Lands of Shame: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander “homelands” in Transition

Some 90,000 of Australia’s 500,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders live appallingly deprived lives in ‘homelands’ thought remote Australia. Their health and housing are so abysmal that their expectation of life is 20 years shorter than that of other Australians. Deprived of education, they cannot access jobs even in settlements near mines and tourist resorts, leading to welfare dependency and consequent family and social dysfunction. The ‘homelands’ were created with the best of intentions. However they have not only failed to provide a living for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, but they have stultified the development of traditional culture so that alcoholism and violence demean and destroy many lives. Lands of Shame analyses why the ‘homelands’ experiment has led to Third World living conditions in the midst of Australia’s prosperity. It reviews the evidence on demographic trends, law and order, land rights, joblessness and welfare, education, health, housing and governance, and assesses Commonwealth, State and Territory policies. With an eye to a better future, Lands of Shame also discusses policies that would give Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in remote Australia the same opportunities and choices that other Australians expect. pp. 237 Graphs #0816