makers [p.84].

It goes on to say that the Department's strategy to achieve these objectives is to

promote:

- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in the identification of health needs and of services;

- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access to, and acceptance of normal community health services;

- satisfactory environmental conditions, especially safe and adequate water supplies and waste disposal in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; and

- the establishment, where the community desires, of community controlled health services that emphasise -Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander responsibility for, and -involvement in, the improvement of their own health [p.85].

These objectives and strategies seem sound on the surface but lack the basic

understanding of the economic inequalities that have led to the current state of

Aboriginal health. Consultation and enabling community control are laudable,

however the realities of implementation portrays a different picture.

The commitment of $49 million over 1989-90 and 1990-91 under the Priority

Communities Development Strategy to 'address the total infrastructure needs in

targetted communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas' (p.85), implies

imposition not consultation. Especially as $15.9 million was designated for

Thursday Island alone and the NAHSWP stated that in 1988 DAA estimated that

634

$112 million was required, just to provide adequate water supplies and waste

disposal to communities. The Aboriginal Health Development Group's (AHDG) ·

estimate for the amount needed, in November 1989, to address the current

shortfall in basic essential services (e.g. adequate housing and infrastructure

needs) within the Aboriginal community was $2.5 billion (AHDG, 1989:26).

Another example comes from the 1988-89 Annual Report of the Department of

Aboriginal Affairs:

As part of developing a national approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health needs, in 1988-89 the Government announced that $13.5m would be spent over two years on special Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiatives. The original

allocation was for $6m in 1988-89 and $7.5m in 1989-90. This has been altered in order to meet the interim recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The figures are now $4.3m in 1988-89 and $9.2m in 1989-90 [p.86].

Though the total amount is the same there is no detailed explanation as to why

the change in allocation. The need to consider power relations re-occurs here:

the question of who decides which services are provided, where, when and by

whom needs to be answered because, on the face of it, Aboriginal people seem

to have very little.

From the discussion above, and my Commission's research and investigation

process, it is obvious that many Aboriginal communities in the State still have

poor/unsafe/minimal water supplies. Indeed this is not just an issue relevant to

remote areas. It also applies in 'suburban' Perth. The Lord Street camp in

Lockridge did not have basic services (water and electricity) connected to the new

'accommodation', provided at the site in mid-1990 by the State Government.

Within a week of the transportable unit being located on site a person died in a

fire thought to have started from a candle used for lighting ('Police Probe Fatal

Blaze', The West Australian Newspaper, 23 May 1990).

The Equal Opportunity Commission in Western Australia released a report in

July 1990, commenting on the discrimination by various organisations in the

635

provision of essential services to Aboriginal communities, citing that this could

be exacerbating the health problems experienced within the Aboriginal

community. The report mentioned the State Energy Commission of Western

Australia (SECWA), the Health Department, the Water Authority, Local

Government, and the Main Roads Department. The Human Rights and Equal

Opportunity Commission is currently conducting a national survey of the current

water resources available to Aboriginal groups and the needs which have yet to

be met. The results of this will be available toward the end of 1990.

In December 1987 the Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers for

Aboriginal Affairs and Health responded to the lack of an agreed national

Aboriginal health strategy by establishing the National Aboriginal Health Strategy

Working Party. The terms of reference included:

• Report on Commonwealth/State and community funding arrangements, including financing of primary health care services and social health programmes in Aboriginal communities.

• Develop strategies to achieve improvements in the short and long term, taking into account specific health problems, health service provision, administrative and funding arrangements, Aboriginal participation, research and data collection, and ongoing monitoring.

• Develop strategies to maximise the involvement of Aboriginal people in their own health care. Consider intersectoral co-ordination including Commonwealth, State, local and health service agency responsibilities.

• Develop a mechanism to monitor progress towards achieving targets, taking into account performance indicators developed as part of the policy.

In preparing the report the working party undertook an extensive consultation

with Aboriginal communities and groups throughout Australia and recommended

a detailed strategy to address Aboriginal health issues in Australia. Some of the

recommendations included strategies to ensure co-ordination of and community

input into policy determination, implementation and evaluation; an emphasis on

636

the need to address the structural causes of ill-health within the Aboriginal

community; mechanisms to ensure Aboriginal service delivery is appropriate,

adequately resourced and preferably provided by community controlled

organisations; and some specific recommendations regarding approaches to

specific health problems.

The Federal Government's response to the Report of the NAHSWP, at the

March 1989 meeting of the Commonwealth, State and Territory Minsters of

Health and Aboriginal Affairs, was to empower the AHDG to advise on

structural arrangements for dealing with matters raised in the report; prioritise the

areas for early action; develop funding guidelines; and to report by November

1989.

There are several points of concern with the establishment and recommendations

of the Development Group. The membership of the AHDG was comprised

mainly by senior officials of government departments (from the Department of

Community Services and Health, DAA and each of the states/territories) with

only one Aboriginal community representative. This is in direct conflict with

WHO ideology, regarding community input and control in effective health care

systems, and the whole thrust of the NAHS Report. The stated recognition of

the 'community disquiet' (AHDG, 1989:14) at this situation, and the supposed

consideration taken of any comments and suggestions from the community

representatives during the preparation of the AHDG Report, is far from

satisfactory. Its Report contained only 21 recommendations compared with the

much more detailed recommendations contained in the NAHS Report. The

AHDG recognises that it:

in no way is presenting a comprehensive plan of action to implement the NAHS [p.14].

It was thought more appropriate for the proposed Council of Aboriginal Health

(CAH) to address that task. Eight draft resolutions were presented to the

Brisbane Joint Ministers Forum in June 1990 and incorporated all of the AHDGs

637

recommendations, some for immediate implementation (Recommendations 1 ,2,

14,18,19,21) and referred others for either the proposed CAH (Recommendation

13), ATSIC (Recommendations 3,4,6 (modified),?) or the State!ferritory

Tripartite Forums (Recommendations 7,8,9,10,11,12,15,16,17,20) to address.

The proposed structure of the CAH with a majority of Aboriginal members (17

out of 29) is an important issue. The resolution at the Brisbane meeting only

stated that the Aboriginal representatives should come from each of the ATSIC

zones. The Aboriginal Advisory Group's view that they should come from

Aboriginal community controlled organisations with a health service delivery

function needs addressing. Also the representation of the Department of

Community Services and Health, A TSIC, Department of Employment Education

and Training, State and Terfitory governments does not incorporate a mechanism

to ensure that co-operation by other departments or groups (e.g. Defence,

Mining, Industry, Immigration, Environment, Pastoral Industry) via an

intersectoral approach will occur. If an overall social health model was adopted

by governments then it would be easier to ensure this cooperation if particular

groups or departments were reluctant to assume responsibility for the health

consequences of their actions.

The proposed State!ferritory Tripartite Forums provide a mechanism to ensure

that consultation, cooperation and co-ordination occurs at a State!ferritory level

and that a true intersectoral approach to the issues occurs. The suggested role of

the Forums to oversee the implementation of the Strategy, ensure intersectoral

collaboration regarding policy and impact, and to complement the role of the

CAH, is accepted and essential. However, as implied by the Aboriginal

Advisory Group (AAG), the failure to state the proposed composition of these

forums, except to say that it should include Federal, State!ferritory and

Aboriginal representation, could lead to inequity in representation of Aboriginal

groups between states. It is essential that, like the CAH, the forums provide the

opportunity for major Aboriginal representation, and again that representation

should be from community controlled organisations involved in health service

638

delivery, so that the communities' health needs are fully recognised. The

importance of Local Government in service delivery, or the lack of service

delivery, needs to be addressed, and inclusion of them in the 'Tripartite forum'

may be a mechanism to ensure this occurs.

The need for adequate resourcing of existing AHSs and the establishment of

new, community controlled Aboriginal Health Services as highlighted in the

NAHS, the AHDG report, and the resolutions of the Brisbane meeting, should

be implemented as a matter of urgency. This is a key issue, as it is not only the

provision of health services that needs to be addressed, but the provision of

adequately resourced, accessible and appropriate health services (WHO, 1978;

Atkinson and Gray, 1990). Indeed the Western Australian Aboriginal Health

Policy Review Team is of the opinion that inadequate resourcing is a significant

cause of wastage of funds. The modification of the AHDG Recommendation 6

from consultation with existing AHSs concerning their immediate needs, to

consultation with the Tripartite Forums, seems to be a filtering mechanism to

enable the decision of relative needs to be imposed, which may result in some

AHSs not being adequately resourced. The cost of $14 million for 1990-91 and

$5 million 1991-92 and thereafter implies that the need is there, and recognises

that any delay tactics must be viewed with scepticism. The AAG notes that it

was not the intention of the NAHS that the Tripartite Forums vet community

initiatives, rather they should be promoting and resolving issues related to

intersectoral cooperation (NAHS, p.40).

The stated intention to enable greater community input into developing and

implementing appropriate strategies to address the ill-health problems in

Aboriginal communities, seems at odds with the apparent reluctance to consult

directly with the community based organisations who have an intimate

understanding of the needs. It could be assumed that this is a paternalistic

attempt by decision makers to ensure that some control is kept in the decision

making process.

639

The proposal to establish an Office of Aboriginal Health (OAH) within ATSIC is

a recommendation of the NAHSWP (p.39), which included the condition that it

be appropriately resourced, and include health expertise, and that it be created by

amending the ATSIC Act (1989). The decision not to follow the NAHS

recommendation that there be an amendment to the A TSIC Act 1989 to include

this, means that the continuity of the OAH rests with the ATSIC Commissioners

and with the government of the day. This is rather tenuous and could lead to

health no longer being a priority, depending on political vagaries. The question

of who determines what is appropriate resourcing or health expertise is not

addressed by the resolutions.

There has been a delay in the implementation of the recommendation of both the

NAHS (p.206) and recommendations from the RCIADIC Interim Report (p.31),

that a national task force be set up to address the broad issues related to alcohol

use, and how to address those issues in both the long and short term. The

reason for this cited in recommendation 13 of the AHDG, restated in the

Resolutions of the Brisbane Meeting, is to await the presentation of this report of

my Commission. No definite reasons for the delay in implementation of this

recommendation have been forthcoming.

The recommendations of the AHDG regarding data collection and research are a

somewhat diluted version of the NAHS recommendations. The NAHS

emphasises a broad approach to monitoring and evaluation. The argument for

qualitative information and not just quantitative data is strong. The importance of

appropriate information collection is stressed (e.g. DAA tried to impose

'Performance Indicators' on AHSs, which were thought to place excessive

demands on the Services, and not provide useful information for improving the

service delivered). As the NAHS definition of health incorporates well-being,

equity and social justice, so should any mechanism which monitors the quality

and outcomes of a service. The simple monitoring of disease incidence only

provides part of the story. Unfortunately the resolutions adopted at the Brisbane

Forum, opt for the simplistic approach of health statistics only and ignore the

640

wider issues mentioned above. The proposal is to provide more resources to the

Australian Institute of Health (AIH) to enable them to fulfil this role.

The research and data collection recommendations contained in the Resolutions

adopted at the Brisbane Joint Ministers meeting again represent a watering down

of the original NAHS intention. The NHMRC recommendation indicates an

intention to give Aboriginal health research a higher priority, however they do

not address the issues of ethical approval for research to proceed; consultation

with communities prior to, during and after the research; consent; participation of

the community in the research; social, gender and cultural issues; ownership of

the product of the research; and exploitation of the communities' resources, all of

which are addressed in the NAHS Report. The NHMRC proposes to 'earmark a

sum of money for Aboriginal health research'. The NAHS recommendation is

more equitable, with a fixed proportion of NHMRC research funds being

committed to Aboriginal health research plus a certain amount to be given to

Community Controlled Aboriginal Health Services to participate in research.

Overall the resolutions as put to the Joint Ministers Forum represent a

progressive step in the Aboriginal health arena but they fail to uniformly address

the issues of equity and consultation as outlined above. The inconsistencies

could be a reflection of the entrenched positions of some of the players in the area

such as health statisticians, researchers and bureaucrats. There is still some way

to go before community input into policy formulation, implementation and

monitoring, as espoused by the WHO in its policies on effective primary health

care, can be said to be a reality in Aboriginal health.

A review of the Objects of the ATSIC Act 1989 (Section 3) shows that the Act

recognises the dispossession that Aboriginal people have suffered, and that the

present position of Aboriginal people in Australia is one of disadvantage. The

Act refers to furthering the economic, social and cultural development of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Section 3). However, despite the Federal

Government's Social Justice Strategy, neither social justice nor health service

641

provision or strategy is addressed as a topic in the Act. Considering that the

Department of Aboriginal Affairs has had sole responsibility for funding

Aboriginal health initiatives, except for Medicare payments, since 1984, this

would seem to be a major deficiency in the legislation.

Section 18(1) allows for loans or grants for 'the purpose of furthering the social,

economic or cultural development of Aboriginal persons or Torres Strait

Islanders'. This is the only Section which enables on-going funding to AHSs,

though there are provisions under Section 14 and Section 15 for granting of

property or funds for the acquisition of property to Aboriginal or Torres Strait

Islander corporations. As noted earlier, the NAHSWP recommended that the

A TSIC Act be amended to include an Office of Aboriginal Health (p.39). The

current wording of Section 18 of the Act allows for ATSIC to determine, in its

judgement, what is appropriate for furthering 'social, economic or cultural

development'. If health is not perceived to be fundamental to this development

then, in my Commission's view, the continuation of the past under-resourcing of

Aboriginal Health initiatives is possible.

The views put by the Department of Community Services and Health to this

Commission, at the July Heads of Government Department meetings, provide an

excellent example of the disparity between the perceptions of Government

Departments of the level of service provided by them and the reality experienced

by Aboriginal people. The DCSH is involved in a wide range of activities which

have a potential impact on Aboriginal people, including: hostel care for those

who are 'elderly' or disabled; Home and Community Care (funding only,

scheme is managed by the State); research funding (Research and Development

Grants Advisory Committee (RADGAC) and the AIH); housing via the Joint

State Commonwealth Housing Agreement and the Supported Accommodation

Assistance Plan; hearing services via the National Acoustic Laboratory;

emergency relief grants; provision of Commonwealth Medical Officers (now the

Australian Government Medical Service) who conduct medical examinations for

the Department of Social Security to help determine 'benefit' eligibility; and child

642

care ($15 million to Western Australia of which $1.9 million is allocated for

Aboriginal child care).

Despite the Department's relatively small direct client contact, most of its work is

through funding other agencies. They are attempting to address the issue of lack

of understanding amongst their workers by developing some courses in

Aboriginal cultural awareness for non-Aboriginal employees; increasing the

number of Aboriginal employees; running workshops to develop better

mechanisms for community consultation (three to date); and trying to broaden

workers' perspectives so that an entire community's needs are recognised rather

than being specifically focussed on single issues. The impression the DCSH

representatives portrayed to the Commission was that, in general, the services

they were providing met the needs of most of the Aboriginal community in

Western Australia. Their example that the five new hostels in Roebourne,

Turkey Creek, Fitzroy Crossing, Broome and Wyndham, meant that the north of

the State was well covered for hostel style accommodation for the aged, revealed

a considerable divergence from the reality.

Finally, a recent media release from current ATSIC Chairperson advised that:

unfortunately the 1990-91 Federal Budget does not allow any funds for the implementation of the National Aboriginal Health Services [O'Donoghue, Challenge for ATSIC, 22 August 1990].

As noted earlier, these sorts of delays and obstructions in relation to Aboriginal

health can be considered with some scepticism and concern by Aboriginal

people. If there are other policy alternatives or options, I was not aware of them.

643

14.6 Aboriginal health and the State Government

In May 1990 the Health Department of Western Australia released its first

strategic plan covering 1989-1990. This 315 page document defines the purpose

of the Health Department of Western Australia as being:

To protect, promote and restore health, and to provide care for the sick and disabled through the delivery of high-quality health care and efficient health services to the people of Western Australia [HDWA Report, 1990:3].

These objectives espouse the promotion of health and the prevention and

treatment of ill health, the provision of obstetric services, rehabilitation for those

who are disabled, and to provide continuing care for those with chronic ill health

or disability. The principles for achieving the stated objectives include equity of

access to services; highest quality service; understanding and responsiveness to

community needs; consultation with the 'public' re policy and programmes; co­

operation with other agencies in planning, maintaining and improving services;

and support of education of health care providers.

The Commissioner of Health's inaugural address quotes the WHO definition of

health as:

Not just the absence of disease but a state of complete physical, mental and social well being [Extract included in HDW A, A Plan For Health, 1990:10].

The Commissioner goes on to recognise the important role that other sectors play

in the determination of health within the community. However, he then proceeds

to justify the limiting of the Health Department's role to the reduction of disease

because it is easy to measure the changes in incidence and hence monitor

programme effectiveness; 'positive health is, by contrast, a concept the

measurement of which has proved elusive' (ibid).

644

In my Commission's view, it is difficult to understand why the opportunity to set

the agenda in health in Western Australia by strongly adopting the social model

of health and making it a much larger underlying premise of the strategic plan

was not taken. This reinforces the conclusions of the NAHSWP that the common

assumption in the non-Aboriginal community is that health 'is the domain of the

specific agencies established to provide care' (p.x). For example the GP, the

specialist, the Health Department or the hospital are the main places people

should access health care and they are 'expected to do what was required to make

people healthy' (p.x). This has led sectors of government instrumentalities to

have 'a pre-occupation with diseases and organisations rather than the underlying

non-medical causes of ill-health' (NAHS, p.xi).

Though Aboriginal health status is well recognised as being the worst of any

sector of the community, the Health Department of Western Australia appears not

to address it as the priority issue that others in the community consider it to be.

The response of the Cabinet Aboriginal Affairs Sub-Committee to the release of

the report of the NAHSWP and a Health Department of Western Australia

submission to the SubCommittee that 'Aboriginal health was under control' was

to establish yet another review of Aboriginal health (Dennis Gray, Evidence to

the Commission, 18 July 1990). The Western Australian Aboriginal Health

Policy Review is currently being conducted by David Atkinson and Dennis

Gray. It is significant that this review was prompted by the government rather

than the Health Department of Western Australia. Considering the great

emphasis placed on co-ordination of services and approaches in the NAHS,

1989 and the increased emphasis on community consultation, participation and

intersectoral approaches by the Health Department of Western Australia in its

Strategic Plan, it is hard not to interpret the Department's atti tude as a lack of

resolve to appropriately address the Aboriginal health inequalities in Western

Australia.

In the Health Department of Western Australia Strategic Plan Aboriginal health

seems to be far from a priority. Some attempt at raising the profile of Aboriginal

645

health has been made by establishing the Aboriginal Health Policy Unit in

January 1990. However, rather than this unit reporting direct to the

Commissioner or the Minister, it is placed under the Assistant Commissioner of

Policy and Planning. There has been considerable discussion about the size of

the unit (four people) and the people appointed to the positions. In the

programme classification Aboriginal health initiatives appear last in three of the

four programmes.

The role of the Aboriginal Health Policy Unit is: To develop strategies and to

develop policies that are State wide and also provide plans of delivery for

appropriate and accessible and acceptable health programmes for Aboriginal

people across the diversity of cultures that exist within this state'. Programme

401 and programme corporate services 1108 of 'A Plan For Health' are referred

to as specific examples of HDW A Aboriginal health programmes. The aim is to

have greater Aboriginal employment in the department; greater community

consultation; greater communication between the Health Department and

Aboriginal Health Services and other agencies involved in health care delivery in

the Aboriginal community; improve service delivery via better co-ordination of

Health Department of Western Australia activities; greater support for the

environmental health worker programme; and encourage the acceptance of

Aboriginal medical students via special entry provisions into the University of

Western Australia; looking at Aboriginal youth health needs and services; and

commitment to the tripartite forums which flow from the June Joint Ministers

Forum (RCIADIC Transcript, Perth, 1990:304-7). These aims sound

impressive but the realities of policy and ideals versus the implementation and

attitudes of those who actually have contact with Aboriginal people in the

community is quite different. The possibility of a small policy unit to influence

attitudes in the whole of a large bureaucracy is remote (Atkinson and Gray,

Evidence to the RCIADIC, 1990). On making these remarks, I realise this may

be a long term strategy that has yet to really prove its value.

646

The Commissioner of Health acknowledged that in the past the attitude of

departmental staff towards Aboriginal people had been less than ideal but that it

had improved considerably recently. The consultation process undertaken by the

Commission revealed a less than satisfactory situation. Indeed the Regional

Director of the Geraldton Mid-West Region refused to allow Community and

Child Health Service staff to attend the regional conferences in Carnarvon and

Geraldton. At the Conferences a number of comments made by Departmental

staff revealed some significant misconceptions regarding Aboriginal people and

frequently a victim blaming attitude. For example:

1. The perception, of the hospital Administrator, that there is no need for an Aboriginal Liaison Officer (ALO) at Albany Regional Hospital due to the small number of Aboriginal people who have contact with the hospital as either inpatients or in the outpatient clinics. Yet the issue had been raised to the Administrator of ARH in a phone call from Minister Pam

Buchanan's office a few days earlier in which it was stated there was a perception in the local Aboriginal community of being poorly treated at the hospital [Transcript, Albany, May 1990:119].

2. A Community Health Nurse in commenting on hygiene being a problem within the Aboriginal community stated: 'We do an ongoing education programme in Aboriginal families - washing hands after the toilet, washing hands before preparing food - this kind of thing ... the programmes we run here are just really on a one to one basis which we feel is the best way of getting things across'. Later she

admitted to be talking about 3 or 4 families out of a population of about 500 [RCIADIC Albany Transcript, 1990:121-122]. This is an example of 'describe one and colour them all' and the single issue approach alluded to earlier. The orientation for the rest of the Aboriginal community who were not members of these particular families was not stated. Where is the combined educative, preventive, curative and empowering process recognised as being the most effective?

3. . .. those three families would be the focus of three-quarters of government agency funds in this area [L. Bassett-Scarfe, RCIADIC Albany Transcript, 1990: 137] .

4. Some Departmental staff acknowledged that band-aid care is inadequate in addressing the causes of ill-health but lacked an understanding of those causes. 'We do not. add:ess. the really deep psychological reasons for why the situatiOn IS as

647

it is' [Community Health nurse, Transcript, Roeboume, 1990:267].

5. A lot of them are not even intelligent enough to look at health the way we look at health ... [Senior regional employee, HOW A. Comment to The Western Australian Aboriginal Health Policy Review Team about Aboriginal people].

Some of the non-Aboriginal health care workers attitudes reflect the lack of

understanding in the wider community. Comments made during the regional

conferences included:

The Aborigines occupies a privileged position in his relationship to law and order [RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton, 1990:110].

In response to a question about the lack of self esteem: The fundamental difficulty lies in the understanding of the social background say, of Aboriginal people. I can't imagine that thousands of years living under a certain social system, if I can use a .. . apply to it, that the genes that have been generated, the tendencies, the attitudes, the traditions and everything else that go with Aboriginal living are embedded and ingrained to such a degree that you're not going to breed this thing out of people in a matter of a generation or two [RCIADIC Transcript, Geraldton,

1990:113].

They're alcoholics in the main, the fringe dwelling Aborigines ... [RCIADIC Transcript, Kalgoorlie, 1990:28].

Native Welfare mentality's still stuck in their gluey minds [RCIADIC Transcript, Perth, I 990:287].

The failure of educators and employers to recognise the importance of providing

adequate learning opportunities to enable health care workers to develop an

understanding of Aboriginal culture, and the reality of the situation many

Aboriginal people are in, is another key factor. For example the Health

Department of Western Australia orientation programme for newly appointed

Community Health Nurses is a 105 hour course which includes a 4.3%

allocation for 'Aboriginal culture'. Aboriginal lifestyle is referred to in the

general health issues and forms 6% of the total programme. This orientation

programme occurs once a year so it may be between one to eleven months since

the Community Health Nurse commenced work with the Department.

648

The University of Western Australia Medical Faculty was approached by the

Commission regarding its teaching in the area of Aboriginal health to ensure that

socio-cultural factors are addressed adequately by its graduates. The rather

global response was that 'Clinicians ... always take into account the

socio-cultural and economic situation of all patients be they aboriginal [sic] or

caucasian. This is part of the general training in medicine' (correspondence from

Faculty of Medicine, University of Western Australia, to RCIADIC, dated

4 July 1990). This conflicts with the reality conveyed by Aboriginal people

during the term of the Commission. The formal teaching in Aboriginal health in

1990 in the whole medical course consisted of one lecture to the third year

medical students. Further ad hoc learning may occur during the rural attachment

in the sixth year and the two opportunities which exist for students to write an

essay, from a range of topics one of which is related to Aboriginal health, during

the first and sixth years of the course. In fact teaching in Aboriginal health has

actually decreased in the past two years according to some commentators

(Copeman, 1990). One hopeful step is that the Medical Faculty at UWA is

planning to admit three Aboriginal students in 1991 with less rigorous entrance

qualifications and funding permitting.

The 1989-90 Health budget in Western Australia was, according to a

departmental spokesperson, approximately $1.2 billion with around

$100 million being spent on services to Aboriginal people. It needs to be

recorded here, however, that that amount of money is not specified for

Aboriginal health. It also needs to be recorded that the figure provided to this

Commission appears to be somewhat exaggerated. The style of accounting used

by the HDW A means that there has been no mechanism to ensure that the Federal

funds provided in the past were spent on Aboriginal health. The rationale used

was that they spent much more than they were given so that would be sufficient

accountability for utilisation of those funds. Currently the Department is trying

to change to a programme planning, budgeting, and management system which

649

will allow for easier documentation of the way money is spent, and hence

accountability will improve (RCIADIC Perth Transcripts, July 1990).

The Western Australian Aboriginal Health Policy Review Team is strongly of the

opinion that the Health Department of Western Australia should remove itself

from the area of health service delivery and provide adequate resources to

community controlled Aboriginal organisations to enable them to provide the

health service delivery required in their own communities. Their reasons include:

1. The belief that some of the antagonism that exists between AHSs and Health Department workers arises from a perceived competition in the area of service delivery and hence territoriality and jealousy develops. If the HOW A was no longer involved in service delivery then that antagonism would lose its momentum. Then the HOW A could assume a more effective role as a support base for those community based organisations.

2. The community controlled organisations could provide a more effective service as outlined earlier in the discussion about the WHOs view of the necessary requirements for effective primary health care structures.

3. It would enable greater accountability of resource utilisation.

A further reason which emerged from the community consultation undertaken is

co-dependency of the Department and the client community. The view that

Community Health has fostered a dependency on its services within the

community it served was raised several times (RCIADIC Transcript, Albany,

1990: 122). This is certainly an issue which needs addressing, particularly

concerning the self interest of the Department in maintaining its client base. It

was also noted that Community Health has tended to assume responsibility for

people's health, rather than participate in an empowering process to enable

Aboriginal people to be in control of their own health. This has changed,

according to some, over the past six months and now greater emphasis is being

placed by Community and Child Health Service (CCHS) staff to decrease the

650

tendency to assume responsibility for people's health. No details of how this is

happening were provided (RCIADIC Transcript, Roeboume, 1990:260).

14.7 Mental health

It is the Aboriginal contention that the current situation of their people is the product of European colonialism and racism, not of some theoretical prehistoric social, technological or psychological retardedness [Allen, 1988:84, quoted in Taking Control,

1990:34].

It is well recognised that mental health is a significant factor amongst sectors of

Aboriginal society. In 1979 the National Aboriginal Mental Health Association

was fonned and issued a Declaration of Mental Health which stated:

We declare that the mental health problems in Aboriginal society are at least as common and as serious as in any other society in Australia.

We declare that Aboriginal society does not enjoy the services for the relief and care of mental illness enjoyed by other groups.

We hold that psychiatric services planned to assist people of European descent are not suited to relieve the distress of Aboriginal people.

We express the need to develop, with all urgency, Aboriginal services to meet the needs of Aboriginal people suffering from mental distress.

We maintain that these services should be conducted by and for Aboriginal people, with proper links with other health services.

We recognise that services are provided for Aboriginal problems of the body, but that mental health problems go overlooked and ignored.

We pledge ourselves to the National Aboriginal Mental Health movement, designed to promote professional and vocational development in this field [The Aboriginal Health Worker, 1980:4].

The reasons for the degree of mental ill-health among Aboriginal people are

related to the legal, social and cultural dislocation that has occurred since

651

colonisation. Swan (1988) quotes the results of a survey conducted by the

Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (V AHS) in 1987 which found that of those

surveyed:

65% had been separated from a parent during childhood (cf. 29% in the wider population);

47% had been separated from both parents (cf. 7%);

21% had lived in an institution during childhood.

That the impact of such cultural genocide has been devastating is well

documented throughout this report. The reasons for this disruption to families

was enshrined in the 1905-63 legislation under the ethnocentric policies of the

time. Though this policy has officially been revoked as has the legislation, ,.

Aboriginal families can still be separated owing to a lack of material resources.

At the 1990 annual conference of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College

of Psychiatrists, a paper was presented which strongly linked poverty with

mental health consequences (Western Australian Newspaper, 17 May 1990). As

noted earlier McMichael (1987) has also commented on this. It is a continuing

reinforcing cycle of oppression/poverty/ill-health/dispossession. As Swan

(1988:32) notes, the State, via the institutionalisation of the Aboriginal

community, has created a 'soul-destroying dependency' which needs to be

addressed. This has resulted from the multitude of losses that the Aboriginal

community has experienced, and continues to experience, since colonisation.

Indeed she comments that 'many have seen their brothers and sisters labelled as

mentally ill (and hospitalised and incarcerated as a result) when they know the

problem to be a social and political one. The diagnoses are always 'white'

non-Aboriginal ones, and the solutions are seen as another form of oppression'

(ibid:33), namely, medication, hospitalisation and incarceration.

652

The solutions for maintaining good mental health lie in access to material

resources and conditions and in the following principles:

• high self esteem and confidence;

• freedom to communicate needs and feelings;

• ability to love and be loved;

• sense of belonging to family and community;

• the ability to cope with stress;

• ability to relate, create and assert oneself;

• options for change which help develop a problem-solving approach;

• comfort with your environment; and

• believing in something (family, community, culture, religion) [ibid:356].

It is also essential that Aboriginal society is not perceived as a homogenous

culture. There are many different language groups, a fact which needs to be

appreciated by those in policy, planning and service delivery roles in all areas not

just in mental health. A cross-cultural education institution, as well as

incorporating cross-cultural approaches in existing institutions, would help this

process of recognition.

There is a need for appropriate mental health education and training for both

health care workers, and the general community. This should be aimed at

developing the appropriate skills and understanding required to enable effective

work among Aboriginal people. It should also be aimed at attempting to

understand some of the stresses Aboriginal people endure. This need is

highlighted when some of the material, both evidence and submissions, before

my Commission is examined.

653

It should be noted that there is currently only one Aboriginal person employed by

Mental Health Services in Western Australia, Richard Wilkes. He is employed

as a welfare officer at the Multi-Cultural Psychiatric Centre. It is his view that

many country localities, towns and isolated communities, tend to use Graylands

Mental Hospital in Perth as a place to send their 'problem people rather than take

the trouble to look after them' (R. Wilkes, 1989:5). He goes on to comment that

there are significant mental health problems amongst Aboriginal people, and that

most of these stem from the 'culture being swallowed by the system and the

cultural collision in living a different lifestyle than they are used to' (ibid:6). In

order to address the Aboriginal mental health needs in the State, he sees the need

for several small regional centres which could respond to local needs and cater

for the diversity of Aboriginal people living in Western Australia. The centres

should be run by local groups, similar to the Aboriginal Health

Services. These centres should be properly resourced and staffed. Such

considered resourcing would help avoid the alienation and cultural collision

caused by being 'tossed into the European settings that we have now' (ibid:7).

An examination of the statements and evidence presented to the Commission in

relation to the death of Paul Farmer provide a useful insight into the availability

of psychiatric services in the State, psychiatric practitioners understanding, or

lack of, of Aboriginal culture and the cross-cultural conflicts they experience.

Dr G. Smith, Director of Psychiatric Services, Health Department of Western

Australia, confirms that there are no specific psychiatric services available for

Aboriginal prisoners and that the services available to anyone 'in custody are

limited' (W/5/59, p.l). The only psychiatric services available outside Perth are

in the Kimberley (Derby), Geraldton (part-time) and Bunbury (private) plus

visiting specialists are available periodically in Albany, Kalgoorlie, Port Hedland

and Karratha.

It should be noted that the presence of a psychiatrist does not guarantee the availability of full psychiatric care, nor appropriate care as will become obvious

later. The demand for psychiatric services versus the relative scarcity of service

654

providers means that all of the residents of Western Australia are poorly provided

for, those in country regions particularly. Dr Smith goes further: 'Aboriginal

people in both country and metropolitan areas do have special needs which are

poorly met by current services. It would be fair to say that the psychiatric needs

of the Aboriginal population are basically little understood at present' (W/5/59,

p.4).

An example of this lack of understanding is provided by Dr P. Skerritt in his

commentary on the psychiatric care provided to Paul Farmer (W/5/48). He

acknowledges the presence of 'phenomenon' (hearing the death bird and seeing

faces of dead relatives) which had a 'cultural bias' and the expression of these

were 'shaped by cultural factors' (p.l ). He then proceeds to place a western

psychiatric interpretation on the presence of these 'phenomenon', in association

with the perceived lowered mood of Mr Farmer when he had contact with the

psychiatrists. His interpretation differs from the treating practitioners, but he still

manages to find a psychiatric label to apply. Namely, 'psychotic depression'

rather than 'schizo-affective disorder' (p.2). His justification for the psychiatric

disorder theory rather than an entirely culturally based belief, is that the

'phenomenon' resolved upon the commencement of anti-psychotic medication,

Thioridazine. On a superficial level this may seem logically consistent. A more

accurate interpretation and course of action would be to look at the reaction of

Mr Farmer to the situation he was faced with, and try to develop a mechanism to

address those important cultural elements in his overall management. This may

incorporate some psychiatric tools but would, more importantly, also incorporate

appropriate cultural responses to Mr Farmer's situation.

I believe it is important to establish here that I do not, for one second, pretend to

be an expert in psychiatry, nor would I find it easy to rely upon what such

experts say. My point here is simply to highlight the need for knowledge of

cultural beliefs when dealing with Aboriginal people. In fact the whole matter of

professional assistance in relation to Aboriginal people is of grave concern to my

Commission. While it is sometimes necessary to rely on the advice and services

655

of practitioners, such as those cited above, no matter how well intentioned that

advice and service may be, unless they are infonned from a perspective which

takes into account Aboriginal socio-cultural beliefs and practices, the task of

interpreting what they say is made that much more difficult. My comments do

not only refer to the psychiatric profession, as infonnation throughout this report

refers to a number of instances where misinfonnation regarding Aboriginal social

life can generate misunderstandings of various degrees and influences (see

e.g. Chapters 5 and 12). Some of the complexities and dilemmas of

cross-cultural interpreting are highlighted in the following example. They are

considered more from an ideal perspective, rather than from my having to make

judgements based upon the advice of the psychiatrists involved in the particular

case.

The example concerns the view given by Dr Lister in response to Dr Skerritt's

comments about Paul Fanner. 'I doubt he was developing a significant

depressive disorder as he successfully lived in the bush for 7 months without any

known suicide attempts' (RCIADIC report on Paul Fanner, W/5/47, p.4). This

comment refers to a period of time following Fanner's escape from Graylands

Hospital. An alternative explanation could be that he was no longer confined in

prison or a psychiatric hospital.

Another example, is the assumption of Paul Fanner's low intelligence by the

psychiatrist Dr Stubley, quoted in the submission for the family. It contrasts

with the reality of his participation in TAFE courses on psychology, high speed

diesel engines, animal husbandry and other assessments of his above average

intelligence, as detailed in the submission. Other reports, submissions and

evidence presented to the Commission reflect the picture portrayed above.

Namely, a persistent lack of understanding, on the part of psychiatrists, when

confronted with the mental health problems suffered by Aboriginal people.

Hunter's (1988) interpretation is that the increase in the rate of suicide amongst

Aboriginal people in the Kimberley reflects the rapidity of change over the past

656

twenty years, plus an inability to achieve access to the potential political and

economic means that are constantly being portrayed via many channels, including

the media. What is of relevance in this context too is the fact that the rates of

suicide of males in the non-Aboriginal community have increased markedly as

well (Kosky, 1990; Reser, 1989).

In relation to Hunter's work, his recurrent use of the terms 'partial descent' and

'full descent' throughout various publications is, in my Commission's view,

unfortunate and in marked contrast with Aboriginal peoples way of expressing

Aboriginality (see e.g. Chapter 6). Additionally, to explain the high levels of

Aboriginal suicide in the Kimberley region, Hunter (1988, 1989) appears to

concentrate on establishing alcohol and the label 'alcoholic' as seemingly the

important issue. Comprehensive and detailed analyses of the causes of

alcoholism, as well as describing the symptoms, should never be

under-estimated.

As observed earlier, psychiatrists are not the only authors to offer simplistic

analyses of the causes and solutions to the poverty faced by Aboriginal people.

Sullivan, Gracey and Vernon (1987:336), in an article on the cost of food and

nutrition in remote areas, propose the introduction of food vouchers to address

the issue of undernutrition and poverty within the Kimberley region. This sort of

paternalism is of great concern to my Commission, as it extends to suggesting

this would ensure that at least some 'welfare payments' were not spent on

'nutritionally unsound and/or unnecessarily expensive items or non-essential,

and non-food purchases'.

Another psychiatric informant to the RCIADIC (in confidence) raised the issue of

family background as a factor regarding deaths in custody in terms of parenting

and 'chaotic family backgrounds'. This informant claimed that the receipt of

Social Security entitlements by many Aboriginal people places them in a 'highly

advantaged' position in society in contrast to the well accepted notion of

Aboriginal people occupying the most disadvantaged position. These basic

657

misconceptions from psychiatric influences in this State are cause for great

concern if these attitudes are translated into their clinical and advisory work

(RCIADIC Transcript, 1990:241-243).

The above views highlight the need for greater involvement of Aboriginal people

in the field of mental health in order to diminish the dangers of superiority and

perpetration of cultural oppression which has influenced the relationship between

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people since colonisation (see e.g. Langton in

Radford et al, 1990: 13-16).

Lorimer's (1990) work contains a useful analysis of psychiatric evidence and

submissions made to the RCIADIC. Her paper addresses the issues of the

definition of normal and abnormal behaviour in Aboriginal communities, and the

assumptions made in the psychiatric opinion under consideration. The bulk of

the material presented by Lorimer stresses that some opinions are misinformed

and judgemental, and reflect an ignorance of Aboriginal reality on the part of the

psychiatrists. Lorimer offers a perspective to enable the readers to conclude that

these 'authoritative' statements presented to the Commission, need to be

considered from a different perspective.

While it appears that the psychiatric profession is aware of some of its

shortcomings and via its representative body, the Royal Australian and New

Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is trying to address this, it is worth

looking in a little more detail and making some comparisons. The Social and

Cultural Section of the Western Australian branch of the RANZCP has produced

a draft position paper on psychiatric services for Aboriginal people. It contains a

mixture of awareness of the issue and the perpetuation of misinformation and

cultural stereotypes. It includes a statement recognising the tendency in Western

Australia for Aboriginal people to be diagnosed as having major psychiatric

disorders, such as affective illnesses and schizophrenia, 'with fewer symptoms

being noted and taken into consideration' (RANZCP, 1990:1). (See also Mowry

(n.d.) for further discussion.) This view acknowledges the non-Aboriginal

658

orientation of psychiatric services in Australia, and the lack of culturally

appropriate services, few workers with the necessary skills and no particular

policies regarding appropriate diagnosis and management of Aboriginal people

with mental health problems. In contrast, is the inclusion of the less informed

statement about Aboriginal people: 'they appear to suffer the ravages of alcohol

misuse more rapidly than Caucasians' (p.l).

An example of the relative ease of diagnosis with less symptoms being identified

can be found in an unpublished paper by Mowry (n.d.) as mentioned above.

Dr Mowry compared the symptoms presented against the diagnostic criteria for

schizophrenia in twelve Aboriginal and twelve non-Aboriginal clients discharged

from Graylands Mental Hospital in 1983 with the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

He found that none of the Aboriginal clients satisfied all of the diagnostic criteria,

whereas eight of the non-Aboriginal clients did.

There is passing reference in the RANZCP document to liaison with traditional

healers in order to decrease the alienation and mistrust felt by Aboriginal people

when confronted by the psychiatric system. Of more relevance would be an

increased determined reorientation of the services so that Aboriginal people have

input in the planning, implementation and monitoring of them. There needs to

be a move away from the small changes to make it look like change is

happening, but still maintaining the power base in the hands of western

psychiatry as evidenced by the desire to be more involved in the teaching and

administration as outlined above.

14.8 'Too many worries': self-inflicted harm

Of the 32 deaths under consideration by the Commission in Western Australia 9

have been by alleged suicide, or self-inflicted harm. Of those, only four were

considered intentional acts by the Coroner. Commissioner O'Dea was later to

conclude that he was unable to say conclusively that one of those four had

actually sought to take their own life.

659

A significant number of the deaths have been within three hours of coming into

custody. The submission by Spencer (G/14/S) comments on the role of alcohol

and depressant effects as well as the consequences of withdrawal. This has been

covered in Chapter 19 on alcohol. Both he, Smith (1989), Lister (1989) and

Skerritt (1989), are of the view that isolation is the least favoured course of

action for someone who is suicidal or affected by alcohol. Spencer goes so far

as to say that any one affected by excessive alcohol locked in a small cell for a

few minutes is at risk of developing an acute withdrawal state and hence being at

risk of suicide.

An understanding of the current extent of suicide as a means of death in the

Aboriginal population in Western Australia is difficult due to the lack of accurate

information regarding its incidence, as stated earlier. Suicide is reported as the

second most common cause of death in the prison system in Western Australia,

after heart disease, according to Mr E. Stevens (Assistant Superintendent,

Albany Regional Prison, in the report into the death of Paul Farmer). The rapid

increase in the incidence of suicide in recent times is not only happening in the

young Aboriginal male population but is also occurring to a significant extent in

the wider community (Kosky, 1990; Reser, 1989; Radford et al, 1990). Low

self esteem, lack of opportunities, and lack of resources are strong negative

factors impacting on Aboriginal people, and especially contributing to the higher

rate of suicide in young Aboriginal males.

In contemporary terms, suicide is seen as an intentional response to inescapable

and unbearable circumstances. These circumstances often, but not always, occur

in association with a significant loss, be that cultural, spiritual, material or

personal, and often all four. There is difficulty in reaching valid conclusions

about the true causes of suicide in Aboriginal communities due to divergence of

ideology used by researchers and the failure to separate fact from judgement and

supposition. To quote Radford et al (1990:34):

660

Many research 'conclusions' with their 'authoritative' style and context, have, in effect, transformed that which has often comprised little more than speculation, into 'findings' for the world to behold.

The debate is turning so that the view of Aboriginal society as the primitive 'sick'

society is diminishing, and a greater awareness that the wider society has been

the controlling force, and hence major contributor, to the consequent

disadvantage and stresses which exist in Aboriginal communities, is growing.

The level of self-hann in the custodial setting reflects the level of hann which

occurs out of custody. According to Wilson (1982) it reflects the stress

experienced by Aboriginal people and stems from low self esteem and a sense of

futility. Radford (1990:3) chooses to describe this as the outcome of a 'failure to

adapt to and live in harmony with the new and constant setting of urban life,

initiated and sustained by the dominant European cultures'. The authors go on to

say that this 'mal-adaption' results from 'persisting and pervading poverty and

powerlessness, itself a result of disregard and, to some extent, exploitation'

(ibid).

Suicide should be considered as part of a range of self-harming actions. It tends

to receive more attention because ofthe finality of its outcome and because it is

somewhat easier to obtain statistics to reflect its frequency compared with the

frequency of self-inflicted hann.

14.9 Self-inflicted harm and the media: 'copycat syndrome'

In their submission to the RCIADIC, the Western Australian Prison Officers

Union of Workers put forward a theory that some of the deaths of Aboriginal

people in custody in this State that were presumed to have been suicides, can be

associated with media reporting of other such deaths. This theory, for which

there are some related research findings, has been dubbed the 'copycat

syndrome', and asserts that some Aboriginal people in custody are influenced by

the media reporting of the presumed suicide of others, precipitating their own

661

decision to kill themselves. In short, that they 'copy' the action of fellow

Aboriginal suicides (Mason, 1990: 133).

The Prison Officers' Union submission (1990:9) asserts that studies by Hunter

'and the experience of the Royal Commission itself show that these suicides

occur in a 'cluster', that is, can be grouped together in a short space of time. In

support of this theory the submission also notes that media clippings about the

death of Edward Cameron in Geraldton in July 1988 were found in the

possession of Graham Walley, who was found hanged in Greenough Prison a

short time later. It is also contended that there is a possible link between both of

these deaths and prominent media coverage of the RCIADIC inquiry into the

death of Charles Michael at Barton's Mill.

The submission asks the RCIADIC to recommend that the media 'wholly refrain

from reporting the deaths by suicide of prisoners' as a means of countering the

alleged syndrome. However, it also appears to suggest that simply by not stating

the dead prisoner's name and race, and not specifying presumed suicide is

sufficient to achieve this. There is some reference to the notion that the 'public

interest' is served by the media reporting of such deaths, but that the above

'protocols' if adopted, would not 'subjugate' that interest.

While none of the available research conclusively demonstrates that media

coverage of Aboriginal deaths in custody can be seen as the cause of these

deaths, there is sufficient evidence of an association between media coverage and

suicide by youth in general to warrant some consideration of the Prison Officers'

Union assertion.

A survey of previous research by Mason (1990) showed that the majority of

studies support the existence of an association between media reporting of

suicide, and an increase in actual suicide rates by youth. Mason examines some

of the arguments against the the 'imitation effect' of the media reporting of

suicide, including an hypothesis that copycat suicides are merely precipitated by

662

reporting and would have been committed in any case. Statistical analysis of

suicide trends following suicide publicity have tended to refute this hypothesis.

Another opposing argument is that copy cat suicides merely imitate the method of

suicide publicised, having already resolved to kill themselves.

Another area that requires consideration is that if it is to be accepted that media

reporting of suicide does create a copycat or imitative effect, then perhaps the

style of the original reporting, as opposed to the mere reporting itself, is a factor

that can either decrease or increase the likelihood of imitation. Mason notes that

news reports of suicides are 'often criticised for being sensational with graphic

disclosure of the details and method of death', and that suicide can be portrayed

in the media as a 'romantic, heroic and alluring or normal act'. Equally, the

impression that suicide is the sole 'rational solution' to problems can be implied

in media reports.

Research in Western Australia has suggested that there is an association between

youth suicide and increased media coverage of suicides. Silbum (1990)

examined youth suicides and media coverage of suicides in Western Australia

from August 1987 to December 1988. It was noted that from the years 1986 to

1988 a substantial increase in the overall youth suicide rate occurred, from

10.4 per 100,000 to 17.9 per 100,000. Within this, it was found that youth

suicide by hanging in 198 8 was 200 per cent higher than the preceding seven

years.

Most significantly, Silbum found that the increasing rates of hanging as a method

of suicide by youth from 1986 to 1988 was preceded by an increase in the frequency of media reports specifically mentioning hanging. Of a total of

166 reports of suicide in The West Australian newspaper for this period,

96 mentioned death by hanging and 53 made reference to the Royal Commission

into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody.

663

Silburn concluded that although there was evidence to suggest an association

between the increased media coverage and an increase in youth suicide during

1988, the number of Aboriginal youth suicides (3) was too small to 'pennit any

meaningful conclusion to be drawn' about that specific group. Silburn did

conclude that an increase in Aboriginal youth suicide in 1988 suggested that a

clustering effect was operating.

Equally, Hunter, whose research the Prison Officers' Union cite in support of

their assertion that presumed suicides by Aboriginal people in custody in Western

Australia are precipitated by media coverage, stops short of conclusively stating

such an association. As well as noting the previous international research

supporting this theory, Hunter (1989) points out that indeed a clustering of

custodial suicides seem apparent in both Queensland and Western Australia:

Is there any evidence of clustering among the Aboriginal suicides in custody? The initial major media coverage followed the suicides of two Aborigines in Yarrabah in December 1986. In the following six months, four more hangings occurred in police custody in Queensland. For 1987, seven (53%) of 13 Aboriginal hangings in custody in Australia occurred in that State. In 1988, Western Australia became the focus of media attention, as a result of both having the largest number of deaths in custody, and the attempt by the Police Officers Union to halt the Muirhead Royal Commission. From January 1980 until November 1987 only three Aboriginal hangings in custody (one being in June 1987) had occurred in Western Australia; however, in the following year there were four more [Hunter,

1989:218].

Hunter (1989:222-223) does not offer any direct evidence of a cause and effect

relationship between the media and the clusters of suicides by time and region,

and he places more importance on a need to consider and take action on alcohol

use, and some of the 'social foundations' of ill-health.

Indeed, as the Prison Officers' Union points out, newspaper clippings of reports

of Aboriginal deaths in custody and related Aboriginal rights issues were found

in Graham Walley's possession, in fact, they totalled nearly fifty in number. The

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clippings mainly concern the protests and political controversy surrounding the

death of Edward Cameron, but others relate to wider issues of racism and the

struggle for justice for Aboriginal people. While the Union might consider these

significant factors in Walley's suicide, it could be equally suggested, by the

choice and quantity of news clippings, that Walley had or was developing a

higher level of political consciousness concerning the position of Aboriginal

people, and had learned to collect and draw upon media texts as part of a useful

information-knowledge base. Viewed as such it is virtually impossible to

separate out media reporting from the whole web of inter-connected social and

political issues that bear upon both Walley's imprisonment and ultimately his

death.

Having said this does not completely exonerate the media from any responsibility

for the way deaths in custody are treated in reports. The emphasis Mason placed

on the style of reporting of suicide, its often sensational and romantic character,

could be a significant consideration in relation to some of the Aboriginal deaths in

custody in Western Australia. For example, the death of Edward Cameron in

Geraldton Police Lockup on 8 July 1988 was followed by dramatic media

coverage, not only of the suspicions and allegations surrounding the

circumstances of his presumed suicide by hanging, but the protests and disorder

that accompanied his funeral in Geraldton. Some months later two further

deaths, presumed to be suicide by hanging, occurred, one at nearby Greenough

Regional Prison (Graham Walley, 23 October 1988) and again at Geraldton

Police Lockup (Wongi 31 December 1988). In the thirteen months prior to

Cameron's death, three Aboriginal people died, presumed suicide by hanging, in

Western Australian police cells (Stanley Brown, Broome, 27 June 1987; Bernard

McGrath, Kalgoorlie, 15 November 1987; and Ben Morrison, Fremantle,

6 April 1988). These earlier deaths, like those that followed, were surrounded

not only by their own attendant media reporting but also by the wider national

coverage of the issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody which had reached high

levels of public prominence by the time of the commencement of the RCIADIC in

mid 1987.

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If it is to be accepted that media generated publicity surrounding Aboriginal

deaths in custody influenced the decision of others to take their own lives, then

we must also consider both the personal circumstances of those who died and the

prevailing political context in which the deaths took place. To isolate the media

as a primary cause of the deaths is to overlook the environmental factors that

predisposed certain people to die in particular ways in State custody. After all,

the mere reporting of Aboriginal deaths in custody, while possibly impacting on

the overall suicide rate, does not cause mass suicide by Aboriginal or non­

Aboriginal people, either in or out of custody.

Essentially, if the assertion that the 'copycat suicide' is an act of despair and

severe depression, as a last resort escape from an unbearable existence, then it is

doubtful that the media reporting of such suicides can be conclusively stated to

precipitate others. Taking the example of the three deaths in the Geraldton region

in 1988, the ability of local Aboriginal social networks to communicate such

tragedies to a large number of Aboriginal people within the region, irrespective of

media reports, must be taken into account. Equally, the distressing effect of

these on the Aboriginal community, and to the point, others who are potentially

suicidal when in custody under certain conditions, again irrespective of media

reporting, is perhaps a significant factor. In other words, perhaps the salient

point about the 'cluster' of three deaths in the Geraldton region is not so much

that they were prominently reported in the media, but that they all occurred in the

same locality. It is necessary to consider whether local social environmental

factors in the Geraldton/Murchison region could have led to a higher potential for

suicide by young Aboriginal men in custody.

If, alternatively, the above 'copycat' suicide 'cluster' relies on an assumption that

these young Aboriginal men committed suicide in custody as an act of revenge or

resistance against their perceived oppressors, in other words, of 'martyrdom',

then it follows that a powerful argument can be made that the more media

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publicity, the greater the martyr effect as the success of the effect depends upon

its intended impact on public opinion.

Finally, there is a problem in that, in a sense, the theory of the 'copycat

syndrome' assumes something extraordinary in the possibility that human

beings, under any conditions, behave in similar ways, and that the actions of one

influences the actions of others. It individualises suicide in custody and suggests

its cause in the simple copying of one individual's action by another, denying

perllaps the far more important underlying social issues that may have given rise

to all the deaths.

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Chapter 15

THE IMPACT OF MINING: 'ALL WE GET IS THE DUST'

Social impact and social change processes related to mining and Aboriginal

interests reflect the complex interaction of local, regional and State wide issues.

In sum, the effect of the mining industry on Aboriginal people cannot be

separated from the effects of changing government policies and social changes

internal to Aboriginal people themselves. With all these factors in mind, the

RCIADIC commissioned Dr Richard Howitt to undertake field research in the

Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. The results of that research are ,. contained in RCIADIC Broome, Research Paper 5, August 1990. The

Goldfields was identified partly because of the high incarceration rates in the

area, as well as the number of deaths in custody. What follows is drawn from

some of Dr Howitt's findings, as well as other material that has been provided to

my Commission. It is important to observe here that while these findings

primarily refer to the goldfields, a great deal of the discussion can be

extrapolated to the rest of the State and, indeed, to other parts of the country.

The situation for Aboriginal people in the goldfields is complicated by the

complex history of the region regarding claims and interests in, and control over,

specific lands, reserves, resources and issues. Several cases are dealt with in

more detail in RCIADIC Broome, Research Paper 5, but the general issue is that

competing interests have been produced during different periods of occupation.

The 'traditional' totemic landscape, in which control over, and responsibility for,

specific areas was self-contained within Aboriginal societies, has had

superimposed upon it various non-Aboriginal patterns of land tenure (pastoral

leases, mining tenements, local government boundaries, state boundaries,

electoral boundaries, administrative districts and so on). There has also been a

development of various historical associations between Aboriginal groups and

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particular areas not only through Aboriginal tradition, but, as noted in earlier

sections (e.g. Chapter 2), through government policies which have often served

to re-locate Aboriginal people into different areas where they have also developed

ties of association.

One of the fundamental issues is the extent to which Aboriginal individuals and

groups, empowered in the present policy context, can be considered

'representative' of broader Aboriginal interests. This issue also arises in the case

of the mining industry, where industry lobby groups such as the Chamber of

Mines of Western Australia and the Australian Mining Industry Council have

sought to present the vested interests of the mining industry in general, and the

private interests of individual corporations, as representative of the 'national'

interest. In the following section, the local implications of this issue are

considered, and discussions concerning empowerment of currently marginalised

people explored.

15.1 Vested interests: the mining lobby

The mining industry is made up of a large number of individual companies. In a

market economy, while some of these companies may operate together in joint

ventures or other arrangements, and some may have common shareholders,

managers or owners, they are fundamentally in competition with each other. The

industry lobby groups, such as the Chamber of Mines and the Australian Mining

Industry Council, therefore seek to represent a range of often conflicting specific

corporate interests. The political strategy of the mining lobby has generally been

to present itself not as representing a narrow vested interest, but as representing

the best interests of all Australians.

In its presentations and submissions to various inquiries concerning Aboriginal

land rights, for example, the mining lobby has sought to protect its vested

interest by presenting its concerns in terms of the national good. For example,

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The Chamber of Mines of Western Australia (CMWA) submitted to the Western

Australian Aboriginal Land Inquiry that:

The ownership of all minerals must ... rest with the Crown which must ensure equality of access thereto for the bettennent of the entire community.

The Mining Industry believes that the natural resources of the State must be accessible to the entire community if the community is to maintain an acceptable standard of living and be able to provide social services for all its members .

.. . [and] strongly advocates the continued principle of Crown ownership of minerals so as to enable the natural wealth of the State to be available to the benefit of the entire community [CMWA, 1983:1-2].

The Australian Mining Industry Council (AMIC), in its submission to the same

inquiry, sought to establish the importance of the mining industry to the welfare

of every Australian with the claim that:

The mining industry's ... contribution to Gross National Product ... accounted for more than 28 per cent of the basic wealth production in 1980/81 [AMIC, 1983:8].

Such a contribution is indeed fundamental to the health of the national economy,

but what this argument fails to acknowledge is that it is not the production of

wealth, but its distribution which determines the extent to which a nation's

citizens benefit from the production of wealth inside its national borders. AMIC,

however, goes as far as to suggest that:

In the common good ... reasonable restraints should ... be imposed on Aboriginal landowners in relation to the wider community's need to maintain access to those community-owned resources [AMIC, 1983:18].

What the industry lobby's arguments systematically refuse to acknowledge is that

it may also be in the national interest to address the outstanding claims of

Aboriginal people resulting from the compulsory acquisition of all their property

as a result of colonial conquest and occupation. In fact, in direct contradiction of

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the facts of history in the Eastern Goldfields, the CMW A goes as far as to say the

following:

the history of dispossession and dispersion (with which the Mining Industry had little or no involvement) will be reflected in ways not immediately obvious to or realised by non-Aboriginals [CMWA, 1983:28].

As discussed in detail in RCIADIC Broome, Research Paper 5, the industry was

one of the primary vehicles of dispossession and occupation in the Eastern

Goldfields, and has continued to act largely as an antagonist of Aboriginal

interests on many occasions even in recent history. Through such submissions,

and reinforced in advertising campaigns such as that launched in 1984 by the

CMW A (see e.g. Libby, 1989), the industry lobby has attempted not only to

establish their vested interest as fundamental to the 'betterment of the entire

community' and even the nation's ability to 'provide social services for all

members of our society', but has also sought to establish a popular perception of

antagonism between the just and equitable settlement of outstanding Aboriginal

claims and the national interest.

In discussing the industry's role in regional development, the mining lobby has

similarly attempted to develop a popular perception of the automatic transfer of

wealth from mining activity to the common good. For example:

The Mining Industry also strongly submits that adequate recognition must be given to the positive social, cultural and economic benefits that flow to local communities, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, in regions where mining operations are established.

These benefits include, amongst others, better medical, communication, transport and education facilities as well as greater access to food, fuel and other supplies in remote areas [CMWA, 1983:32].

The question of distribution of the benefits to the Eastern Goldfields communities

from mining is raised in RCIADIC Broome, Research Paper 5. The point to be

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made here is that the conventional mechanisms for the distribution of wealth in

Australia, have generally proved inadequate in meeting the needs of remote

communities. In this sense, the nation has still not come to terms with the

'tyranny of distance', nor found an appropriate policy framework to address

'locational disadvantage'. In the case of remote Aboriginal communities, the

mechanisms to ensure benefits flow to the community have been flawed by

racism, paternalism and an inability to design and implement appropriate policies.

The principal benefit identified by the industry lobby has generally been direct

employment:

The mining industry is one of the few which has the potential to provide employment for Aborigines in remote areas ...

Where employment opportunities are sought (by Aboriginals), however, the industry is aware of the need for special efforts on the part of mining companies to accommodate their working procedures in order to allow for Aboriginal cultural differences. It is also recognised that the industry has an important role to play in the fields of education and training to enable those Aborigines, who so elect, to become involved in the wider · Australian community [AMIC, 1983:3-4].