The Australian National University
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
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ATSIC's achievements and strengths: Implications for institutional reform

Topical Issue 10 / 2004

October 2004 - ATSIC's Achievements and Strengths

'ATSIC's achievements and strengths: Implications for institutional reform' by Will Sanders.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) has been criticized from many sides in the fifteen years since it was established. But what about ATSIC’s achievements and strengths? CAEPR Fellow Will Sanders argues that, over its fourteen year history, ATSIC has indeed achieved much and displayed considerable strengths. He discusses ATSIC’s achievements and strengths under six headings:

  • political participation of Indigenous people,
  • a national Indigenous voice increasingly independent of government,
  • distinctive, appropriate programs,
  • regionalism,
  • working with States and Territories, and
  • distinctive Torres Strait Islander arrangements.