Overcoming Disadvantage Workshop - Prof. Mick Dodson

Speaking points for Prof. Mick Dodson

Director, Reconciliation Australia

HREOC/Productivity Commission Overcoming Disadvantage
Workshop

16 September 2005

The Mint, Sydney

Indigenous Governance

Acknowledge traditional owners.

What is governance?

• Governance is essentially about how people organize themselves to
  make decisions, carry out those decisions and bring the necessary resources
  to bear to support those decisions and ensuring that mechanisms exist
  to review and adjust those processes.

• Indigenous people practiced good governance in this country for over
  40,000 years - that was dismantled 200 years ago and through assertions
  of real self determination we are starting to rebuild it.  

• For too long we have been forced to reinvent ourselves in a quasi-corporate
  environment, because that's the only kind of entity the government
  gives support to, they've got to be incorporated organisations.

• Governance is important because healthy well governed communities
  aren't just about our capacity to engage and participate in the rest
  of society but it'll also help us overcome socio economic disadvantage
  and I think also being able to confidently govern ourselves and engage
  with the rest of society has a positive effect on the reconciliation
  process.

• The whole notion of governance is a process that is ever evolving.   And
  the Indigenous governance environment is a broad and increasingly cutting
  edge one - all you need to do is check out the finalists in the recent
  Good Indigenous Governance Awards.

• Reconciliation Australia and a range of partners are committed to
  continuing to dig into what works and what doesn't in the Indigenous
  Governance environment and to develop the tools necessary to help communities
  to find the arrangements that work for them.

The Productivity Commission and the Overcoming Disadvantage Report

• The work of the Productivity Commission and the publication of the
  Overcoming Disadvantage Report will continue to play an important role
  in the evolving Indigenous governance environment.

• The report is not just important because of the inclusion of case
  studies that highlight good practice in organisations and communities
  but will be critical over time to the development of real measures,
  benchmarks that demonstrate not just the need to invest in good governance
  arrangements but where real change is being achieved.

• Those measures can't just be about COAG or line agencies deciding
  what they think success looks like. The work of the Productivity Commission
  has to start to help focus people on developing Indigenous measures
  of success.

• How often do we hear the rhetoric from governments about their policy
  or program reform in this area being led by Indigenous aspirations?
  Fine sentiment but where's the evidence of the rhetoric being made
  real.

• A solid evidence base has to be the driver of policy development
  in Indigenous Affairs rather than the current process of inexperienced
  bureaucrats providing ad-hoc guesses at what might work.

• A critical part of that evidence has to be well established criteria
  for success that are decided by Indigenous people

• And those measures have to include a robust, honest assessment of
  the capacity and role of government and the way it deals with its responsibilities
  for tackling disadvantage.

• Just as it is dangerous to make assumptions about lack of capacity
  within Indigenous communities, it is potentially even more dangerous
  to assume capacity within government agencies to deliver on its promises - particularly
  in the current uncertain situation.

• Serious systemic capacity-building is required to build leadership
  and promote change on both sides.

What next?

Reconciliation Australia will continue to work with its current partners
to continue our Indigenous Governance Program which has four main components:

• Long term applied research project - already starting to produce
  interesting results that will assist the productivity in its work;
• Indigenous Governance Awards - first year a success and significant
  interest in year two;
• Governance tool-kit - a clearing house for and ever increasing pool
  of resources for communities
• Influencing government policy - slowly but surely

There are a range of other initiatives that we are involved in that
will ensure a continuing focus on the critical importance of governance.

Governance can't just be the latest passing fad, it is absolutely fundamental
to the future success of our communities.

Reconciliation Australia , and the many other organisations I'm involved
in, are keen to work with HREOC and the Productivity Commission to make
the Overcoming Disadvantage Report and associated processes as effective
as possible.

Last updated 28 September 2005.