Assessment for Aborigines in Australia

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Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

There is little reason to believe that the Aborigines of Australian will employ militant tactics or systematic violence in the near future. They lack the risk factors -- such as territorial concentration, group cohesion, regime instability and government repression -- that make rebellion more likely. At the same time, factors that mitigate risks of militant behavior, including living under a consolidated democracy and continued efforts at reforms, are present. The government continues to try to make amends for past wrongs, including a issuing a formal apology for past wrongs committed against the aboriginal community.

While the risk of militant activity is low, the possibility for continued protests is higher. This is despite the fact that the Aborigines do not possess the normal risk factors associated with protest, such as government repression, political restrictions, or a new democracy. The openness of the Australian democratic system allows for the group to protest, and they have used the strategy throughout the past. There are still many issues outstanding and the Aboriginal community continues to suffer economically and socially. While the Australian government has placed millions of dollars into programs to both improve the Aboriginal economic status, and to provide sensitivity training for the white population, there is still discrimination throughout the country. Until these problems are adequately addressed, protests are likely to continue.

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Analytic Summary

The Aborigines of Australia arrived on the continent approximately 50,000 years ago. Their population has rebounded in the last 40 years after being declared a dying race. The Aborigines are spread out across most of Australia (GROUPCON = 0), and the majority of the tribes have very little interaction with each other, therefore the group is not very cohesive. Until the arrival of British prisoners, the Aboriginal tribes had a complex society (AUTLOST = .6). Compared to the white settlers of Australia, the Aborigines have their own language, although many also speak English (LANG = 1), customs (CUSTOM = 1) and are physically distinctive (RACE = 2). While the plurality of Aborigines have converted to Christianity, a significant minority still follow traditional religion.

The Aborigines face serious demographic disadvantages, with both higher birth rates compared to whites, and poor health conditions, with a much lower standard of living and life expectancy. While the group is not currently discriminated against politically and economically, the policies that are in effect now (job training, educational opportunities, public programs, etc.) are still trying to undue the damage that past discrimination caused (POLDIS06 = 1, ECDIS06 = 1). The Aborigines still remain economically worse off than the majority group, and few Aborigines are present in high-profile jobs, political positions and educational institutions. Each state is in charge of providing for the Aborigines found within their territory and as a result the Aborigines are treated unequally throughout the country, even though they have been federally mandated as a “protected people.” The only cultural discrimination the group now faces is that there are certain social pressures not to wear tradition Aboriginal dress. The group also does not currently face any overt government repression. Only one instance of intercommunal conflict, between Tongans and Aborigines, has been recorded recently (INTERSEV104 = 1).

The impetus to "upgrade" the status of the Aborigines culminated in the 1967 Constitutional Referendum which mandated that the commonwealth government take the initiative in the definition of the Aborigines' legal status. "Integration" became the catchword of the Liberal government as Aboriginal activists pressed their demands for remedial legislation in the areas of land rights and civil rights. The establishment of an Aboriginal "embassy" in a tent on the Parliament grounds in early 1972 and the subsequent spate of highly visible protest crystallized popular support and contributed to a Labor Party electoral victory. The new government immediately instituted policies aimed at Aboriginal "self-determination". Land issues continued to divide the country and served to demarcate the limits of vested-interest accommodation. In the Northern Territory, well-funded Land Councils became effective instruments of local Aboriginal autonomy.

The Liberal-National Country coalition which won the 1975 election modified the government's position on Aboriginal affairs in favor of "self-management". From that time on, in spite of the passage of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976 (and similar acts passed by the states of South Australia and New South Wales in the early 1980s) the Commonwealth administration has consistently, even if not actively, defended the mining and pastoral interests against the protestations of the Aboriginal groups. This began to change only after 1996, when the Australian Supreme Court ruled that Aborigines could also claim title to so-called "pastoral lease" land - land owned by the Australian government and leased to private farmers and miners for development. The cutback in state funding of Aboriginal advocacy groups and projects led to the rise of non-governmental Aboriginal Land Councils outside the Northern Territory.

As mentioned the Aborigines are very unorganized as a entire group, and as a result the local tribal leaders and councils have been responsible for lobbying the government on their peoples behalf. The one exception was the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island Commission, which is an organization mandated to promote the interests and culture of the Aboriginal people. However, ATSIC was abolished in 2005 by the Howard government and replaced with a network of Indigenous Coordination Centres that work with Aboriginal communities at the local level.

The Aborigines have many grievances which they would like addressed by the government. Some Aboriginals call for political autonomy (POLGR06 = 3), although most seem more concerned with economic remedial policies (ECGR04-06 = 2). An important grievance which has recently begun to be addressed is simply an acknowledgment by the Australian government of their poor treatment in the past. The country is currently trying to acknowledge past wrongs and start a national "healing process." The Aborigines also would like greater rights within their communities in order to promote their culture, system of laws, etc. This demand is tied with the broader concern over the protection of the Aboriginal culture and way of life. They came too close to disappearing as a people in the past not to be concerned with their status as a distinct group. There are also demands for equal rights with whites and better economic and educational opportunities through a greater share of public funds. The final demand the Aborigines would like addressed is that their land be protected from others for commercial use. This is an issue that is of great importance, particularly to the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island Commission. The federal government has been more concerned recently with protecting the Aboriginal lands from commercial interests, particularly farming.

The Aborigines have a long history of protesting their treatment going as far back as World War II (PROT45X = 3). This level of protest continued, reaching its highest point in the late 1980s (PROT85X = 4). This pattern of protest remained through the Sydney Olympics in 2000, which gave the Aborigines a world stage to express their dissatisfaction (PROT00-03 = 3) and have their issues known. Protest has continued in recent years at moderate levels, mainly focused on poor economic conditions faced by aboriginals (PROT05-06 = 3). There has been only one report of militant activity in recent years, when rioting aboriginals firebombed a police station after an autopsy report indicated that a police officer was responsible for the death of an aboriginal in custody (REB00-03 = 0; REB04 = 1; REB05-06 = 0).

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References

European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights. Various reports. http://www.eniar.org/index.html, accessed 2/26/2009.

Lexis-Nexis news reports. 1990-2006.

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. 2/11/1991. “Aboriginals of Australia.” http://www.unpo.org/content/view/7855/77/, accessed 2/26/2009.

van Krieken, Robert. 2001. "The stolen generations: implications for social policy analysis." www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/seminars/sprc_rvk.doc, accessed 10/22/2008.

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