Mark Metherell The Sydney Morning Herald 24/10/00

The welfare dependence of indigenous communities will come under attack at a national forum today, when one Aboriginal leader will declare it is time for families to take responsibility for their own plight.

The Cape York leader Mr Noel Pearson will cite the example of children's ear infections - which make education almost impossible - and the mentality that this is a consequence of failed community services. "Chronic ear problems, at the end of the day, are the consequence of parents and families failing to take responsibility," Mr Pearson says in his paper for the forum, which will be convened by the Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Senator Herron, and the Community Services Minister, Senator Newman. Senator Herron yesterday told the Herald he expected the "round-table" forum to produce momentum for changes to end the "dysfunction" that troubled most indigenous communities.

The forum is being held to tackle welfare dependence, violence and substance abuse among indigenous Australians. Among its 20 participants will be the chairwoman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Dr Evelyn Scott, several Aboriginal leaders and others representing the non-indigenous population, including the long-time NSW Liberal heavyweight Sir John Carrick, 82.

Mr Pearson's paper says the inability to deal with epidemics of addiction and substance abuse has not been caused by a lack of resources or commitment - and has occurred despite political and legal victories for indigenous people in the past three decades.

There is a "dysfunctional relationship" between indigenous families and their communities and an "unnatural suppression of family" because of the focus on community mechanisms, Mr Pearson says. He argues that the current welfare approach has failed, and details proposals for encouraging families and individuals to take responsibility for their finances, health and education.

He says the policies have "created and perpetuated dependence and eroded the responsibility of Aboriginal families - the very responsibility that saw these families endure their terrible historical burden and survive - up until these policies took hold". Atlthough his paper emphasises that it is prepared from a Cape York Peninsula perspective, Mr Pearson says there is consensus that the situation of indigenous people is not good, that economic dependence is a central problem, that current policies have failed "and in fact our problems have deepened".

He says families "do not have independent means of taking their own responsibility". "Families have taken less and less responsibility as the service delivery and interventions of bureaucracy have come to be the dominant methods for supposedly solving problems." Where parents have responsibility and there are sub-standard treatment services, families will soon ensure necessary treatments are available, he says.

Senator Herron said the debate over Aboriginal policies was frequently dominated by urban-based activists who had tended to focus on symbols, while the reality of Aboriginal problems, particularly in rural and remote areas, was lost sight of. "What I'm hoping will be achieved is a fundamental change ... away from welfare dependency," Senator Herron said. But he said the Government had no predetermined plan to put to the meeting. This was an opportunity to hear from community leaders. Any changes had to be community-driven, he said.