Aboriginal Income Mangement

Noel Pearson

Willie Allan 11 (left) and Kenny Bloomfield 9 at Mossman Gorge, Queensland

What is Income Management? It means that a percentage of a person's welfare payments is set aside for essentials, namely food and clothing and other needs for their children. The reason - to stop welfare recipients blowing all their money on drugs and alcohol.

Noel Pearson is keeping his fingers crossed. He's come up with a welfare reform trial in Cape York that's looking positive but it's too early to get excited. Queensland have introduced the scheme after consultation with Pearson's Cape York Institute. It's called Family Relationship Commission or FRC. It brings welfare recipients before a hearing and it's showing an attendance rate of 90 per cent. The trial also seems to be okay with the troubled Aboriginal clients and beats Centrelink's approach hands down. A report finds that only one third of clients attended their initial Job Search Training interview with Centrelink compared with two-third of Aboriginals attending a FRC conference.

One of the most distressing problems is parents' failure to send their children to school and another generation grow up with kindergarten skills in reading and writing. Now under the trial in Cape York, communities in Arukun, Coen, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge, the FRC now has the authority to make parents accountable. Parents of children at risk, who don't attend school, who are involved domestic abuse and other abusive behaviour will no longer be tolerated. If they do not attend their FRC interview and continue to do the wrong thing, they will be placed on income management.

Jenny Macklin said "There is growing awareness that the FRC are operational and will hold people accountable for certain behaviour, although this understanding is not yet broad or deep". Improvements were found in school attendance and the incidence of alcohol and violence in two communities - Mossman Gorge and Arukurun.

Mossman Gorge, 77 kms north of Cairns, the community is home to 170 people, 20 of whom are school-age children. FRC local Co-Ordinator Karen Gibson said the change in the community since the commission came into force was palpable. "For the first time in a long time, I'm hearing the birds sing at night" she said. "The norm always was alcohol and drugs.... every day party...... every night party".