Reconciliation and Social Justice Library

Indigenous Social Justice Strategies and Recommendations - Citizenship Rights

All Australian citizens can expect a relatively high standard of health care, educational opportunities, nutrition levels, appropriate housing, employment opportunities, and to have access to high quality community infrastructure including good roads, reliable and efficient public transportation, electricity and water. For the majority of Australians governments have been able to provide a wide range, and relatively high quality, of such services and infrastructure. More recently there has been an increasing involvement of the private sector in the provision of services and construction of infrastructure that were previously the primary domain of governments.

The infrastructure and services that exist today in many parts of Australia, including the capital cities, was put in place over a considerable period of time. Governments have committed large resources over many decades to construct roads, railway networks and airports, educational institutions, power and water delivery systems, health care facilities and communication systems. Public funding has supported the ongoing costs of the delivery of services to Australian citizens. Governments have recognised that matters such as poor quality water or poor quality housing and overcrowding are public health issues that require some form of government involvement. The eradication of many diseases that were quite common a century ago did not happen by accident. The increased longevity of most Australians has come about as a result of increasing living standards, better health care, improved diets, and public works programs designed to improve living conditions.

The Commonwealth, State and Territory and local governments have all played their part in improving the provision of citizenship services to Australians. It did not happen quickly, and it required the commitment of financial and human resources on a scale that was beyond the resources of each individual or even many groups of individuals. The scale of the problems often required governments of different political persuasions and with different responsibilities to co-operate.

At times, it was only the Commonwealth, with the revenue that it derives from income taxation, that could contemplate the commitments of expenditure that were necessary to meet the expectations of Australian citizens for improvements in their standard of living.