In the recent elections, few

There are good reasons for the relatively low turnout – 377 of about 2000 eligible voters.

The group is relatively new and voting is not compulsory. The situation is compounded by lingering hesitancy in becoming involved, following the demise of ATSIC.

And there’s the name itself. “It’s a mouthful, but I don’t mind, it’s something that people can distinguish separately,” chairman Rod Little says.

His aim is to turn around the low involvement by indigenous people by persuading them that the ACT government is genuine in its commitment to their welfare.

He and the other six members of the group have the opportunity to take the next step towards that objective when they hold their first meeting on August 22.

They will plan a strategy to raise awareness of the body within the ACT indigenous community and build confidence in its workings.

A key point to be made by the members is their unique access to the movers and shakers in the ACT government, not just the politicians but also the senior bureaucrats.

The members hold their own round of hearings, similar to Senate estimates, to delve into the inner workings of territory programs.

The hearings occur with all the ACT government directorates and service agencies to investigate how well the government is performing on delivery of services and achieving commitments to Closing the Gap indicators.

“Our unique model of representation and hearings process is the envy of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in other jurisdictions,” Little says.

The health of people living in the suburban environment of Canberra is better overall than those living in the Northern Territory, and particularly when compared to the conditions in remote camps.

However, in his recent report to the government, Little says: “ATSIEB and community maintain a level of dissatisfaction in some service areas with the seemingly minimal social return from investments from governments and will continue to raise these areas in the hearings process.”

The abolition of ATSIC left a void, Little says. “I think it was political, fundamentally.There were many people who had given their life’s work to making a difference and then, all of a sudden, for the sake of a few suspected bad apples, the whole barrel was thrown out.”

One result of that sacking is hesitancy among the indigenous community about being involved in another consultative group.

“People are not trustworthy, they are a bit hesitant about getting involved, it is still relatively new to them as it is to us,” Little says.

“It takes time, not only for our community to warm to this model, but also the government to warm to it. They set it up and said, well, there you go. But it doesn’t actually work like that.”

Deputy chairwoman Diane Collins has been a member of the elected body since its commencement in 2008.

“The community engagement and community understanding of who the elected body are has increased, how it operates now is very different and it’s grown a lot,” she says.

“In the first term, as a new body you are sort of figuring out who you are as a body, let alone how you’re going to engage and do your business.

“We now have our monthly meetings with the director-generals and we are engaging with senior staff on various programs and funding and advice, so it’s certainly getting there and moving in the right direction.”

Collins says the access to the highest levels of the ACT public service is pivotal to the elected body’s ability to influence outcomes.

“We all know it’s easier to work from the top and go down, than going from the bottom up,” she said.

“The D-Gs have just been fantastic in wanting to engage and they are very interested and keen to see how we can work together and make improvements in various portfolios, that’s been critical.”

She said a concrete outcome of the elected body’s work was the proposal to build aged care units at Lanyon.

Funding has been allocated for the project and architects are about to be engaged to design the complex.

“It will have aged care accommodation, but also much like a village where you have a common meeting area,” she says.

“This is something that is real and we will see progression and completion of it within a couple of years, as opposed to some other things where there’s been lots of talk and nothing much has gone on.”

Is the elected body being listened to and is it achieving worthwhile outcomes?

Rod Little replies by referring to the government’s response to the group’s report earlier this year.

“In February this year when we handed our report to the government, the government in the Assembly that day decided to enter into a whole-of-government agreement with us and the community. For me that’s progress,” he says.

The agreement is intended to ensure consistency of service delivery across all services.

The voter turnout for the recent elections was twice that of the previous ballot, apparently due to the ballot being conducted during NAIDOC Week for the first time, with the specific aim of encouraging greater participation.

This was the third round of elections for ATSIEB since the body was established in 2008.

How does the group plan to generate more interest in its activities?

“We made it a high priority of our last term to enhance the engagement with the community by holding regular forums,” Little says.

“One of our functions is to communicate to the government and the minister the views and priorities and aspirations of our community. We say to people, you can have a say on these things because historically they’ve felt like they’ve been blocked out of even having a conversation about it.

“So we’ve got to be constantly communicating with people and informing people so they get the full picture rather than making assumptions.”

Making assumptions about what’s good for indigenous people rankles with Jo Chivers, elected this year for her first term on the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body.

“We all have links back to the community, so we are able to talk to people at the grassroots level. We are much better placed to do that than bureaucrats,” she says.

“I think the reason we need [the ATSIEB] is that often bureaucrats and ministers do need some guidance and some advice around not only what the community wants, but what is best in relation to running programs targeted at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I think that's one of the really big roles we have as an elected body is to provide that advice.

“I think the previous body has done some really good things. There was a lot more community consultation, they were really putting forward the views and the needs of what the local community is. So I want to continue building on those sorts of things.

“I certainly want to be able to influence things for the benefit of the whole Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the community, rather than just having some non-indigenous bureaucrat saying, this is what we think is best for the community.”

Chivers has been allocated the Community Services Directorate as her watching brief, giving her extraordinary access to the senior management team.

“I will meet monthly with Natalie Howson, the director-general for the Community Services Directorate, and her senior executive,” she says.

“They've got a human services blueprint coming up and a whole range of things that will really impact on the service provision to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT. The elected body will be a mechanism for us to influence those things on behalf of the community.”

Chivers, a public servant for two decades, has been active in the indigenous community and believes the ACT government is responsive.

“The ACT government, regardless of what side it is, has a really long track record of wanting to really engage with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to ensure that they get real outcomes,” she says. “Both sides of government have been very keen to engage with the community to ensure that it is not just a tokenistic response or reaction to fix those things.

“They want to do it right, right from the start of the process, I think that's been really, really good.”

ACT Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Shane Rattenbury says he is pleased to see a significant increase in both the number of nominees and the turnout of voters for this election.

“I was also particularly impressed with the strong turnout of voters at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, reflecting their ongoing positive engagement with the community,” he says.

“This time there was a strong list of candidates competing to be elected onto the body. So to me that's a sign that the body is increasingly becoming known in the community and people see it as a valid and worthwhile group to represent them.

“But I think the challenge is also on the elected body to convince the community that they are doing a worthwhile job and people should be involved and participate in the election process.

“To me, the elected body is the key adviser to the government on matters of indigenous affairs in the ACT.

“They’re not the only adviser, there is a range of other groups …. but I think the elected body is a very strong representative group of the communities in the ACT.”

The elected body would like to have a full-time chairman and Rattenbury says that will be considered as part of the review of the governing legislation.

“The act has been operational for six years, so that [review] is certainly something I have agreed to and I think considering a full-time chairperson will be part of that review,” he says.

He says the unique access of the members of the elected body to heads of directorates means many issues are handled quickly.

“In terms of practical outcomes, I think a lot gets done at that level rather than large scale media announcements,” he says.

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