Category CDP

Sep 23 2021

NACCHO Aboriginal Health News: Unvaccinated adult mob at risk of severe COVID-19 illness

Feature tile - Thu 23.9.21 - Unvaccinated adult mob at risk of severe COVID-19 illness

Two-thirds of First Nations Australian adults at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 if unvaccinated

Almost three-in-five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are at an elevated risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19 due to ongoing health inequities, found a major study undertaken by researchers and health practitioners at The Australian National University (ANU), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Lowitja Institute.

The study examined the prevalence of health factors like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, which all increase the risk of severe illness if an unvaccinated person gets COVID-19. It found 59 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults have these and other existing conditions that could increase the risk of needing intensive care admission, mechanical ventilation or death if they contract COVID-19 and are not vaccinated.

Dr Jason Agostino from ANU, and a medical advisor to NACCHO, said: “… there are almost 300,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults who are at higher risk of getting very sick if they are not vaccinated and get COVID-19. This is why getting the vaccine is so important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

Dr Janine Mohamed, CEO of the Lowitja Institute, said: “Our communities are strong and resilient and have responded rapidly and effectively to the pandemic when they have been trusted, enabled and resourced by governments to lead the way. We need governments to work together with Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Organisations to support culturally safe delivery of vaccines and improve data collection to increase vaccination coverage as quickly as we can.”

You can read the media release by ANU here.
The study is published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

AFL legend Adam Goodes, NACCHO CEO Pat Turner, NACCHO Deputy CEO Dr Dawn Casey and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Linda Burney, MP all getting their vaccines to be protected against COVID-19.

AFL legend Adam Goodes, NACCHO CEO Pat Turner, NACCHO Deputy CEO Dr Dawn Casey and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Linda Burney, MP all getting their vaccines to be protected against COVID-19.

Spread of COVID-19 in Eurobodalla’s sparks alarm

Aboriginal elders, health professionals and politicians say they are concerned about the growing COVID-19 cluster among the Eurobodalla’s Indigenous community.

The cluster linked to Batemans Bay on the NSW far south coast has grown to 19 cases since the first case was reported on September 6.

Bega MP Andrew Constance has expressed concern that the Indigenous population is vulnerable to further spread.

“There is no doubt when you have a vulnerable cohort within the community, that is something we are very concerned about,” he said.

Despite the fact 60 per cent are now fully vaccinated in the region, there is a push to increase the rates among the local Indigenous population. Walk-in clinics will be open at:

  • The Wallaga Lake Community Hall from 10:00am on Thursday September 23.
  • The Bodalla soccer oval from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Sunday September 26.
  • Eden at the community health centre between 10:00am to 2:00pm on Saturday September 25.
  • Twofold, Jigamy on Thursday September 30. 

You can read the article in ABC News here.

Aboriginal elder Uncle Ossie Cruse is calling on the local Indigenous community to get the jab. Australian Story: Marc Smith.

Aboriginal elder Uncle Ossie Cruse is calling on the local Indigenous community to get the jab. Australian Story: Marc Smith.

Historic moment creates opportunity for COVID-19 vaccine promo

The McGowan Labor Government has launched the next phase of its Roll up for WA COVID-
19 vaccination campaign to help get as many Western Australians vaccinated as possible.

The emotive campaign reinforces the benefits of vaccination by featuring Western Australian personal stories of life before the COVID-19 pandemic, by reminiscing of a time when we were safely connected with the world and lived life without fear of a local outbreak.

The commercial (that can be viewed below the story) stars Sheree, a young Aboriginal nursing student, whose roots stretch between the Nyiyaparli and Banjima people originating from Port Hedland, who is passionate about encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine because she wants to keep her community safe.

With all eyes on WA hosting the 2021 AFL Grand Final this Saturday, the McGowan Government is leveraging the historic moment in WA by maximising opportunities to promote the campaign and benefits of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

The campaign also includes an informative video series with respected medical professional Dr Karl. Through the video series, Dr Karl answers the most common questions about the COVID-19 vaccines.

You  can view the media release by the McGowan Labor Government here.
For more information about the campaign, visit the Roll up for WA website here.

Growing urgency to vaccinate remote Elders before any border reopening

“It’s only a matter of time before Delta gets here, and it could be bad,” says Mr Chris Bin Kali, the director of the Broome Aboriginal Medical Service.

“It will only take one person and we could lose a whole community — lose the whole language, history, lore and culture in one go.”

It’s a grim message delivered with a sole aim — to get as many Kimberley people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Outback ingenuity is on display. Some remote communities are raffling off washing machines and fishing gear to those getting the jab. Open-invite vaxathons are using country and western music and AFL players to try to cut through. Slowly but surely, it is starting to work.

Vickie O’Donnell, who heads Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services, says she expects some communities will opt to remain shut.

The outback vaccine rollout is complicated by poor telecommunications, limited road access and a highly mobile population.

But in this critical moment, the years of work by Aboriginal health organisations to build a skilled health workforce is delivering a huge payoff.

You can read the story in the ABC News here.

Some communities are raffling off gift packs to encourage people to get vaccinated. Image source: Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services.

Some communities are raffling off gift packs to encourage people to get vaccinated. Image source: Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services.

Statement of support for TGA

Australia’s leading evidence-based health and medical organisations including NACCHO, stand beside Australia’s key medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

We express full support for the vital work the TGA does to assess and regulate new medicines and vaccines. The TGA has a strong reputation for being expert, independent and rigorous in its assessments of new products, and is similarly rigorous in its assessment of the safety of vaccines, so as to improve and protect the health of all Australians.

Another essential role of our medicines regulator is to challenge, and where necessary, prosecute those who seek to mislead the Australian public about important health information so as to pursue their own interests. This role is particularly important in the current global health crisis.

Now is a time when Australians must have confidence in the assessments and recommendations of the TGA, and we believe Australians’ trust in the TGA is well placed.

You can read the statement of support at the Burnet Institute website here.

TGA logo

HOTspots platform maps antibiotic resistance patterns

A new digital surveillance platform has launched enabling healthcare professionals to map circulating antibiotic-resistant pathogens in northern Australia.

The HOTspots platform, developed in the HOT NORTH program, covers tropical areas in Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia and has information about up to 13 pathogens and their associated antibiotics.

Lead researcher, Dr Teresa Wozniak, Senior Research Fellow and APPRISE Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research, said the HOTspots program and digital platform support antibiotic stewardship activities in northern Australia, allowing clinicians to choose “the right drugs for the right bugs”.

“The HOTspots data, and now a digital platform, allow end users including doctors, nurses and Aboriginal health practitioners across regional and remote hospitals and clinics to have access to accurate local up-to-date data to make decisions at the point of care,” Dr Wozniak said.

View the HOTspots platform and read more about the HOT NORTH program.

You can read the joint media release by Menzies School of Health Research, Hot North and Apprise here.

HOTspots platform maps antibiotic resistance patterns across northern Australia. Image source: Hot North.

HOTspots platform maps antibiotic resistance patterns across northern Australia. Image source: Hot North.

Clinical learning e-modules for lung cancer symptoms

Lung Foundation Australia, in collaboration with Cancer Australia, has developed accredited clinical learning e-modules, based on Cancer Australia’s Investigating symptoms of lung cancer: a guide for all health professionals. The e-modules use clinical scenario-based learning to increase confidence among health professionals to recognise symptoms and signs of lung cancer, and support early and rapid referral of symptomatic patients into the multidisciplinary diagnostic pathway.

The modules have received accreditation from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), with health professionals able to gain accreditation of 40 RACGP CPD points.

Sign up for the modules here.

Symptoms of lung cancer. Illustration from the Lung Foundation Australia website.

Symptoms of lung cancer. Illustration from the Lung Foundation Australia website.

Improving Digital Connectivity for Indigenous Australians

Yesterday the Morrison Government launched public consultations for its landmark Indigenous Digital Inclusion Plan to accelerate the digital connectivity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“Ensuring Indigenous Australians have quality access to digital technology encourages entrepreneurialism, wealth creation and economic advancement – it’s about closing the gap and taking the next step after that,” Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt AM MP, said.

“Over the last year and a half, we’ve seen how people have relied on technology, not just to stay in touch with family and friends, but also to launch new ventures and navigate through COVID-19.”

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly those in remote communities, are
missing out on opportunities to start new businesses and grow because of access to technology. That is why we are developing a comprehensive plan to address the barriers to digital inclusion,” said Minister Wyatt.

More information and a copy of the discussion paper is available on the NIAA website, or you can contact the Agency at digitalinclusion@niaa.gov.au or on 1800 079 098.
Submissions on the discussion paper close 1 November 2021.

You can read the media release by The Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP here.

The Indigenous Digital Inclusion Plan will focus on three elements of digital inclusion: access, affordability and digital ability.

The Indigenous Digital Inclusion Plan will focus on three elements of digital inclusion: access, affordability and digital ability.

 

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.


dice spelling JOBS resting on keyboard

 

MDHS Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellowship

The University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences are pleased to announce that applications for the 2021 round of Indigenous Postdoc fellowships are now open.

The fellowship aims to support the next generation of Indigenous researchers who will actively contribute to health research and/or address critical health issues facing Indigenous communities. The Fellows will contribute to and enrich the Faculty’s diverse scholarly community and strengthen our existing Indigenous research community.

Applications are open to recent Indigenous MDHS PhD graduates and candidates who are near completion and expect to submit between 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 31 October (5pm) 2021.

We invite all eligible candidates who are interested in continuing an academic path with the Faculty to read more about the Fellowship and consider applying here.

Electronic Prescriptions for Consumers Q+A Session

As electronic prescriptions become more widely available across the country, the Australian Digital Health Agency invites you to join a “Electronic Prescribing Q+A Session for Consumers and Carers”. The purpose of the session is to provide you with a platform where your questions will be answered directly by an expert panel.

Ask any questions you might have related to your experience with using electronic prescriptions. Is there anything that wasn’t clear or left you wondering how it works? We welcome all your questions and there is no requirement to have used electronic prescribing prior to joining a session.

You will be able to participate by speaking directly with our subject matter experts, or by submitting questions anonymously through our questions platform. If you would like to submit your questions prior to the session to ensure they are addressed, please use the registration form below.

These sessions are open to consumer peak organisations, members and consumer advocates, carers and advisors.

Event title: Your questions answered: Electronic Prescriptions for Consumers

Dates: 
Thursday, 7 October 2021, 12-12.30pm AEDT (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra)
Thursday, 14 October 2021 12-12.30pm AEDT (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra)
Thursday, 21 October 2021 12-12.30pm AEDT (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra)

Register here. (Select preferred date from drop-down menu)

 

Aug 5 2021

NACCHO Aboriginal Health News: AMA calls for mandatory vaccination of health care workers

Feature tile - Tue 31.8.21 - AMA calls for mandatory vaccination of health care workers

AMA calls for mandatory vaccination of health care workers

The AMA is calling for mandatory vaccinations for the workforce of the entire health care system including support staff like cleaners, receptionists and contractors as soon as practical. The AMA says public health orders to mandate vaccinations should begin in hospitals, then the wider health system.

With worrying numbers of COVID-19-infected frontline workers furloughed and unable to work, as well as several clusters being linked to hospitals, AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said mandatory vaccines for healthcare workers are needed to sustain the health system into the future as we learn to live with COVID-19.

“We need to bring these workers and the environment they work in, out of crisis mode and the first step towards that is to protect them through vaccination. This is about health care worker safety and the safety of patients, and not about vaccines by force,” Dr Khorshid said.

You can read the media release by the AMA here.

Person receiving vaccine. Image source: AMA website. Feature image: AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid.

Person receiving vaccine. Image source: AMA website. Feature image: AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid.

First COVID death among mob

“We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family and to the community of the Dubbo man who passed away yesterday. We are very saddened by this news and it was something that we tried to avoid and did our best to date. But this just goes to show how deadly and invasive the Delta variant of the virus is and why it is absolutely essential for all of our people from age 12 up to have the vaccinations which are now readily available. I encourage everybody to go and get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

NACCHO CEO Pat Turner AM

You can watch the interview with Ms Turner from last night’s episode of The Drum on ABC here.
Find out where you can get your vaccine via the Department of Health’s Eligibility Checker here.

NACCHO CEO Pat Turner AM on The Drum Monday 30 August 2021.

NACCHO CEO Pat Turner AM on The Drum Monday 30 August 2021.

Orange AMS providing mobile COVID testing

OAMS practice manager Christie Cain said that between Tuesday, August 24, – when the rapid-testing clinic was first mobilised – and Monday morning, 225 people had been swabbed for COVID in Orange so far. According to Mrs Cain, the clinic which had been rolled out in partnership with the Western NSW Local Health District, was to assist those in Orange having difficulties getting to testing clinics.

“We’re prioritising, at the moment, patients of close contacts [and] vulnerable communities that aren’t able to get to a clinic,” Mrs Cain said.

“That’s anyone, even if they’re not asymptomatic, they’ll call through to a switch, and then they are booked in, and then allocated to a team who will then go out.”

You can read the article in The Central Western Daily here.

SWAB MOBILE: Cathy Gutterson, Tania Biddle and Peter Fuller from OAMS are making sure no-one misses out on testing. PHOTO: CARLA FREEDMAN

SWAB MOBILE: Cathy Gutterson, Tania Biddle and Peter Fuller from OAMS are making sure no-one misses out on testing. PHOTO: CARLA FREEDMAN

Clarification on COVID-19 vaccine information for 12-15 year-olds

In yesterday’s issue of the NACCHO Aboriginal Health News: 12-15 year olds now eligible for vaccine, we shared the following three media releases:

NACCHO would like to clarify that this information, while accurate, refers to the overall Australian population and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 12 and over have been eligible for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine since 2 August 2021. You can read the statement from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation here.

Up-to-date information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples about COVID-19 vaccines can be found here.

We apologies if this caused any confusion to our readers.

Co-founder of Awabakal remembered

We warn our readers that this story mentions people and contain images of people who have passed on.

Co-founder of the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative, William Edward Smith died from pancreatic cancer in Newcastle on Sunday. He was aged 83.

Living on Awabakal land and as an elder, Bill Smith helped others puts down roots. In the mid-1970s, he was involved in establishing the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative, assisting with everything from housing to health.

“It’s made a lot of difference, especially on the medical, on the health side of our people,” said Bill’s older son Edward Smith.

“He was such a beautiful man. He was such a trailblazer for his generation, and he embraced everyone around him with such warmth,” said Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes.

Saretta Fielding, Bill Smith’s niece and an acclaimed artist, said her uncle “led the way”.

“He built bridges over many years,” Mrs Fielding said, “to create better opportunities for Aboriginal people, but also in being inclusive and welcoming to the broader community, to work together towards reconciliation and to really understand each other.”

You can read the story in the Newcastle Herald here.

Indigenous leader and businessman Bill Smith. Picture: Courtesy, Paul Szumilas and Smith Family.

Indigenous leader and businessman Bill Smith. Picture: Courtesy, Paul Szumilas and Smith Family.

COVID-19 support for communities

The COVID-19 Aboriginal Community Response Program has opened today. Quick response grants of up to $10,000 are available for Aboriginal community organisations and groups to meet the immediate health and wellbeing needs of Aboriginal people across the state as part of Aboriginal Affairs NSW’s COVID-19 response strategy.

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Don Harwin said the grants would help to provide Aboriginal communities with targeted COVID-19 information and assistance from trusted services.

Read the media release by the NSW Government Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Don Harwin here.

Image source: NSW Government Aboriginal Affairs website.

Image source: NSW Government Aboriginal Affairs website.

GPs urged to review accreditation arrangements

GPs are being urged to have their say on a new review of general practice accreditation arrangements.

The independent review, commissioned by the Department of Health, has been designed to reveal the barriers and incentives for general practices participating in accreditation, and highlight areas for improvement. It will also explore existing accreditation models, issues for accrediting agencies providing services to general practices, alternate accreditation models, and potential overlaps between general practice and educational accreditation.

RACGP Expert Committee – Standards for General Practices Chair Dr Louise Acland is encouraging anyone who has an interest or experience with accreditation to provide feedback, including GPs, practice owners, practice managers and nursing staff.

Find out more in NewsGP on the RACGP website.

Female doctor working on laptop at desk in office. Image credit: RACGP website.

Female doctor working on laptop at desk in office. Image credit: RACGP website.

Seeking members for TGA committees

Would you like to contribute to the regulation of therapeutic goods in Australia? Have you considered becoming a member of one of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s committees?

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is seeking applications from medical and scientific experts to fill a number of upcoming vacancies across TGA’s Statutory Advisory Committees and the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee. You must have expertise in relevant medical or scientific fields or experience with consumer health issues.

As a committee member you will contribute significantly towards the TGA’s regulatory functions by providing independent expert advice on matters across a broad spectrum of issues relating to medicines, devices, vaccines and other products and substances.

Further information about the roles of the TGA Statutory Advisory Committees can be found here, and for the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee can be found here.

If you have the appropriate expertise and are interested in contributing to the regulation of therapeutic goods in Australia, we would like to hear from you.

Applications close this week, contact NACCHO on medicines@naccho.org.au if you won’t be able to apply in this time or if you have any questions.

To apply, and find out more about the appointment process, go to the Department of Health website.
Enquiries can be made by email to committee.vacancies@health.gov.au

TGA seeking members for advisory committees.

Image source: AMA website.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.


dice spelling JOBS resting on keyboard

Let’s CHAT Dementia – Webinar Series

Dementia is a rapidly growing health issue for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Let’s CHAT (Community Health Approaches To) Dementia is a NHMRC-funded co-design project based in 12 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across Australia which aims to optimise detection and management of cognitive impairment in primary care.

In collaboration with Dementia Training Australia, the Let’s CHAT Dementia team and partners bring you a six-part series of webinars aimed at primary health care teams including General Practitioners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners and health workers, nurses, allied health professionals and others who work in primary care with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Webinar One: Best Practice Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Care
2 September 2021 – Online
7:00pm (AEST), 6:30pm (ACDT), 5:00pm (AWST)
This event is funded by the Australian Government and free to attend.
A Certificate of Attendance will be provided to attendees at the end of the event.

Presenters:

  • Dr Mary Belfrage, Clinical Lead NACCHO-RACGP Partnership Project, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
  • Professor Constance Dimity Pond, Professor of General Practice, University of Newcastle

Find out more about the webinars and how to register here.

LCD webinar image.

Image source: Dementia Training Australia website.

Apr 21 2020

Aboriginal #CoronaVirus News Alert No 43 : April 21 #KeepOurMobSafe : #OurJobProtectOurMob #Rural #Remote The coronavirus supplement is the biggest boost to Indigenous incomes since the 1970’s . It should be made permanent

” It would be misguided to think Indigenous Australians need only temporary relief.

The Indigenous economy has been in crisis since 1788. The unemployment rate in places like Palm Island was 60% before the coronavirus hit.

The average duration of unemployment for Indigenous Australians is 73 weeks.

For Australia as a whole, it is 11 weeks.

The unfavourable job market now facing many Australians for the first time has been the normal state of affairs for many Indigenous people.

For this reason, the temporary increase to income support should be made permanent, and the suspended mutual obligation requirements abolished.

Doing so, and normalising some of the anomalies of the current arrangement (such as the exclusion of disability support pensioners, age pensioners, and temporary residents) would provide all Australians with an income floor below which no one could fall.

For Indigenous Australians, it would lock in the biggest reduction in poverty rates since the 1970s.

It would be affordable — it’s only a question of our priorities.

The crisis has reminded us once again how much we depend on each other. We can use it to rebuild a society which is fairer and in which no one is forced to struggle in deep poverty.:” 

This article draws on the Francis Markam author’s contribution to the collection Indigenous Australians and the COVID-19 crisis: Perspectives on public policy, published by the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the ANU. From the Conversation 

 

On March 23 the government effectively doubled payments to the unemployed, single parents and students, introducing a new unconditional Coronavirus Supplement to go on top of existing allowances such as Newstart, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment, Austudy and Abstudy.

From April 27 single unemployed adults will get around A$557.85 per week in income support, almost double the previous $282.85 per week.

This additional support is time-limited, applying for only six months.

As well as covering the newly unemployed, it’ll extend to existing recipients, meaning it’ll be paid to about 2.3 million Australians.

Read more: Coronavirus supplement: your guide to the Australian payments that will go to the extra million on welfare

At the same time, the onerous requirement for recipients in remote Australia to conduct “work-like activities” or face fines and suspensions, has itself been suspended because work-like activities carry added risk.

The temporary doubling is intended to shield those who find themselves unable to find work at a time when the government has shut down large sections of the economy.

But it will have another (welcome) unintended consequence: it will temporarily cut poverty among Indigenous Australia to new lows.

Most very remote Indigenous Australians live in poverty

Note graphic above added by NACCHO 

The income support system has failed for decades to keep Indigenous people out of poverty. At the time of the 2016 Census, 31% of Indigenous Australia lived below the poverty line of $404 per week.

And while the overall financial situation of Indigenous Australians improved over the decade from 2006 to 2016, in very remote Australia, poverty got worse.

Already alarmingly high in 2006 at 46%, by 2016 the proportion of very remote Indigenous Australians in poverty had climbed to 54%.

Percentage of Indigenous population living in poverty

Indigenous poverty rates using the ‘50% of median disposable equivalised household income’ poverty line. Markham and Biddle, 2018

Since then things have changed, for the worse.

According to Bureau of Statistics survey data, median Indigenous personal incomes fell from $482 per week in 2014-15 to $450 in 2018-19.

In remote Australia the fall was more precipitous.

Over those five years remote median Indigenous personal income fell from $375 per week to $310.

Median Indigenous income, 2014-15, 2019-19

Median gross personal weekly income, Indigenous population aged 15-64. Author’s calculations from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2014-15 and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2018-19

The Coronavirus Supplement is set to dramatically change things.

Before the coronavirus outbreak about 27% of the Indigenous population aged 16 years or older were receiving payments that make them eligible for the Supplement.

The proportion who will actually get it be much greater, as many more will become unemployed or underemployed as a result of the crisis.

Read more: Three charts on: the changing status of Indigenous Australians

Indigenous workers are likely to be especially hit hard by the downturn due to discrimination and their more-precarious employment status.

The extra $225 per week is well-targeted at the poorest Indigenous Australians.

According to my estimates, around 38% of Indigenous adults in very remote areas will be eligible.

The biggest boost in 50 years

It is likely to be the most substantial increase in aggregate Indigenous incomes since Indigenous people won rights to equal wages and the full range of social security payments between 1969 and 1977.

In very remote areas, total community incomes are likely to increase by one quarter.

Indeed, so significant is the boost that remote community stores may run out of food as incomes start to catch up with people’s everyday needs, a concern expressed by the minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt.

It should be made permanent

Dec 18 2018

NACCHO Aboriginal Health and the #Workforthedole Debate  #Election2019 Senator Nigel Scullion calls it returning to sit down money as Aboriginal leaders welcome Labor commitment to abolish discriminatory remote Work for the Dole Program

” We welcome Labor’s focus on creating jobs and meeting the needs of remote communities, and its commitment to abolishing the existing program, which is harmful and discriminatory.

We are urging that the new program includes a firm funding commitment to support the creation of a substantial jobs package – this is vital for remote communities.

We welcome Labor’s commitment to work with First Nations people to co-design a new program and their recognition that our communities must be involved in decisions about policies that affect us.

Any scheme to replace CDP must be Aboriginal-led. We can’t have a continuation of the failed, top-down, bureaucratic approach that we have at the moment. We are looking to Labor to support the new program being delivered in an Aboriginal-led agency, not by the Canberra bureaucracy “

John Paterson, spokesperson for APO NT, said that it was critical that Labor follow through with a firm policy and funding commitment to ensure the creation of jobs and positive community development

“ Today’s revelations that the Labor Party will cut over $1 billion from the Indigenous Affairs portfolio and abolish the Community Development Program is an astonishing admission that Labor has no plans to improve life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.

The Community Development Program is the continuation of almost 40 years of remote employment services and is a critical part of Government’s work in remote communities to engage adults in work and improve the circumstances of remote communities.”

Senator Nigel Scullion Indigenous Affairs Minister see full Press Release Part 2

Senator Dodson announced Labor would abolish the CDP, a program unions and welfare groups have argued is “blatantly discriminatory” because 83% of its 35,000 participants are Indigenous, and it imposes higher requirements than the work for the dole scheme does.

As a condition of income support, remote-area participants must engage in up to 25 hours of work activities a week.

Dodson said Labor would replace the CDP with a new program to be “co-designed” with First Nations people and restore the principle of “community control and direction”.

Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT (APO NT) has welcomed the Australian Labor Party’s commitment to abolish the Government’s discriminatory ‘work for the dole’ program in remote communities.

In announcing the Labor Party’s commitment to scrapping the Community Development Program (CDP), Senator Pat Dodson said that it would be replaced with a new program that ‘creates jobs, meets community needs and delivers meaningful training and economic development’.

Dr Josie Douglas, Policy Manager at the Central Land Council warned that income inequality between remote communities and urban cities is growing.

“Poverty is growing in remote communities, and young people, in particular, are giving up. They are losing hope. That’s why Labor must build on its commitment to abolish CDP and commit to a jobs package for remote communities, including training for young people.”

“Aboriginal people have the solutions. We have developed a new model – the Fair Work and Strong Communities model – which would immediately reduce poverty in remote communities by 2.6% and cut the gap in employment rates between remote Aboriginal people and the rest of Australia by one third,” said Dr Douglas.

“This approach has the broad support of key Aboriginal organisations and national bodies.

“By listening to us and adopting our proposal, Labor could make an immediate difference to thousands of people and provide a platform for economic, social and cultural development in remote communities,” said Dr Douglas.

The Fair Work & Strong Communities Proposal has been endorsed by over 30 organisations around Australia and includes:

The proposed scheme

1. Creating immediate paid work

 Funding packages for the creation of 10,500 jobs. Packages cover 20 hours at minimum wage plus on-costs, which may be topped up by an employer.

 1,500 paid, six-month work experience places for young people.

 Repurposing the existing $25m entrepreneurship fund to support social enterprise development.

2. Indigenous control

 Indigenous control is embedded at the national, regional and local level. The program is managed by a national, Indigenous led body.

 Within broad program goals (like increased employment rates) local communities have significant input into local targets and scope to vary ‘default’ policies in relation to level of obligations and penalties.

3. Focus on long term positive impacts

 Program orientation changes from short-term results to achieving net impact through, over time, the creation of sustainable new jobs and skilling local people to take up jobs already in communities.

 Financial incentives to penalise participants are removed.

 People with substantial long-term health issues and/or disabilities are assigned to a stream in which they are supported to participate voluntarily, but not compelled.

Costs and impact of the scheme:

The current CDP costs over $300m per year (excludes income support costs).

Net cost of the Fair Work Strong Communities jobs package (12,000 new jobs) = $195.8m per annum. However, this amount would be significantly decreased by potential offsets from current program costs.

National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) has calculated the day one impacts of the proposed package as:

 poverty rate reduced from 22.7% to 20.1%

 Employment rate increases from 48.2% to 57.8% (employment rate gap reduces by one third)

Today’s revelations that the Labor Party will cut over $1 billion from the Indigenous Affairs portfolio and abolish the Community Development Program is an astonishing admission that Labor has no plans to improve life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.

The Community Development Program is the continuation of almost 40 years of remote employment services and is a critical part of Government’s work in remote communities to engage adults in work and improve the circumstances of remote communities.

The Community Development Program has delivered great results:

The CDP has turned around community engagement and participation – from only 7 per cent at the end of Labor’s Remote Jobs and Communities Program to over 70 per cent today.

Over 28,000 jobs for remote job seekers

Over 9,600 long term employment outcomes

And the Government has already announced reforms to the Community Development Program to provide a fairer and simpler system, and move more people off welfare and into work. Changes include:

6,000 subsidised jobs across remote Australia

Ensuring communities are at the centre of CDP with increased local control and flexibility in the design and delivery of CDP

Support for remote business development

Changes to the provider payment model to focus on working closely with job seekers to improve engagement and address barriers to employment

Introduction of the Targeted Compliance Framework

Change hours of participation from a maximum of 25 hours per week to up to 20 hours per week.

Improved job seeker assessments, with local health workers able to provide the medical evidence required to review mutual obligation requirements.

Labor’s shocking lack of detail on this policy leaves a lot of uncertainty for residents of remote Australia.

Will the Labor Party introduce the mainstream jobactive program into remote Australia despite clear calls from Indigenous leaders and communities for the need for a program that is tailored to the needs of remote job seekers?

Will the Labor Party abandon the principle of mutual obligations and return communities to the misery of sit down money and passive welfare that fails children, women and families and causes dropping school attendance and community safety outcomes?

Who has the Labor Party consulted with in making this decision?

Has the Labor Party asked representative bodies and local Aboriginal CDP providers?  Has the Labor Party asked residents of remote communities?

Or has the Labor Party just made its decision based on the views of east coast academics and its union masters.

The Labor Party needs to come clean on its plans for remote Australia.
Nov 7 2018

NACCHO Aboriginal Health News : #NACCHOagm2018 Delegates agree unanimously to motion that the #CDP is discriminatory and is causing significant harm, hardship , distress and they call on cross bench senators to reject the Bill in its entirety

” The National Association of Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Services, in its submission, warned that extending the four-week payment cutoff penalty to CDP and requiring recipients to reapply would be much more difficult for people in remote areas who may have language barriers, lack access to a phone or have underlying cognitive or health impairments and will likely mean that Aboriginal people in CDP regions will have less access to income support payments than other Australians”.

The Australian 

 ” NACCHO is deeply concerned by the Community Development Program (CDP) and its impact on Aboriginal people living in remote areas or CDP regions. We believe that the CDP is discriminatory and is causing significant harm, hardship and distress to Aboriginal people across Australia. NACCHO does not support the CDP nor does it support the proposed Bill. We believe the proposed Bill will only worsen the impact of the current CDP.

The Senate must recognise the unanimous voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and reject this Bill.”

Background : Extracts from NACCHO submission  post 15 October Read in full

“ We haven’t come here to bash the government or criticise, we’ve come here with a solution and the solution is here and we’re willing to work with all government at all levels,” he said.

What it reminds me of is a modern day Wave Hill situation- where Aboriginal people were paid sugar, flour and tea,

Those sorts of conditions and that sort of wage offer and assistance for Aboriginal Australians should not be offered in this day and age.”

John Paterson, CEO of Aboriginal Peak Organizations said the current program is “not an effective piece of work” and claims it puts “so many breaches on Aboriginal people” 

Picture below speaking at Parliament House September 2018 see NITV SBS Article

Motion below by John Paterson on CDP to the NACCHO 2018 Conference, 1 Nov 2018

Moved: Tim Agius, Durri ACMS, Kempsey NSW

Seconded: Vicki O’Donnell, KAMS

Agreed unanimously.

That the NACCHO 2018 Conference endorses the following:

NACCHO member services are deeply concerned by the Community Development Program (CDP) and its impact on Aboriginal people living in remote areas or CDP regions.

We believe that the CDP is discriminatory and is causing significant harm, hardship and distress to CDP participants and their families and deepening poverty in communities.

We do not support the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Community Development Program) Bill 2018 (CDP Bill) currently before the Parliament. We believe the Bill will only worsen the impact of the current CDP.

In particular, the proposed application of the mainstream Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) is inappropriate for remote community conditions and will result in a worsening of already unacceptable rates of serious breaches and penalties applied to participants and an increase in disengagement from the scheme.

Other proposed changes, such as reducing the number of hours that CDP participants must Work for the Dole and offering wage subsidies, can be achieved without the Bill.

We are heartened by the opposition to the Bill expressed by Labor and the Greens and the support for Aboriginal concerns expressed by cross bench members of the Senate.

We urge cross bench Senators to reject the Bill in its entirety.

We call for urgent and fundamental reform of the program to be achieved through direct engagement and collaboration with Aboriginal peak and community organisations.

We propose the Fair Work and Strong Communities scheme proposed by APO NT and a coalition of Aboriginal organisations and national peak bodies as the appropriate basis for this discussion.

Oct 15 2018

NACCHO Aboriginal Health and #CDP : Despite major objections from peak groups like #NACCHO The Morrison government to push ahead with changes to Indigenous remote work for the dole scheme

” The National Association of Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Services, in its submission, warned that extending the four-week payment cutoff penalty to CDP and requiring recipients to reapply would be much more difficult for people in remote areas who may have language barriers, lack access to a phone or have underlying cognitive or health impairments and will likely mean that Aboriginal people in CDP regions will have less access to income support payments than other Australians”.

From The Australian October 12

See below copy of NACCHO Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Community Development Program) Bill 2018

The Morrison Government will push ahead with controversial changes to the Indigenous remote work for the dole scheme despite extensive evidence given to a senate committee that they are punitive and unfairly target Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

The changes to the Community Development Plan, which was introduced in 2015, will entrench a compliance regime described by the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples in evidence as having never been designed for use in remote areas, where “persistent non-compliance is more likely to be the result of structural barriers such as geographical challenges”.

The regime, which began on July 1 in other unemployment benefit programs such as jobactive, will impose demerits and financial penalties on CDP participants if they fail to attend scheduled appointments.

The new system will cancel payments for a maximum of four weeks for defaults and require the affected participant to reapply to receive future payments.

However a dissenting report by Labor senators slammed the government’s recommendation that the Bill go ahead, saying it reflected an “inadequacy of consultation, and the lack of genuine engagement or co-design with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and representative organisations”.

It quoted Congress’s submission that the compliance system “was designed for use in urban and regional contexts, where the vast majority of employment program participants regularly comply with obligations, and those who refuse to often do so deliberately due to dissatisfaction with the system”.

“This is not the case in remote communities (where) many CDP participants breach obligations on a more regular (ie weekly or fortnightly) basis due to social, cultural and community obligations.”

It also cited evidence from peak group Jobs Australia that expanding the compliance regime “would consign many people to a penalties-and-compliance cycle which will increase the risk of disengagement”.

Jobs Australia said CDP was already causing “unecessary financial hardship, exacerbating poverty, creating disengagment and doing more harm than good in remote Australia”.

It said there were more financial penalties applied to CDP participants than to jobactive participants, a fact that could primarily be explained by “the onerous and inflexible participation requirements in CDP compared to non-remote areas”.

While the Labor response made no promise to repeal the change should it win government, it called on the Government “to urgently address the issues raised in the course of this inquiry”.

A separate Greens dissenting report called for the Government to release an evaluation of the current GDP “as a matter of urgency and allow time between its release and debate on this Bill … the fact that we are being asked to assess the Bill and the reforms more broadly when we have not yet seen the evaluation of the current CDP is unacceptable”.

The Government has proposed creating 6000 subsidised jobs which contain some exemptions from the compliance regime, a suggestion the Greens called “a nonsense argument” as other measures could be taken to separate CDP participation from the compliance regime.

Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Community Development Program) Bill 2018

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia

Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia

Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council

Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Norther Territory

Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council

Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation

Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

Winnunga Nimmityjah Health and Community Service

The following submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee is made by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and its Affiliate from each State. NACCHO is the national peak body representing 145 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) across the country on Aboriginal health and wellbeing issues.

An ACCHO is a primary health care service initiated and operated by the local Aboriginal community to deliver holistic, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate health care to the community which controls it, through a locally elected Board of Governance. They range from large multi-functional services employing several medical practitioners and providing a wide range of services, to small services which rely on Aboriginal Health Workers and/or nurses to provide the bulk of primary care services, often with a preventive, health education focus. The services form a network, but each is autonomous and independent both of one another and of government.

NACCHO, the State Affiliates and its members are a living embodiment of the aspirations of Aboriginal communities and their struggle for self-determination. In 1997, the Federal Government funded NACCHO to establish a Secretariat in Canberra which greatly increased the capacity of Aboriginal Peoples involved in ACCHOs to participate in national health policy development.

The integrated, comprehensive primary health care model adopted by ACCHOs is in keeping with the philosophy of Aboriginal community control and the holistic view of health. Addressing the ill health of Aboriginal people can only be achieved by local Aboriginal people controlling health care delivery.

Overarching position

NACCHO is deeply concerned by the Community Development Program (CDP) and its impact on Aboriginal people living in remote areas or CDP regions. We believe that the CDP is discriminatory and is causing significant harm, hardship and distress to Aboriginal people across Australia. NACCHO does not support the CDP nor does it support the proposed Bill. We believe the proposed Bill will only worsen the impact of the current CDP.

The Senate must recognise the unanimous voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and reject this Bill.

Recommendations

NACCHO recommends the Senate:

  1. Reject the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Community Development Program) Bill 2018;
  2. Confirm whether the CDP is a program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and has been designed as a Special Measure under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975;
    1. If the CDP is a Special Measure, detail how CDP was designed as such and on what basis this has been determined;
    2. If the CDP is not a Special Measure, provide an explanation why the responsible Minister is the Minister for Indigenous Affairs; the program is administered by the Department of Prime Minister in its Indigenous Affairs Group; is funded from the Indigenous Advancement Strategy; and overwhelming applies to Aboriginal people.
  3. Advise the Government to immediately abandon the Community Development Program, recognising the program is deeply flawed; is discriminatory; and is causing disproportionate harm and distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
  4. Advise the Government to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and people in remote areas to develop a replacement program which reflects the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We propose the Fair Work and Strong Communities scheme proposed by APO NT as the appropriate basis for this discussion.

Discussion

There are multiple issues with the proposed CDP reforms and with the underlying program and NACCHO has only referred to a few below. NACCHO notes the submissions of other Aboriginal organisations and peak bodies, including Aboriginal Peak Organisations in the Northern Territory and the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, and their comments on other issues with the proposed Bill. We also note the submission of Ms Lisa Fowkes of the Australian National University and her comprehensive analysis of the issues.  

CDP is discriminatory in both its design and application

NACCHO believes that the CDP is discriminatory towards Aboriginal people living in remote areas, both in its design and in its application.

We understand that the Government claims the CDP is not a program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and is an employment program for all people living in remote areas, or CDP regions. NACCHO questions then why the responsible Minister is the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, rather than the Minister for Jobs as is the case for the Job Active program, and is administered by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Indigenous Affairs Group, rather than the Department for Jobs. NACCHO is also concerned that the CDP is funded from the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, a program solely for Indigenous programs and services. Participants of CDP are also overwhelming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Should the government claim that CDP is a program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, NACCHO is also not aware that the CDP has been designed as a Special Measure under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

NACCHO is also of the view that CDP has a disproportionate impact on Aboriginal people and affects their rights to social security, causing significant hardship. Reasons include: differing work requirements or mutual obligations to other Australians; use of phone assessments; lack of cultural competence of assessors; failure to use interpreters; differing cultural perceptions of disabilities; high levels of unassessed or unaddressed mental illness and/or disability in remote communities; reluctance of Indigenous people to disclose family or personal challenges; and poor on non-existent Centrelink services.

Clarity is required as to whether the CDP is a program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote areas and if it is for CDP to be redesigned so it is consistent with a Special Measure.

Application of the TCF to CDP participants

The application of penalties under the current CDP compliance framework is having devastating impacts on Aboriginal people, with increasing hardship, people going hungry and increasing family stress.

NACCHO understands the TCF arrangements are designed to reduce penalties for those who might miss the occasional appointment within a six-month period, and increase penalties for those who miss appointments or activities more often. CDP participants have to attend activities more often than anyone else, so they have more ‘opportunities to fail’ and they incur many more penalties than other unemployed people.

NACCHO also believes that many CDP participants are incorrectly assessed during the initial job capacity assessments and too often have higher work obligations placed on them than they are able to meet. The multiple reasons for this are outlined above. Ultimately, it means that there are more ‘opportunities to fail’ for CDP participants.

One of the biggest consequences of the TCF comes from the removal of the current ability of participants who have had a longer penalty applied to return to their activities and have their income support reinstated. Under the TCF, individuals who have been penalised would have no way of having their payments re-instated early by returning to Work for the Dole. They could appeal the penalty, but in practice this is extremely difficult for Aboriginal people living in remote areas where Centrelink servicing is very poor and inconsistent, English is not the first language and there are multiple barriers to communication. This will increase the hardship for Aboriginal people in CDP regions.

In addition, those who receive 4 week penalties will have their payments cancelled altogether and they will need to re-apply for payments. This will be much more difficult for people in remote areas who may have language barriers, lack access to a phone or have underlying cognitive or health impairments and will likely mean that Aboriginal people in CDP regions will have less access to income support payments than other Australians.

It is our view that the TCF system will have a much harsher impact on CDP participants than other jobseekers across Australia and will continue CDP as a discriminatory measure. This change should be rejected by the Senate.

Provision for allied health professional to provide evidence for health assessments

NACCHO understand that the intention of the CDP reforms is to ensure job seekers are not required to participate beyond their capacity through an improved health assessment process: this includes allowing local allied health professionals to provide the evidence for assessments. The CDP reforms however do not address the deeply flawed initial job capacity assessment which has not achieved any significant exceptions to date based on the level of disability, illness and hardship in many remote Aboriginal communities; and sets Aboriginal people up with unrealistic work expectations.

The provisions for allied health workers to provide evidence on work capacity after the initial obligations have been set will then still sit within a deeply flawed system of assessment. The inadequacy of current assessment processes needs to be fixed by working with Aboriginal organisations with expertise in this area on a mechanism that supports locally-based assessments with more appropriate evidence requirements.

NACCHO also notes that the inclusion of evidence from allied health professionals has also been added with no consideration of health services’ current workloads and capacity, no additional resourcing and no consultation. If these provisions proceed, NACCHO recommends that the Government work with Aboriginal health organisations and their peaks to ensure the changes and requirements are properly understood and any financial impact is addressed.

An alternative to CDP

NACCHO believes that the current design of the CDP, including the proposed ‘reformed CDP’ does not address the real employment challenges facing remote communities including: lack of demand for labour; lack of required skills to take up available jobs and the health effects of poverty. These are long term challenges and require long term investments and strengthening of local capacity. These issues will only be addressed with the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous people in decision making.

NACCHO recommends that the government work in partnership with remote Aboriginal organisations and their peaks across Australia to design an appropriate and properly funded Aboriginal led community development agenda that includes economic and social outcomes.

The CDP should be abandoned whilst this work takes place.

” This attempt to force a harsh new penalty system on remote communities shows again that the Australian Government does not want to listen. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want to take up the reins and drive job creation and community development.

Our proposal for a new model for fair conditions of work and strong remote communities is sitting on the Government’s desk but being ignored”

John Paterson CEO AMSANT, spokesperson for Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT, said that while subsidies for new jobs was a step in the right direction, the Government’s proposal falls far short of the alternative model – Fair Work and Strong Communities – that was handed to the Government by Aboriginal organisations in 2017.

Download Transcript APO NT at SENATE Community Affairs Legislation Committee_

Starts page 13

Picture above: Cenral Land Council policy manager Josie Douglas and AMSANT CEO John Patterson are fighting the Coalition government’s discriminatory and punitive work for the dole scheme in Canberra 

The two APO NT spokespeople just finished giving evidence before a Senate committee.

Dr Douglas said if the Coalition government’s CDP bill passes the Senate, remote communities will be hit with a tough new penalty regime in the New Year.

She said the so-called targeted compliance framework would create even greater financial hardship in the bush.

“ Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory (APONT ), and our members have received widespread concerns about the debilitating impacts that CDP is having on its participants, their families and communities.

Financial penalties were being imposed at an astonishing scale – causing families, including children, to go hungry.

Such consistent and strong concerns expressed by those at the coalface must be taken seriously and acted upon,

Onerous and discriminatory obligations applied to remote CDP work for the dole participants mean they have to do significantly more work than those in non-remote, mainly non-Indigenous majority areas, up to 670 hours more per year.”

The chief executive of Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory, John Paterson, said the program was causing significant harm to communities. He said financial penalties were being imposed at an astonishing scale – causing families, including children, to go hungry (see Guardian article in full below Part 2 )

See previous NACCHO COVERAGE HERE

Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation’s Community Development Programme (CDP) and West Arnhem Regional Council works crew 

Press Release

Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities struggling under the Australian Government’s racially discriminatory remote work for the dole program would be worse off under a proposed new penalty system, a Senate Committee inquiry has been told.

The Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency and the Human Rights Law Centre were among a number of organisations urging a Senate Committee to reject the Government’s attempt to expand the ‘Targeted Compliance Framework’ from urban areas into remote communities subject to the Government’s remote Community Development Program (CDP).

Jamie Ahfat, a community leader in the Northern Territory, told the Committee that CDP is making life a lot harder for people in remote communities.

“I’ve been doing CDP since 2016. I always wanted to get a proper job and not be on Centrelink but there are no jobs up here.”

“I’ve always tried to do the right thing in the CPD, but despite this there have been times when I’ve been penalised.

There was one time when I had to rush to Darwin to help my mum who had cancer. Because I didn’t tell them, I was penalised and dollars were taken from my pay.”

“The system is discriminatory, it’s unfair that we have to do twice as many hours of activities as people in the cities. The CDP is also confusing, things aren’t properly explained to us, it’s hard to see the point.

The activities don’t help us get jobs,” said Mr Ahfat.

One of the most alarming parts of the Targeted Compliance Framework would see vulnerablepeople cycling through 1, 2 and 4 week no-payment penalties, no matter how much debt, hunger or pain they cause – waivers would not be available.

The Government has included an offer to provide 6,000 job subsidies to the introduction of the harsh penalty system into remote areas. Those who get a subsidised job would be excludedfrom the penalty system.

CDP workers currently have to work up to 500 hours more per year than those covered by thenon-remote ‘Jobactive’ program. The scheme also imposes onerous daily requirements. As aresult people under CDP are struggling to keep up and are having payments docked at 25 timesthe rate of Jobactive participants.

David Woodroffe, Principal Legal Officer of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, said that for years Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations have been dealing with thedamage wrought by the Government’s program.

“Rather than adding more penalties there is a real need to address the factors that are drivinghigh penalty rates already, such as barriers to accessing supports for vulnerable people and more onerous work obligations,” said Mr Woodroffe.

Adrianne Walters, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said that it was unjust and unnecessary for the Government to effectively make its offer to subsidise jobs conditional on the introduction of a penalty system that will see many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer.

“CDP already subjects remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to the indignity of having to work more for less. If the Government gets its way, parents will be left without money for food, fuel, rent and other basic necessities for four weeks no matter how dire their situation,” said Ms Walters.