Indigenous adults fed up of being treated like children

I RECENTLY returned from a few weeks in an outback town visiting family.

While there I heard and read a lot about welfare dependency, particularly concerning indigenous Australians in homeland (dry – no alcohol allowed) communities.

The focus seemed to be on The Basics Card, where 80 per cent of a person’s welfare payment is put onto a cashless debit card which cannot be used to gamble or buy alcohol. The remaining 20 per cent is put into a bank account which can be withdrawn for cash. To be better informed of this issue I read the Koori Mail, a fortnightly national indigenous newspaper.

In the Koori Mail, Michael Gravener, the chief executive of Urapuntja Aboriginal Corporation, the peak body representing more than 1200 people living on 16 homelands 250km north-east of Alice Springs, commenting on The Basics Card stated, “And it’s treating people like children, not allowing them to be responsible for their own money”.

This made me query why Centrelink appears to have this paternalistic (parent-like) attitude towards some indigenous Australians.

What seems to be underlying this policy is Centrelink’s belief that there are some indigenous and non-indigenous Australian welfare recipients that due to their dependency on alcohol and gambling addictions cannot be trusted to use their payments for the basic necessities of their family, are irresponsible and hence the need for The Basics Card. In that respect they are treated like children.

Children cannot be held responsible for the family’s finances or to provide essential needs such as; food, drink, shelter, warmth, clothing, transport, access to health and educational services, law, stability and freedom from fear.

Children have little or no responsibilities. They may be encouraged by their parents to undertake chores for pocket money.

Indeed, Rudi Maxwell, editor of the Koori Mail, reported that Centrelink gives welfare payments in the form of The Basics Card to some indigenous Australians like it is pocket money that they give and then take away.

Michael Gravener stated, “The system penalises everyone involved when most Aboriginal people are quite capable of looking after themselves”.

The Koori Mail reports that it is the voice of indigenous Australians. It seems to me that indigenous Australians are saying, very loudly, through this newspaper that they can be trusted and are responsible adults and want to be treated as such.