Benjamin Disraeli originally coined the phrase 'Two Nations' in 1845 to characterise the chasm between rich and poor in Victorian England. While the differential in access to resources has been reduced this century by the development of the welfare state, there is ongoing concern about the level of inequality in Australia. This paper attempts to develop, and sustain, the metaphor that there are three Nations in Australia: the rich, the poor non-indigenous Australians and indigenous Australians.

Indigenous people are far more likely to be discouraged from looking for work than other Australians. Understanding the microeconomic determinants of what discourages particular workers has important implications for overcoming the labour force disadvantage faced by indigenous Australians. This paper focuses on the interaction between labour supply and demand, and particularly on examining the factors that lead to indigenous people who want to work not looking for work and therefore remaining outside the workforce.

The excessive consumption of alcohol and associated behaviour is a potentially intractable issue with no easy policy solutions. Altering drinking behaviour will inevitably involve changing attitudes over the long term and indeed will need generational change. Such change must come from the individuals who make up the ‘demand’ side of the drinking equation.

This research report is the product of a consultancy commissioned by the Northern Land Council (NLC) as part of the preliminary input into the Kakadu Region Social Impact Study (KRSIS) established in 1996 under the auspices of the NLC, the Commonwealth Government, the Northern Territory Government and Energy Resources Australia (ERA). The terms of reference were to provide a statistical profile of the contemporary socioeconomic status of the Aboriginal population of the Kakadu region (defined spatially for the KRSIS as Stages 1 and 2 of Kakadu National Park).

The financial framework of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA) has never been based on sound economic principles or even logical accounting, let alone clear and transparent policy messages or even obvious directives to Indigenous interests in the Northern Territory. With the benefit of hindsight it is clear that Justice Woodward tried hard to accommodate pre-land rights vested interests in his Royal Commission recommendations that were largely incorporated into the legislation enacted in 1976 and which became law on Australia Day, 1977.