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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the
Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
body through which
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
s and
Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...
were formally involved in the processes of government affecting their lives, established under the
Hawke government in 1990. A number of Indigenous programs and organisations fell under the overall umbrella of ATSIC.
The agency was dismantled in 2004 in the aftermath of corruption allegations and litigation involving its chairperson,
Geoff Clark.
History
ATSIC was established by the
Hawke government through the ''Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989'' (the ATSIC Act), which took effect on 5 March 1990. It superseded the
Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC), a
statutory authority
A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...
created by the
Fraser government in July 1980.
[Changes to the bill]
/ref> In 1990 Minister for Aboriginal Affairs minister Gerry Hand proposed merging the functions of the ADC into the newly-created ATSIC, by establishing a new body, the Aboriginal Economic Development Corporation (AECD), which was created along with ATSIC. Both were formally established in March 1990, with ATSIC responsible for providing loans for small enterprise and larger loans and grants, while ATSIC Development Corporation (ATSICDC) was to invest only
in major commercial projects.
While ATSIC's existence was always subject to the oversight of governments who represent all Australians, ATSIC was a group of elected individuals whose main goal was the oversights that related to Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
, who include the many Aboriginal peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of Australia as well as Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...
peoples, of the Torres Strait Islands
The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...
(part of Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
). However, in 1994 the Torres Strait Regional Authority
The Torres Strait Regional Authority is an Australian Government body established in 1994 to administer the Torres Strait Islands. It consists of 20 elected representatives. The primary function of the authority is to strengthen the economic, s ...
(TSRA) was established as a separate authority, in order to deliver better services and programs to Torres Strait Islander people who were living in the Torres Strait Islands (i.e. excluding those on the mainland).
The chairs of ATSIC were Lowitja O'Donoghue
Lowitja Lois O'Donoghue Smart, (born 1932) is an Aboriginal Australian retired public administrator. In 1990-1996 she was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (dismantled in 2004). She is p ...
(1990-1996), Gatjil Djerrkura
Gatjil Djerrkura OAM (Yolŋu Matha:''Gätjil Djerrkura'') (30 June 1949 – 26 May 2004) was an Aboriginal leader and indigenous spokesman in the Northern Territory and Australia.
He was a senior elder of the Wangurri Aboriginal clan of the ...
(1996-2000), Geoff Clark (2000-2004) and Lionel Quartermaine __TOC__
Lionel may refer to: Name
* Lionel (given name) Places
*Lionel, Lewis, a village in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland
* Lionel Town, Jamaica, a settlement Brands and enterprises
* Lionel, LLC, an American designer and importer of toy trains and ...
(2003-2004). ATSIC'S Deputy chairs included Ray Robinson. Mick Gooda
Mick Gooda is an Aboriginal Australian public servant including serving as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2009 to 2016 and Co-Commissioner of the Royal Commission ...
was its final Chief Executive Officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
.
Corruption investigations
In 2001, ATSIC became embroiled in controversy over litigation
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
surrounding its chairperson Geoff Clark, relating to his alleged participation in a number of rapes in the 1970s and 1980s, after being named by four women.[ ATSIC was also investigated for ]corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, and the embezzlement
Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
of funds intended for service delivery to help Aboriginal peoples.
Soon after this, the government under then Prime Minister John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
began to remove some of ATSIC's fiscal powers, which were transferred to a new independent organisation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services was part of the now disbanded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).
It was responsible for service provision under Government of Australia, Australian government programs for Indi ...
(ATSIS). The government suspended Geoff Clark as chair of ATSIC in 2003 after he was convicted of obstructing police during a pub brawl, and Lionel Quartermaine became acting chair.
A review of ATSIC was commissioned in 2003. The report, authored by John Hannaford
John Planta Hannaford (born 21 January 1949) is a former Australian politician. Born in Goulburn, the son of William Henry Planta and Amy Frances Hannaford, he became a lawyer, having studied at the Australian National University in Canberra. He ...
, Jackie Huggins
Jacqueline Gail "Jackie" Huggins (born 19 August 1956) is an Aboriginal Australian author, historian, academic and advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians. She is a Bidjara (Warrego River), Bidjara/Pitjara, Birri Gubba and Juru people ...
and Bob Collins, was titled ''In the Hands of the Regions: A New ATSIC Report of the Review of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission'', and it recommended reforms which gave greater control of ATSIC to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at a regional level. At the time, Indigenous Affairs Minister Amanda Vanstone
Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the ...
stated that the review had concluded that ATSIC has not connected well with the indigenous Australians and was not serving them well.
Abolition
For some time after Clark's appointment, the Howard government had been expressing doubts as to the value of continuing to have ATSIC at all. Following Mark Latham
Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...
's election to the leadership of the (Labor) Opposition in December 2003, Labor agreed with the government that ATSIC had not worked. In April of election year 2004, both parties pledged to introduce alternative arrangements for Indigenous affairs, with Labor proposing a new elected national body.[
The government's plan was to abolish ATSIC and all of its regional and state structures, and return funding for Indigenous programs to the relevant line departments. Labor's view was that ATSIC itself should be abolished, but many of the regional and state sub-organisations should be retained, to continue to give Indigenous people a voice in their own affairs and within their own communities. It rejected the notion of merging Indigenous funding into funding for Australians generally as "tried and failed", but had not announced its alternative proposals.
Howard announced the agency's abolition on 15 April 2004, saying that "the experiment in elected representation for Indigenous people has been a failure".] On 28 May 2004 the government introduced into the Federal Parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
legislation to abolish ATSIC. The Bill finally passed both houses of Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in 2005, and ATSIC was formally abolished at midnight 24 March 2005.
Successors
Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs
On 28 May 2004 the Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs (MTF) was established for the purpose of "driving the delivery of improved services and outcomes for Indigenous Australians". It was chaired by Mal Brough
Malcolm Thomas Brough ( ; born 29 December 1961) is a former Australian politician. He represented the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives (1996–2007, 2013–2016) and held ministerial office in the Howard and Turnbull Governments. ...
, Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs.
Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination
The Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination
__NOTOC__
The Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OIPC) was the Australian Government-led unit for the coordination of policy, programs and services for Indigenous Australians from July 2004 to August 2011.
The OIPC was formally establish ...
was created within the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs on 1 July 2004 "to coordinate and drive the Government's new arrangements in Indigenous affairs", and took on ATSIC's responsibilities upon its abolition. Following machinery of government
The machinery of government (sometimes abbreviated as MoG) is the interconnected structures and processes of government, such as the functions and accountability of ministry (government department), departments in the executive (government), exe ...
changes, that office was transferred to the on 27 January 2006.
National Indigenous Council
On 6 November 2004 a government-appointed advisory body, the National Indigenous Council
The National Indigenous Council (NIC) was an appointed advisory body to the Australian Government through the Minister's for Indigenous Affairs' Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs (MTIA) established in November 2004 (not to be confused with the ea ...
, was announced by the former Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Vanstone, who said that the National Indigenous Council would "provide expert advice to the Australian Government on policy, program and service-delivery issues affecting Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders". It would act as an advisory body only, to support the work of the Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs.
Inquiry and other commentary
At the time the government announced its dismantling, Bob Collins, who had served in the Hawke ministry when ATSIC was established, said that the organisation had let down Indigenous people by deciding that "looking after Geoff Clark was more important than looking after ATSIC".[
Following an Inquiry, the 2005 report by its Select Committee said that while there had been widespread support for instituting changes to the way that ATSIC was structured as well as how it operates, there was also "overwhelming" support for the continued existence of a national Indigenous representative body. Most witnesses had suggested that regional operations could be improved, but they were strongly in favour of having a national, elected Indigenous representative body. Deep concerns were expressed about the disempowerment of Indigenous peoples. One of the recommendations was that the government "give active support and funding to the formation of a national Indigenous elected representative body, and provide it with ongoing funding".]
The dismantling of ATSIC was seen by many commentators as harmful to Aboriginal people in Australia. In 2009, Lowitja O'Donoghue expressed her opinion that reform of the agency would have been better than establishing a new agency which has been costly and might suffer similar problems as its predecessor, such as nepotism
Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...
.
ATSIC was criticised by a government advisory panel in 2009 for having been dominated by males.
See also
*Australian Aboriginal identity
Aboriginal Australian identity, sometimes known as Aboriginality, is the perception of oneself as Aboriginal Australian, or the recognition by others of that identity. This is often related to the existence of (or the belief of the existence of) ...
* Indigenous Voice to Parliament
* List of Australian Commonwealth Government entities
* National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* – Includes a history of ATSIC, its role, governance and functions.
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Commission
Government agencies disestablished in 2005
Government of Australia
ATSIC
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...
Indigenous Australian politics
Government agencies established in 1990
1990 establishments in Australia
2005 disestablishments in Australia