Shakeup for Indigenous Council funding

The Newman Government has announced the biggest shakeup in the way Indigenous councils are funded in a generation.

Local Government Minister David Crisafulli told a gathering of Indigenous mayors and councillors in Cairns today that it was time Indigenous councils which functioned well were recognised and incentives given to those that needed to improve.

“For years, governments have rewarded the councils that aren’t prepared to collect revenue from their community, to the detriment of those which do,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“In effect, we’ve rushed in and topped up revenue for those which weren’t prepared to make the tough decisions.”

In the 2013-2014 financial year, the State Government Financial Aid base grant will be $29 million, to be spread between all of Queensland’s Indigenous communities on traditional funding guidelines.

For the first time, there will also be $3 million in incentive payments to councils that can show they are leading the reform process.

This $3 million non-base grant will be split into two equal parts:

·         Incentive payments, which will be made available from February 2014 to councils which have shown improved generation of their own income (for example, through collection of municipal charges)

·         A Business Incentive Scheme, which will be an application-based fund to encourage business and economic opportunities

“The problem is not the amount of money government is spending but how we are spending it,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“We will only lift Indigenous communities to their full potential if we end the handout approach and replace it with an ability to chart their own financial success.”

Councils which have received unqualified audit reports will receive their payments in two instalments rather than the current bureaucratic process of four quarterly payments.

[ENDS] 30 May 2013

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