Institutional vehicles for place-shaping in remote Australia

Abstract

Some communities in remote Australia represent the most impoverished people in the country, with the problem especially acute amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Effective remedial intervention is often undermined by the absence of democratically elected, local government institutions. Place-shaping as a developmental process enables local people to become agents of change, and thereby self-determine and shape their places for the future. This paper considers the different institutional structures which could underpin place-shaping in remote settlements. Drawing on a range of governance structures, an emphasis on less traditional entities and polity-forming bodies may better serve the interests of remote people.

Keywords:

• governance
• place-shaping
• remote Australia
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• institutions

Acknowledgements

The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the CRC REP, its participants, or the University of New England. Errors or omissions remain with the authors.

ORCID

Boyd Dirk Blackwell http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8143-158X

Brian Dollery http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2760-865X

Bligh James Grant http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8055-6046

Notes

1. Although the focus of the paper is on inland Aboriginal people, reference to Aboriginal for simplicity can include Torres Strait Islander people as well, but this is not always the case.

2. Community refers to the geospatial grouping of people within a relatively small but common local area such as towns and out-settlements. The dynamics at play in forming remote communities can be considerably different to non-remote locations as addressed in the final section of the paper.

3. ‘Mild’ means midway between ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ integrity and democratic representation.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation (CRC REP) and the University of New England.