[Anthropgrad] CAEPR Seminar Reminder: Wednesday 22 August

[Karen Montefiore]

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

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Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR)
2007 Seminar Series II (8 August - 24 October)
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Wednesday , 22nd of August
12.30 - 2.00pm




The transformation of Aboriginal communities in crisis; what does it entail?

David Martin (Visiting Fellow, CAEPR)

Abstract:
This seminar is set against the background of the 
Federal government's 'National emergency' 
response to the Children are Sacred report into 
child abuse in Aboriginal communities in the 
Northern Territory. It is based as much on my 
personal experience of living and working in a 
remote community, and raising an Aboriginal son 
within and outside that community, as it is on my anthropological research.

There are understandable reasons why many 
commentators have expressed cynicism about the 
response, given that the matters canvassed by the 
report have been placed before governments for 
decades now. Nonetheless, the available evidence 
demonstrates that in many Aboriginal communities, 
and not just those in the Northern Territory, 
there is indeed a deep crisis around a cluster of 
factors such as extremely high levels of 
interpersonal violence, abuse including that of 
children, and severe alcohol and drug abuse.

The government's response as announced thus far 
involves a curious mix of short and longer-term 
initiatives. The seminar argues that the 
restoration of social order in severely 
dysfunctional communities is a defensible 
intervention to establish the conditions for 
change—if the long-term goal is the 
transformation of Aboriginal societies to more 
sustainable forms, as it must be. However, in the 
absence of a very substantial commitment by 
governments to redress the well documented 
historic deficits in such areas as health, 
housing, and education, such change cannot and 
will not take place. In particular, without these 
essential precursors, the reliance on Aboriginal 
personal responsibility leveraged through 
market-based incentives simply avoids government 
responsibility, and will fail as an instrument of sustainable change.

I conclude by examining what I argue is one of 
the underlying ethical and political entailments 
of the project to transform Aboriginal lives, one 
which in my opinion is a legitimate policy goal. 
This project, while it must accept the reality 
and validity of diversity in Aboriginal 
Australia, necessarily involves the 
transformation of what it means to be Aboriginal. 
In this project, I argue, (western) education is 
the critical factor amenable to policy 
intervention, not so much for the skills it 
imparts, but for the transformative psycho-social possibilities it provides.

 From this perspective, it is establishing the 
conditions (which will include health, housing 
etc) for education to take root in Aboriginal 
Australia which must be the main focus of 
government. The question for governments, and 
indeed the nation, is whether we have the will 
and the capacity to undertake this project—and 
whether we can bring Aboriginal people willingly into it.





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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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