Институт Кейп-Йорка: Политика и реформы для коренных народов Австралии

Australian public policy organisation

The Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, also known as the Cape York Institute, is an Australian public policy organisation which researches and implements welfare reforms to reduce social inequalities between Indigenous and Non Indigenous peoples living in Cape York. by lawyer, academic and Indigenous welfare advocate Noel Pearson. Established in July 2004, the organisation was developed in collaboration with the people of Cape York and Griffith University. The Institute prepares reports and submissions to the Australian Federal Government, identifying priority areas of welfare and economic reform to restore social norms within the Cape York communities. To deliver welfare and economic reform, the Institute engages with a number of partner organisations including the Cape York Partnerships, Family Responsibilities Commission, Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation and the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy. The Cape York Institute receives Commonwealth and Queensland State Government funding to support Welfare Reform Projects in areas of Indigenous education, employment, families and housing.

The objective of ‘The Cape York Agenda’ (The Agenda) focuses on the expansion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) peoples’ human freedoms through the delivery of greater access to the Real Economy and removing dependency on Passive Welfare. The Agenda refers to the ‘Real Economy’ as an economic framework which provides incentives for ATSI peoples to manage and enhance welfare opportunities. The Institute works towards encouraging and providing greater economic participation of ATSI peoples in the public and private domain by implementing income management schemes to promote socially responsible standards of behaviour among Cape York residents when accessing welfare benefits to education, employment and housing in regional communities. The Agenda's vision promotes Indigenous independence from the welfare system and seeks to deter ATSI peoples from engaging in antisocial behaviour by growing private home ownership, increasing participation in the Australian workforce and primary and secondary education.

Prepared by the Cape York Institute, the Hand Out to Hand Up Report outlined design principles for the establishment and function of the Cape York Welfare Reform Project. Premised on connecting welfare payments to obligations to be satisfied by recipients, To assist the creation of socially responsible standards of family behaviour and ensure the protection of children’s best interests within the Cape York communities, It was proposed that the FRC be set up as an independent statutory entity, holding members of the Cape York communities accountable to responsible expenditure of welfare payments through the Family and Conditional Income Management Schemes. In the area of employment, the Report recommended further reforms to the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP). The CDEP assisted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ transition into employment through additional welfare payments. The report proposed CDEP payments be regulated under the FRC's jurisdiction to reduce passivity and excessive reliance on welfare benefits. To progress Indigenous home ownership within Cape York, the Report advocated the normalisation of tenancy agreements facilitated by a third party broker and the building of affordable houses in rural and remote areas. Implemented by the Cape York Institute and partner groups, the Trial focused on four areas of Indigenous disadvantage: social responsibility, education, employment and housing. The FRC oversights the obligations required of welfare payment recipients in the Cape York communities. The emergence of the CYAAA in the Cape York Trial was an external initiative to the original setup of programs detailed in the Hand Out to Hand Up Report. In the final two years of the Trial’s operation, the CYAAA prepared the Student Case Management Framework and facilitated monetary funding provided by the ABSTUDY and Student Education Trusts (SETs) services. Business Precincts were established to support the development of small business within the Aurukun and Hope Vale communities.

The Institute’s trial developed programs to alleviate barriers to home ownership and renting suitable housing for Cape York community members. Legislative changes were made to facilitate tenancy agreements between potential public home renters and private landlords under the Residential Tenancies Act 1994 (QLD). These functional limitations did not align with the intended design principles of the program outlined in the Hand Out to Hand Up Report This trial was further extended by the Commonwealth government to 30 June 2021. The operation of the FRC in the communities of Aurukun, Coen, Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale continues as legislated by the Family Responsibilities Commission Amendment Act 2014. In the three years of operation, the CYAAA's goals to increase primary and secondary student attendance and participation rates were not achieved in the communities of Coen, Hope Vale and Aurukun. In the Trial’s concluding years of 2011 and 2012, participation rates slightly declined in Hope Vale and Coen.