The aim of the conference on which this volume is based was to encourage debate and discussion about the Indigenous welfare economy and, in particular, one major manifestation of that economy, the long-running and now widespread Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme. Many conferences on Indigenous issues institute (and institutionalise) debate between academic researchers, or between the bureaucrats charged with implementing and delivering policy, and sometimes between the two, but few deliberately engage in an extended way with the views of the people who are the subject of discussion. This conference was different, and so too is the volume which results from it. Representatives from many CDEP organisations were present at the conference; they not only debated from the floor in response to the issues raised by the academics and policy makers and implementers, but also presented their own view of CDEP—and their CDEPs—in the sessions of the conference designated as the 'Community perspectives forum'.

The term 'welfare' has both positive and negative connotations, and so too does the phrase 'the Indigenous welfare economy'. In using this phrase for the conference title, it was not our intention to suggest either a positive or a negative judgment about the substantial reliance of Indigenous Australians on government welfare payments for income. There was a time, before the 1960s, when Indigenous Australians were legislatively excluded from the social security system and such reliance was impossible. In the 1960s, Indigenous people and their supporters fought long and hard for social security rights as citizenship entitlements. Once these entitlements were gained, however, new issues arose. There was concern about the degree of reliance on these payments that was developing among Indigenous people and about whether this was good for Indigenous communities.

The CDEP scheme arose in the mid 1970s in response to the increasing payment of unemployment benefits in remote Aboriginal communities with few formal labour market employment opportunities. This payment was seen by some as unhelpful and inappropriate in these circumstances. So an alternative was developed whereby the Commonwealth's Aboriginal affairs administration, rather than the social security administration, made payments to Aboriginal communities roughly equivalent to community members' unemployment payment entitlements, in order for communities to employ their members on a part time basis. The CDEP scheme, as it was called, began in just 12 remote Aboriginal communities in 1977. It immediately proved popular and faced demands for expansion from other Indigenous communities. From the mid 1980s CDEP was allowed to expand not only into other Indigenous communities in remote areas but also into Indigenous communities in more southern, densely settled areas of Australia. Today CDEP operates through approximately 300 Indigenous community-based organisations, and over 30 000 Indigenous people, or about one-third of all Indigenous people in employment, participate in the scheme.

The CDEP scheme is a major adaptation of the Australian government social welfare system to the social and economic circumstances of Indigenous people. It is both long-running and widespread and deserves, therefore, to be thoroughly examined in any debate and discussion about the Indigenous welfare economy more generally. The perspectives presented at the November 2000 conference and in this publication are those of elected Indigenous representatives, government policy makers, academics, and CDEP administrators. These are extremely varied perspectives, yet almost all are supportive of CDEP without being uncritical of it. CDEP is seen as a flexible and proven program which can be further improved, but which has already achieved much. It has encouraged the building of Indigenous political authority, as well as employment and community development. It has even in some instances encouraged the development of Indigenous business enterprises.

This volume is divided into four parts, roughly corresponding to the named sessions of the conference. Part I contains overview papers which place the CDEP program in its wider cultural, sociopolitical, and economic context. The papers in Part II address policy and policy-related issues which impact directly, or indirectly, on the structure and function of the CDEP program and of individual projects. In Part III are found research-based case-studies of particular CDEP projects in their regional context, drawn from the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Victoria. The majority of the spoken contributions (but not, alas, the video presentations) from the 'Community perspectives forum' are found in written form in Part IV. Most are case studies, from the perspective of the actors themselves, of particular CDEP projects. They provide a telling counterpoint to the other sections of the book, taking up and providing a grass-roots view of many of the themes and concerns that are expressed there. The two opening papers of Part IV address more general topics: Frances Peters-Little examines critically the concept of 'community' as it is applied in Indigenous affairs and used by Indigenous people, and Phil Bartlett, deploying a striking image of CDEP as a cow being milked dry, discourses on the multiple functions of today's CDEP projects.

In recent debates about the Indigenous welfare economy, CDEP has probably not been given the attention it deserves. CDEP shows us the sorts of adaptations of the welfare system to the circumstances of Indigenous Australians which have been possible in the past. As a pointer to the future it has the virtue of being grounded not just in vague ideas, but in existing experience and policy practice. The Australian welfare system can better serve the interests of Indigenous people than at present, but there are no miracle cures out there waiting to be discovered. What is needed is to pay attention to, and to learn from, past practical adaptation and experience. Hopefully this volume will contribute to that important endeavour.