ANALYSIS OF THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S 2009-2010 INDIGENOUS BUDGET

Abstract

The 2009-10 Budget contains $1.271 billion / 5 years in new spending for Indigenous initiatives. Of this new spending, $807.4 million is allocated to initiatives in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) spending is allocated over three years (2009-10 to 2011-12), reflecting a commitment to review policies in 2011-12. Only $232 million of this new spending is in the health portfolio, virtually all of this for activities in the Northern Territory or rural and remote areas. The budget also takes savings of $25 million from Indigenous health programs. This means that new health spending to help close the gap is less than $50 million / year, and there is really no new spending for national programs. This spending allocation denies the fact that just over half the Indigenous population lives in major cities or inner regional areas and only one quarter of the population lives in remote and very remote areas.