Topic: "The Development and Role of ATSIC".
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, hereby and widely referred to as ATSIC, was established in 1987. This was a major event that has affected the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people within Australia. In this essay I will outline the background to the development of ATSIC and what actually happened at the time. I will also discuss some of the Key developments and issues that ATSIC has been involved with since its creation and the implications it has had for aboriginal communities. The essay will consider both ATSIC's past and also the present and future issues that it and the community may be required to address.
Since the 1967 Referendum, administrative arrangements concerning Indigenous affairs have been based on the premise of a shared responsibility between Australia's various governments. The referendum initiated a national effort to raise the status of Indigenous people within Australia. Special government programs were introduced. "In 1972 a separate Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs was established. In 1987 the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission replaced it".
( http://www.atsic.gov.au/News_Room/As_a_Matter_of_Fact/myth2.asp).
ATSIC was to take the place of the commonwealth government's Department of Aboriginal Affairs. ATSIC was developed because of the growing "Aboriginal political agitation with the then current Hawke government. Major political battles occurred at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in 1982. The World Council of Churches Report concerning racism in Australia and the growing outcry from the public concerning Indigenous Deaths in custody all added to the pressure put upon the government". (Foley,G. 1999) As well as these events the threat of public protests at the Commonwealth Games concerning Aboriginal concerns swayed the Hawke government to quickly acknowledge the need for an Aboriginal-specific government body.