Accountability in Aboriginal affairs has been receiving national prominence over recent months. The Coalition government proposes to move from what it terms 'the symbolic' to effective service delivery in Aboriginal affairs. There is an ongoing and sometimes hostile public debate about the accountability of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) itself.

In the 1990s Indigenous households continue to experience high levels of poverty in comparison with other Australian households.

Characteristics of Indigenous households

Indigenous households are complex social and economic units. They differ in important ways from other Australian households:

Indigenous children and income poverty

Child poverty and employment issues are continuing concerns of government. This study confirms the commonly held view, that income poverty is much higher in the Indigenous than the non-Indigenous population.

Analysis of the geography of unemployment-related benefits and Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme employment yields several insights into Indigenous labour market activity. By examining both together it is possible to estimate the proportion of the Indigenous labour force that depends on some form of government assistance.

Welfare dependence

Geography affects the number of Indigenous workers who are dependent on government assistance.

The recent Budget cuts in the Indigenous affairs portfolio are likely to lead to a substantial rise in the unemployment rate among Indigenous people before the year 2000. The major factors underscoring poor labour force outcomes are:

Relative educational status

One of the major labour market disadvantages experienced by Indigenous people is their relatively low levels of education. In the 1991 Census, Indigenous people were more than ten times less likely to have a degree and tertiary qualification than other Australians (See figure below). There are similarly low levels of education for both males and females in most post-secondary qualification categories.

Previous estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility, based on the 1986 Census and using comparisons with earlier censuses, found a substantial downward trend in Indigenous fertility from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The decline was from a high total fertility rate of about six children per woman in the 1950s to the early 1970s period, after which fertility fell steeply to about three children per woman in the first half on the 1980s. (Total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman would be expected to bear by the end of her reproductive years.)

In the late 1980s the Hawke Labor Government introduced the Aboriginal Employment Development Policy which aimed to reduce the differences in socioeconomic status between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. One strategy for achieving this goal was to involve Indigenous people in businesses. This is not a new strategy and indeed, a number of similar economic programs have been in place over the last twenty years. However, many earlier business programs were marked by a lack of commercial success.

The Aboriginal Employment Development Policy launched in 1987 greatly boosted expenditure on labour market programs for Indigenous people wanting work. According to the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA), each year:

• around 22,000 Indigenous people are placed in mainstream programs
• about 10,000 are placed in programs specifically for Indigenous people.

Between 1990 and 1995:

Under the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme Indigenous people give up their social security benefits (Jobsearch and Newstart) but work (usually part-time) for much the same money. Under the scheme people can do extra work and can make more money than when they are on social security benefits.

The effectiveness of the CDEP scheme

CAEPR research asks three questions about the CDEP scheme's effectiveness: