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instances of outright fraud, of non-Indigenous people enrolling as Indigenous with their eye on the main game of seeking employment in Indigenous-oriented positions, occurs, but probably below 5 %. Some of those are doing very well, by the way.

G'day Big Nana,

How to boost those numbers in outer suburbs, rural towns and in remote communities, and amongst men in particular in all those settings ? Of course, they are very different settings, with different problems, so different tactics.

I've always maintained that the Indigenous support programs at universities had a major role to play there, to develop interactive programs with kids in schools in those areas to enthuse them about careers (we used to try to work with kids from Year 6 upwards, long before they got to de-motivating secondary school), and build up an on-going relationship, by email, with as many kids as possible about their changing ideas about careers, from the outset right through to university or trades enrolment, and on to employment - constantly reiterative process, if it is to work right.

If efforts like these are not made, constantly and consistently, that Gap will never Close. There are already (at least) two distinct populations across Australia, one working and often qualified as tradespeople or professionals, and the other welfare-dependent, often illiterate, with no family experience of work. It will be up to the second of these to catch up, but they will have to run bloody fast, if it's ever going to happen. The later it starts, the more difficult it will be, but it will have to happen.

Of course, this raises the question: does everybody want the Gap to Close ? Is too much riding on keeping it Open ?

Cheers and all the best for your beautiful families,

Joe

Is too much riding on keeping it Open ?
Loudmouth,
There is absolutely no question that this is the case. The difficulty lies in the fact that it is form both sides. If the Gap were suddely closed the whole indigenous thing would be gone & with it all the special programs & funding & other privileges. On the non-indigenous sides the many schemes with handsome funding would dry up also. Imagine all the guilt industry collapsing because suddenly all people are equal. Naw, there is big money in keeping the Gap just wide enough.

Joe, in all societies there is a gap between achievers and non achievers. I can't think of any country in the world that doesn't have any issues with generational poverty. In my lifetime I have seen so many changes in the Kimberley. On the one hand we have a large proportion of indigenous people buying their own homes, starting small businesses, working as professionals. On the other, a whole section of the community now into their third generation of welfare dependency combined with alcohol/drug addiction.
However, this is also true for non indigenous people. It is just a matter of degree. The percentage of indigenous people with social problems is greater on a per capita level. The question to be asked is, do we address these problems differently based on race or do we treat all disadvantaged children equally, based on need.
I favour the latter because when indigenous children become aware that they are treated differently to their white peers, they begin to see themselves as victims, not individuals with the ability to learn and change and advance.
All children in these dysfunctional homes need a lot of support and encouragement to step outside their circumstances and grow. Their race is irrelevant.

Hi Individual,

I'd reverse that proportion of dodgy figures: maybe six thousand out of 36,000 might be Johnny-come-latelies, and outright frauds. Still, 30,000 ain't bad :)

I think the scenario that you paint is more likely to happen with the hordes of completely-unqualified personnel that Big Nanna talks about - health workers, legal aid workers, education workers, 'liaison officers', 'engagement officers', 'inclusion officers', 'rangers', people with big names in the eyes of senior bureaucrats (Black and white) but utterly useless. I long for the day when they can be moved aside and replaced by competent and qualified Indigenous staff.

Big Nanna,

The idiocy of appointing completely unqualified people, in the name of 'self-determination' and 'community, to crucial positions, has surely done immense harm, perhaps contributing to deaths and the shielding of domestic violence and abuse.

Yes, I'm only too aware of that shielding of incompetents, even in academia. The converse has been the harassing and hounding of Indigenous staff who actually do want to get something done – how can incompetent Indigenous staff and conniving non-Indigenous staff keep their jobs unless they can get rid of competent and dedicated Indigenous staff, who may have different views from their own ? If they were honest, they would admit that they take for granted that 'It doesn't really matter, does it, it's only Blackfellas'.

Individual and Big Nana,

Thank you so much for your last contributions, they are both spot-on -we're getting somewhere !

On 'Closing the Gap', is it possible that many people oppose it because they think it will lead to assimilation - in other words, they can conceive of the remote predicament only in terms of either-or - closing the gap will make Indigenous people the same as non-Indigenous people which is, in their minds, assimilation ? That Indigenous people can't remain Indigenous if they are as well-off, comfortable and as likely to be contributing to the national benefit - i.e. as, to cite Noel Pearson, Aboriginal Australians ?

Joe

in all societies there is a gap between achievers and non achievers.
Big Nana,
Yes & I believe so it should be however having said that I do think that no-one should be labelled a non-achiever if factors beyond their control i.e. incompetent bureaucrats ruining their opportunites etc. are the cause.
In the case of australian indigenous most Australians are bending ar$e over backwards but this is taken for granted & even demanded as a birth right. The lack of incentive is in 90% of cases the cause of non-achieving & defended by cries of discrimination. How do I know that ? Good & decent Indigenous people tell me.
Only the indigenous themselves can make that one big step from welfare to a career by adopting a sense of responsibility not only to their people but to all, especially those who are & have been paying enormous rent to reside in this country. Correct me if I am wrong but I can't think of any other people on this planet so well looked after as the indigenous of this country. I know many who know this & appreciate it but far too many don't.

Just a final quick word. All of these figures of increased Indigenous graduates has not translated into qualified workers in country centres and remote communities. White people are still doing all the essential jobs apart from a few health and education professionals in towns.
It seems that despite all the claims to the contrary, urban Indigenous do not relate to their bush countrymen.