Reconciliation and Social Justice Library

Indigenous Social Justice Strategies and Recommendations - Direct funding and the Commonwealth Grants Commission

The Commonwealth Grants Commission makes recommendations to the Commonwealth Government regarding the distribution of untied general revenue assistance between the States and Territories. As part of its `fiscal equalisation' operating principle, the assessments by the Commonwealth Grants Commission take account of the special needs or disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. However, the expenditure of these general purpose funds by the State and Territory governments does not necessarily meet the needs or reduce the disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Local government is assessed in a similar way by the Local Government Grants Commissions in each State and the Northern Territory. In determining their funding recommendations for the distribution of funds between local governing bodies in each State and the Northern Territory, some of the Local Government Grants Commissions take account of certain characteristics of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in each area.

While the Commonwealth Grants Commission's primary role is to assess a significant part of the funding requirements of the State and Territory governments, at certain times it has been requested by the Commonwealth to explore other intergovernmental funding arrangements. For example, it has examined and made recommendations with respect to:

· local government ( Report on the Interstate Distribution of General Purpose Grants for Local Government 1991 );

· the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (the most recent review resulted in the publication of the Third Report on Cocos (Keeling) Islands Inquiry 1993 ). Reviews were published in 1986 and 1989.

In relation to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the terms of reference of the first inquiry in 1986 were to identify and report on the principles, methodology and procedures for a review to be undertaken in 1989 of (i) the relationship to Australian levels of the services and standard of living enjoyed by the residents of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands; (ii) the measures then necessary to ensure that the services and standard of living meet Australian levels by 1994; and, noting that the Government has in mind that the standard of a comparable community in another remote Australian location might be appropriate, report at an early date on a suitable standard, having regard to the Government's broad commitment to achieve, within ten years, the raising of services and standard of living to Australian levels.

If the Commonwealth Government can make a commitment to one group of Australian citizens living in a very remote area (in this case thousands of kilometres from the Australian mainland in the Indian Ocean) to significantly raise their living standards within ten years, why can it not do the same for its indigenous citizens?