Government Gives Boost To Controversial Aboriginal Funding Scheme

Federal Government gives a billion dollars to Indigenous Advancement Strategy.

Lukas Coch / AAPIMAGE

Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion says that the federal government has increased its investment in the controversial Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) to $1bn.

In a statement Minister Scullion says, "The Government is giving organisations extra financial security by locking in the grant funding for two or three years, which will enable providers to get on with the job of delivering positive outcomes for Indigenous communities"

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The IAS was set up after last year's budget in which $500m in funding for Indigenous groups was slashed.

Thousands of community organisations receiving small grants were de-funded and were told that they would have to compete for funding in a competitive tendering process through the IAS.

The process has been heavily criticised by several community organisations who say the process is difficult and complex and they are losing staff and programs because they don't have the skills and resources compete with larger organisations.

Principal Legal Officer of The Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Service (CAALAS), Mark O'Reilly, told the ABC earlier this year that the IAS process only gave them a fraction of the funding they need to stop the rising tide of Indigenous youth imprisonment in Central Australia. "We got a letter saying that we were successful [but] it was really only a partial success and it leaves us in a quandary really. The amount of money fell way short of what we were asking for and its certainly not enough to run the program as it was put up."

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Josephine Cashman, member of the Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) to the Prime Minister, says that the IAS is a long overdue overhaul the funding process for Aboriginal organisations.

Ms Cashman told BuzzFeed News that, "The change might be huge and confronting but it's a massive reform that needs to happen. There was so much spending that was being wasted before by Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations. I believe the IAS will give funding to those that truly show real outcomes and Minister Scullion is dedicated to ensuring frontline services that deserve funding receive it."