Abstract
The 1967 Australian Referendum and subsequent constitutional reform are widely considered a victory for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and an elevating moment in Australia’s history. However, this analysis reveals the Referendum was in some ways an anticlimax, enabling paternalistic policies and exploitation of the First Peoples of Australia.
Highlights
This essay will discuss a variety of paternalistic and sometimes punitive federal government policies imposed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since the 1967 Referendum, with a focus on the 25 years to 2019
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students must provide evidence of financial need via a thorough income and assets test, as well as satisfying a range of other criteria which apply to non-Indigenous students (Australian Government Department of Human Services 2019a)
While there is some intersection between the experiences of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in NEW: 2019 accessing study assistance, it seems that the administration of ABSTUDY inconveniences, deters, and in some ways disempowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students more so than other students
Summary
This essay will discuss a variety of paternalistic and sometimes punitive federal government policies imposed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since the 1967 Referendum, with a focus on the 25 years to 2019. Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) and its ineffectiveness at achieving its goal of alleviating economic disparity; the 2007 Northern Territory National Emergency Response (‘the Intervention’) and subsequent use of the military to oppress Aboriginal people; BasicsCard, a tool for quarantining welfare payments, piloted in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (NT); and the failures of the NT’s Banned Drinker Register (BDR) in regulating the sale of alcohol.
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