Third report into Remote Indigenous Service Delivery

The Australian Government today released the third six monthly report from the Coordinator General for Remote Indigenous Services, Brian Gleeson, on progress being made in delivering essential services to people living in the 29 priority Indigenous locations across Australia.

The report details the performance of Governments in meeting our commitments to implement the National Partnership on Remote Service Delivery.

The Coordinator-General finds progress is being made to improve the lives of Indigenous people living in the 29 priority communities.

Under the Remote Service Delivery Strategy, all governments have signed up to a concentrated and accelerated approach to tackle disadvantage in Indigenous communities.

The report provides a community by community assessment of progress, particularly in relation to the Government and Community agreed Local Implementation Plans in each community.

Local Implementation Plans provide communities with a strong foundation to drive local solutions to priority needs and service delivery.

The Coordinator General has identified progress in all five of the jurisdictions involved in Remote Service Delivery including;

• New South Wales – in Wilcannia the establishment of a weekly mothers group, home visits, casework activity with families and networking with other agencies to assist with client referrals are providing services to new parents.
• Northern Territory – on Groote Eylandt, the Yirrandiyama Warka Job Shop has placed 281 job seekers into employment.
• Queensland – in Doomadgee the Sports, Recreation and Arts precinct is now open providing safe places for the community to meet and participate in sporting, recreational and cultural activities.
• South Australia – Amata and Mimili both have police stations, with officers chosen for their willingness to engage with Indigenous culture and for their problem solving skills in investigating domestic violence and child abuse.
• Western Australia – in Halls Creek construction has commenced on a Child and Family Centre to provide integrated early learning, parent support and child health services.

Under the Remote Service Delivery National Partnership Agreement governments have provided $291.2 million over six years to improve access to services for Indigenous Australians in remote areas.

The Coordinator General has the authority to coordinate across agencies and cut through bureaucratic red tape to make sure services are delivered effectively Recommendations from previous reports from the Coordinator General have helped to improve service delivery by introducing a flexible funding pool and systems to track progress in implementing agreed actions.

While the Coordinator General’s findings show positive change is occurring in remote communities, we know that disadvantage cannot be turned around overnight.

The Government is committed to delivering change at the community level that improves opportunities for Indigenous people and addresses disadvantage.

The assistance of the Coordinator General, the States and Territory, and community leaders is helping us to achieve improvements in these priority communities.

The report is available at www.cgris.gov.au