[Australia] Making indigenous poverty history

from Ekklesia

By Douglas Hynd

The worldwide campaign to ‘Make Poverty History’ rightly draws vital attention to the poorest of the world’s poor, which includes the majority of indigenous peoples. So what about the poverty of indigenous peoples in Australia?

This is a question campaigners in the churches and in other parts of Australian society are tackling with increasing urgency.

Some feel that the mobilization of churches against poverty through the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign runs the risk that the entrenched poverty and social exclusion of Australia’s indigenous community will again be pushed back down the churches’ agenda.

Without wanting to be critical of the church’s concern for global poverty, indigenous leaders are continuing to remind Australian Christians that they have issues of poverty on their doorstop that have been largely ignored for the past two hundred years.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC) of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) has sought to highlight the connections between the Millennium Development Goals and the situation of Australian Indigenous Peoples through the ‘Make Indigenous Poverty History’ campaign launched on 1 November 2005.

The campaign aims to ensure that the global campaign supporting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) does not overlook the poverty suffered by Indigenous Peoples around the world including Australia.

While the MDGs do not specifically target Indigenous Peoples, they are often the ones most affected by extreme poverty and usually rank at the bottom of most social and economic indicators.
The message is that you don’t get to choose between campaigning for improving the wellbeing of indigenous Australians and tackling poverty overseas. You don’t need to choose. They are part of the same agenda.

Key social and economic indicators show that Australian indigenous peoples are living in poverty: children are twice as likely to die in infancy, and suffer from more preventable diseases, higher unemployment, lower house ownership, lower engagement with education and are six times as likely to be murdered.

Measures of health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders continue to lag behind that of many of the world’s poorest countries.

The ‘Make Indigenous Poverty History’ campaign is now being rolled out across the country. On Sunday 9 July 2006 the Victorian launch was held at the Collins Street Baptist Church in central Melbourne, an event that was almost completely ignored by the mainstream media despite the presence of significant indigenous leaders.

Graeme Ring, a columnist for the National Indigenous Times, a fortnightly national newspaper with a crusading reputation on indigenous issues, though was there and reported on the launch. His report also cast some light on the role of the church in providing a voice on issues of justice and integrity in public policy.

Observed Ring: “Once upon a time churches used to be about bells and smells and arcane rituals. Now it seems that the men and - gasp! - women of the cloth, get around monstering people about social justice.”

He continues: “Instead of running afternoon teas and macramé workshops they are developing the rather bolshie habit of pointing out that wealthy, complacent Australia has unfinished business to address.”

“It’s easy to become numb to the deluge of statistics that bear out the scale of Indigenous poverty and disadvantage in our own country”, explains Ring. “To forget that those numbers on the charts are Aboriginal Australians struggling to survive. Real people experiencing real misery.”

His conclusion is that “[t]he ‘Make Indigenous Poverty History’ campaign shines a powerful torch on our own country’s indifference towards indigenous poverty.”

According to the National Indigenous Times report: “The Melbourne launch was well-attended, moving, and a bit special. If you’re wondering what in God’s name pastors and priests are doing spending their valuable time campaigning for social justice, the answer is easy. They’re changing the world.”

In the next stage of the Make Indigenous Poverty History campaign, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission is releasing a CD-ROM, which includes facts and figures, educational worksheets and video input from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders.

This resource material is in easy-to-use PDF and Video format. It includes interviews, a case study, how to make your own poverty pole, worksheets and prayer materials.
The CD ROM was officially released on 7 August 2006.

Details on the CD-ROM and how to order it can be found on the National Council of Churches in Australia website, along with full details of the ‘Making Indigenous Poverty History’ campaign.