Andrew, I'm not sure what planet you live on because this already takes place. And it isn't working is it ?

My kids want to know why they can't get free camp, $10 a day to spend at the canteen and free school uniforms. Coming from a low income family some things are just beyond us on one wage with three kids. The only thing that your 'solution' will cause is more racism.

The reason aboriginal kids don't attend school is because the teachers, principals, governments are frightened to death of being called racists if they enforce the same laws that apply to white kids.

Back to the drawing board Andrew ..... I have a great solution - how about we just treat everyone as Australians, where the same laws apply to everyone, where everyone gets the same amount of money without fear of the much loved Koori word of racism rearing its ugly head.

Alison.

When Indigenous communities own and control their own schools can we throw away band-aid ideas such as this.

Less that 2% of Indigenous kids attend a school owned and controlled by their community.

School governance and ownership has been completely overlooked in state school systems for Indigenous people and communities.

Policy over the last 30 years has been focused on participation - but passive attendance. This is particularly so in remote communities where staff turn-over is rapid and teacher continuity is minimal.

Passive welfare and passive participation in schools are in theory inherently linked.

Even where schools are enjoying high attendance the outcomes in literacy and numeracy remain low and unchanged.

This raises that universal questions (that is mostly unanswered) -

"Education for what"? and how long will community schools in remote areas be used as laboratories for quasi educational theorists (bureaucrats) and their quick fix-it new-bewt programs and buzz words.

The whole issue is certainly a lot more complex than this good willed yet under researched piece of opinion suggests.

How about parents and children attending school and if they don't,no social security cheque.There is no need to bribe them with extra payments.

I've worked closely with Koori kids and families for the past 8 years in a town where it was difficult to find one Koori person employed outside the local Aboriginal Cooperative. The reasons stem mainly from lack of family background in employment. We set up a program a school to 'scaffold' support for students to learn about and get into the work place. We had excellent support and understanding from some local business people. But the main factor behind the success were fantastic mentors who could spend 'real' time with the kids and potential employers. In less than six months we had five students in mainstream part-time work, another 5 who had had some type of work experience and all the younger kids coming up asking when they could join the program. The program has made it much easier to keep Koori kids in education as they begin to see the possibility of real outcomes.
Ongoing support was and is needed but it decreases as the kids become more confident and as the Indigenous community becomes more knowledgeable about the world of work. The flow on effect on attitude has been quite amazing. Parents genuinely want their kids to succeed - what they often lack is the confidence and knowledge to identify, work towards and access opportunities. The pride on three of the boys faces when they brought new bikes to school that they had purchased with their wages would be enough to satisfy the worst of the cynics.
Unfortunately programs like this do cost money and, despite what many of the contributors to this forum seem to think, it is very difficult to access. Very little Indigenous money actually gets to where it is most needed.

The scheme doesn't go far enough.

Aboriginal health is terrible, with mortality rates and high levels of major conditions such as diabetes. Perhaps we should pay Aboriginal people to visit the doctor, say, $200 a visit, once a month, with an additional $100 a visit if suggested by the doctor.

And while they are there seeing the doctor, as a way of trying to deal wth chronic substance abuse, pay a Aboriginal patient an additional $200 if they are able to provide a clean urine specimen.

In terms of other areas of Aboriginal health and welfare, perhaps organise community kitchens, where Aboriginal people can be given quality, healthy food for free, and as an extra 'sweetener' pay the parents of children brought in for meals either cash, or vouchers later able to be redeemed for consumer goods such as TVs, or even cars.

The bottom line, as shown by the need for such schemes as paying Aboriginal children to go to school, is that if members of that community show such little regard to education, health and welfare, then they have to be bribed into the 21st century.

This could be sold as an idea to Aboriginal people under the perspective of reciprocity, that is, if someone else has what you want, even if they have worked for it, you are entitled to it. Reciprocity is a well established part of Aboriginal culture. Lets make it work for everyone.

Ahh Alison (Freethinker)

As an Aboriginal parent I would love to know that my child will get a free camp, $10 dollars a day spending money and cheap school uniforms but I would trade it all in for 20 years of life expectancy in a flash. In fact, sign me up for both, as it will (in a few centuries)account for the millions of stolen wages each state government took from my grandparents.

You cannot treat everyone like an Australian because us mob who are not white keep getting told that we aren't. Man what would I pay to be treated as an equal to my white friends, do a google on "Peggy Macintosh" and 'whiteness' to find out about what it is like to be part of the power group in this country.

Better yet, read the paper, if ATSIC board members said that didn't recall or know what happened to $300 million dollars of funding (ie Cole inquiry) you and other "Australians" would call for their blood. Yet our crime minister and his innocent criminals can walk away.

Instead of getting angry at the $10/week to about 140,000 growing Indigenous kids, cry over what the government has done to the $300 million.

Back to work!