[Anthropgrad] CAEPR Seminar Series II 2007 8 August - 24 October

[Karen Montefiore]

Please note a change of venue for the CAEPR Seminar Series to
the Humanities Conference Room, level 1, AD Hope building, ANU.

The CAEPR Seminar series II will commence on Wednesday 8th
of August.  For your convenience a PDF of the program is attached,
however, to view seminar abstracts please visit our website:
http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/events07.php

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Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR)
2007 Seminar Series II (8 August - 24 October)
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Wednesday , 8th of August, 12.30 - 2.00pm


In the name of failure: The Howard government's 
generational revolution in Indigenous affairs


­ Will Sanders (Senior Fellow, CAEPR)

Abstract:
Since 2004, the Howard government has used the 
idea of past policy failure to introduce major 
new organisational arrangements in Indigenous 
affairs. In the name of failure, after fifteen 
years, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
Commission (ATSIC) was abolished and its programs 
were re-assigned to 'mainstream' Commonwealth 
departments. A Commonwealth Secretaries Group on 
Indigenous Affairs (SGIA) was significantly 
enhanced and a National Indigenous Council (NIC) 
and a Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs 
(MTIA) were established. Further down the 
hierarchy of Commonwealth administration, both a 
central Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination 
(OIPC) and regional Indigenous Coordination 
Centres (ICCs) were established and built up. 
Through these new organisational arrangements, 
the fourth term Howard government has also put 
considerable effort into new agreement making at 
State/ Territory, regional and local levels 
through bi-lateral Commonwealth State/Territory 
agreements, Regional Partnership Agreements and 
local Shared Responsibility Agreements. From June 
2007, also in the name of past failure, the 
Howard government has also now begun developing 
its 'national emergency' response to allegations 
of widespread child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities.

This paper will trace the Howard government's use 
of the idea of past policy failure in these 
processes of organisational change. It will argue 
that such failure is not self-evident, that it is 
a social and political construct which builds 
support for contemporary organisational change in 
the name of past policy analysis. The paper will 
further argue that the changes under the fourth 
Howard government constitute a generational 
revolution in Australian Indigenous affairs. Such 
revolutions take time to build, and depend 
heavily on the idea of past policy failure. This 
current generational revolution has been building 
since the year 2000. The paper will argue that a 
previous generational revolution in Australian 
Indigenous affairs occurred between 1967 and 
1976, and that this current revolution seeks to 
undo some of the institutional innovations of the 
former one. This recognition of two generational 
revolutions in Australian Indigenous affairs in 
the last forty years, pushing in different 
directions, could perhaps make governments a 
little more cautious about abandoning established 
ways in Indigenous affairs in the name of 
failure, and striking out so self-assuredly on 
supposedly new, more enlightened and informed paths.

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When:   Wednesdays, 12.30 - 2.00pm
Venue:  Humanities Conference Room, Level 1, AD Hope Building #14, ANU.
Map:  A map of the AD Hope Building location 
http://campusmap.anu.edu.au/displaybldg.asp?no=14
Enquiries: (02)6125 0587 or email: <mailto: 
admin.caepr at anu.edu.au>admin.caepr at anu.edu.au
Future Seminars: please visit http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/events07.php
Seminar streaming audio and podcasts: At the 
discretion of presenters, some CAEPR seminars are 
now made available through the website 
(http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/events07.php) as 
streaming audio and MP3 podcasts, together with 
appropriate handout materials.  Certain types of 
seminar presentation, including works in progress 
and thesis reports, may not be appropriate for 
podcast. The discussion following a presentation is not recorded.

An email reminder will be sent prior to each seminar in the series.
There is no need to register for a CAEPR seminar.



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Karen Montefiore
Centre Administrator
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research
College of Arts and Social Sciences
Hanna Neumann Building 21
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 Australia

T: +61 2 6125 0587
F: +61 2 6125 9730
W: www.anu.edu.au/caepr

CRICOS Provider #00120C
please note I work Mon-Thurs.  For assistance
on Fridays please email admin.caepr at anu.edu.au

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