[Anthropgrad] Some Recent CAEPR Publications

[John Hughes]

Among the latest publications available for 
download from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research ...

http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/new.php


RECENT WORKING PAPERS


Working Paper 54: Beyond Closing the Gap: Valuing 
diversity in Indigenous Australia

by J.C. Altman

Abstract: This working paper examines the notion 
of Closing the Gap in socioeconomic disadvantage 
as the new over-arching framework in Indigenous 
affairs promulgated by the Rudd government in 
2008. It is shown that such an approach, seeking 
statistical equality between Indigenous and other 
Australians, has had a long policy history and so 
is not new. Some statistics are presented from 
earlier work with Nicholas Biddle and Boyd Hunter 
that track the historic record of Closing the Gap 
from 1971 to 2006 using census data, and some 
predications are presented on how long Closing 
the Gap might take across a range of variables. 
Some conceptual shortcomings of this framework 
are summarised and then two cases ­ focused on 
remote area employment and a livelihoods approach 
­ are provided of the empirical and policy 
problems that these shortcomings create. The key 
argument in this paper is that there is an 
over-emphasis in the Closing the Gap approach on 
equality between Indigenous and other Australians 
and too little emphasis on diversity and 
difference. The paper concludes that enabling 
Indigenous Australians 'to do and to be' in the 
Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum sense of 
capabilities will require policy to broaden 
beyond Closing the Gap to ascribe value to 
diversity and difference as well as equality.

Keywords: Closing the Gap, equality of outcomes, 
diversity and difference, capabilities, Indigenous policy.

http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/working.php#wp54

PDF direct download: http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/Publications/WP/CAEPRWP54.pdf


Working Paper 53: Location and segregation: The 
distribution of the Indigenous population across Australia's urban centres

by N. Biddle

Abstract: According to the 2006 Census, around 
three-quarters of Indigenous Australians live in 
regional areas or major cities. This represents a 
small, but noticeable increase from previous 
census years, especially in large regional towns. 
While most measured socioeconomic outcomes are 
advantageous relative to remote parts of the 
country, there are still substantial gaps between 
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in 
regional and urban Australia. This paper focuses 
on which cities and large towns Indigenous 
Australians live in, how the Indigenous 
population is distributed by neighbourhood within 
these cities and towns, and what the 
characteristics of the neighbourhoods are in 
which Indigenous Australians are concentrated. 
This paper is part of a larger body of analysis 
looking at the circumstances and policy 
challenges facing Indigenous Australians in urban 
areas. Future work will consider the processes 
that result in residential segregation, the 
effects it has on individual outcomes (positive 
and negative) and the most appropriate policy responses.

Keywords: Indigenous Australians, residential 
segregation, socioeconomic, 2006 Census.

http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/working.php#wp53

Direct PDF download: http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/Publications/WP/CAEPRWP53.pdf


Working Paper 52: Towards a gender-related index for Indigenous Australians

by M. Yap and N. Biddle

Abstract: In the United Nations Development 
Programme Gender-related Development Index, 
Australia ranks in the top five across 179 
countries, suggesting that women are achieving 
similar outcomes to men in life expectancy, 
literacy and earnings at the national level, and 
that the loss of human development due to gender 
inequality is minor. However, this does not 
necessarily hold true for all regions or for all 
population subgroups. There has been extensive 
research into the gap between Indigenous and 
non-Indigenous outcomes but very little of this 
has adopted a gender perspective. Using 2006 
Census data, this paper explores the development 
of a similar gender-related index as a tool to 
enable a relative ranking of the performance of 
Indigenous males and females at the regional 
level across a set of socioeconomic outcomes at 
the regional level. The index will provide some 
insights into whether the national picture is 
representative of the Indigenous population and 
whether there are spatial variations at the 
Indigenous region level. For the set of 
indicators, the results suggest that Indigenous 
females are faring better than Indigenous males 
on a whole and at the region level. This is 
mainly driven by the higher proportion of 
Indigenous females completing Year 12 and 
obtaining degree or higher qualifications.

Keywords: Gender, census, Indigenous socioeconomic outcomes, Indigenous Regions

http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/working.php#wp52

PDF direct download: http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/Publications/WP/CAEPRWP52.pdf



Working Paper 51: Some reflections on the quality 
of administrative data for Indigenous 
Australians: The importance of knowing something about the unknown(s)

by B.H. Hunter and A. Ayyar

Abstract: The Repeat Offenders Database, which 
has been collated by the New South Wales Bureau 
of Crime Statistics and Research, offers a unique 
opportunity to analyse data quality issues for an 
important source of administrative data for 
Indigenous people. This paper provides several 
independent estimates of the population of 
Indigenous offenders by estimating the number of 
people with unknown Indigenous status who are 
likely to be identified as Indigenous in other 
circumstances. The main finding is that the 
Indigenous population of offenders are 
substantially undercounted in administrative data 
collections. The failure to account for this will 
understate the ‘gap’ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes.

Keywords: Administrative data, data quality, 
crime, ethnic mobility, Indigenous disadvantage, closing the gaps

http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/working.php#wp51

PDF direct download: http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/Publications/WP/CAEPRWP51.pdf



RECENT TOPICAL ISSUES


Developing An Indigenous Policy Framework

Jon Altman (Director, CAEPR)

'Developing a national Indigenous policy 
framework that recognises needs, rights and 
legacies and delivers results', based on a 
presentation to the Australian Council of Social 
Service (ACOSS) National Conference, ‘Building a 
Fair Australia in Tough Economic Times’, 
Australian Technology Park, Sydney, on 2 April 
2009. This paper examines current Indigenous 
policy, including Closing the Gap, a monolithic 
approach that privileges statistical equality 
over all else and undervalues difference and 
diversity. It argues for a very different policy 
framework that looks to openly combine three 
interlinked elements: needs-based citizenship 
rights, special Indigenous rights, and 
compensatory ‘social justice’ rights. [17 April 
2009, 13 pages, 3.5 Meg PDF file]

http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/topical.php#0974

Direct PDF Download: 
http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/Publications/topical/Altman_ACOSS_0209.pdf



Prospects for closing the gap in a recession: 
Revisiting the role of macroeconomic factors in Indigenous employment

Boyd Hunter (Senior Fellow, CAEPR)

'Prospects for closing the gap in a recession: 
Revisiting the role of macroeconomic factors in 
Indigenous employment', examines how current 
economic crises and macroeconomic behavioural 
patterns might affect Indigenous labour force 
participation, including the relative role of 
demand and supply factors, the dynamics of 
Indigenous employment, and the implications for 
the Australian Employment Covenant and government 
policy objectives of 'closing the gap'. [09 April 
2009, 15 pages, 2.5 Meg PDF file]

http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/topical.php#0973

Direct PDF download: 
http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/Publications/topical/Hunter_Recession_0109.pdf


Cheers

John



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John Hughes
Publications Editor
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 0649
F: +61 2 6125 9730
W: www.anu.edu.au/caepr

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