There seems to be an almost neo-missionary zeal surrounding the current debate about Indigenous welfare dependence. While the debate is necessary, much of it is not new, and there seems to be a dearth of hard facts and practical solutions. This paper begins to address the lack of data by presenting preliminary survey research about the qualitative experience of welfare dependence within households, and its social, economic and structural consequences. [4]
In late 1998, CAEPR was commissioned by the Indigenous Policy Unit of DFACS to investigate the effectiveness and suitability of social security service delivery to Indigenous families with children, and to consider the related policy implications.[5] The research is being carried out over a four-year period during which approximately 60 households in the two communities of Kuranda and Yuendumu will be surveyed each year (see Smith 2000).
The research project aims to obtain qualitative and quantitative data through a mix of methodologies. These include the conduct of informal group discussions; interviews with key individuals working in regional education, health, housing and finance institutions; the elicitation of household genealogies; and the repeated administration of household questionnaires via a key reference person. The success of the field-based research has been highly dependent on the support of the local communities and the use of Indigenous field assistants to facilitate the interviewing process (Smith 2000; see also Hunter & Smith 2000). The validity and relevance of the household data have been enhanced by an analysis of relevant national census and aggregate Centrelink administrative data.
The terms of reference for the project include identifying, in each community:
the household and family organisational structures and composition;
the nature of household welfare economies, based on the sources of individual members’ incomes;
the key cultural parameters of child care;
patterns of mobility of children and adults household members; and
family members’ own perceptions of welfare service delivery.
The household questionnaires covered a total of 418 individuals who were the members of the households at the time of the interviews in 1999. [6]
[4] I would like to thank Anne Daly, Julie Finlayson, Yasmine Musharbash and Tony Auld for their contributions to the research reported in this paper.
[5] In 1998–99, this specifically meant Parenting Payments and Family Allowance delivered by the Federal government. Parenting Payment includes both sole parent and couple parents with children, and recognises a person’s responsibility for caring for children irrespective of their marital status. Family Allowance is a payment to help all parents raise their children and is paid to the parent caring for the child. In 2000 these payments have been replaced by the Family Benefits Tax Package.
[6] The second stage of follow-up interviews have been conducted in both communities (in Yuendumu by Yasmine Musharbash, and in Kuranda by Rosita Henry and Anne Daly) and published results are found in Musharbash (2001) and Henry and Daly (2001).