In recent years there has been an increasing recognition of the limits of GDP as a measure of 'progress' and a growing emphasis on notions of wellbeing, satisfaction, or quality of life. A number of alternative measures of national progress have emerged both in Australia and overseas, with some of the better known including the 'Australian Unity Wellbeing Index', the 'Genuine Progress Indicator' and the 'Happy Planet Index'. In common with these measures, economist Amartya Sen has rejected the notion that development can be measured purely by changes in personal income or GDP.

In this seminar I present some initial findings from a project entitled, 'The Social Context of Indigenous Poverty'. The research involved a series of interviews with Aboriginal people in urban and rural SE Australia on issues of poverty, social capital and social exclusion. In the paper I draw together Aboriginal perspectives on the meaning of poverty to reflect on the relevance of social capital concepts for understanding Aboriginal economic disadvantage.

Please note: This seminar is available in both Streaming Audio and MP3 formats.

This paper is a part of a larger ARC Linkage project, with the Telstra Foundation, that examines the immediate and longer-term impacts of selected Indigenous festivals on community wellbeing. In recent years wellbeing is a concept that has gained salience and urgency, indeed it has become standard currency in economic and political models of welfare and development. Concerns have been expressed about the indicators of wellbeing and the lack of recongnition that notions of health and wellbeing and socio-economic inclusion and exclusion are culturally constructed.