Call to let remote communities rule on indigenous funding

New ‘authorising bodies’ of elected locals could direct government spending in Queensland’s indigenous communities.

Queensland Indigenous Affairs Minister and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad. Picture: Annette Dew

New “authorising bodies’’ of elected locals will direct government spending in Queensland’s indigenous communities under a proposal by the Productivity Commission that found the system for delivering $4 billion in state services was “fundamentally broken’’.

A Queensland Productivity Commission report into service delivery to the state’s 40 remote indigenous communities has found a bureaucratic “maze’’ that has allowed duplication and waste, and helped “foster welfare dependence’’.

The report, commissioned by the Palaszczuk government in 2016 and involving consultation with more than 500 local leaders, councils and agencies, warned that structural reform was needed. “More money is not the answer — there needs to be changes to the way services are resourced,’’ the commission said in its report, now being considered by Indigenous Affairs Minister and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad.

An estimated $8bn is spent ­annually in indigenous communities — split between state and federal governments — with 83 per cent made up of services provided to all Queenslanders and the remainder involving “indigenous-specific services’’.

Average expenditure on an ­indigenous person in a remote community is $33,000 a year — three times that of a non-indigenous person in an urban area.

The Productivity Commission said the remoteness of communities, land tenure blockages to home ownership, lack of work and poorer general health of indigenous residents contributed to the problems in the communities.

It also blamed the failure to tackle the issues on poor co-­ordination and co-operation of ser­vices to meet community needs and a lack of “accountability for performance’’ among government and non-government agencies.

The report cited the example of the Cape York community of Hope Vale, which has a population of 1125 people, where there are “78 different services, provided by 46 different service providers … and 44 different funding programs’’ from 11 state government departments.

“The system is characterised by overlaps in roles and responsibilities, unclear lines of accountability and difficulties getting things done,’’ the report says. ­

“Administration and compliance costs, as well as other in­efficiencies, appear to ­account for a ­material portion of the funds spent in communities.’’

The report said there was scant evidence about what worked in service delivery in indigenous Australia, but US and Canadian research showed “active involvement of indigenous residents” was crucial to the success in tacking the causes of dysfunction.

“To make service providers more responsive … the level of service delivery and how services are delivered need to reside closer to those affected by service delivery,’’ the report says.

Under the commission’s proposal, a community or regional-based “authorising body’’ would be elected to develop a community plan before entering into a formal agreement with the state about how and what services were delivered. An independent body, which the government has announced will be set up next year, would oversee service evaluation.

“The government determines the overall level of resourcing it is prepared to make available to a community,’’ the report says.

“The way funds are used is the ­responsibility of the community, with decisions sanctioned through their authorising body in line with community plans.’’

Ms Trad said the government was working to implement some of the report’s recommendations. “Things that seem like a good idea in Brisbane don’t necessarily work once they make it to Cape York,’’ she said.

“Instead, the best way to get better outcomes is for the ­community to be at the centre of decision-making.”