UPDATE: Thanks to GetUp members’ support, the delegation traveled to Canberra to meet with key politicians during the week of the 7th September. You can see how it went by watching the video here.
The campaign continues so keep your signatures coming in!
A delegation of Indigenous leaders from homeland communities are meeting with key politicians on Tuesday – at stake is the future of over 600 vibrant communities.
Add your name to the petition they will deliver next week:
Dear Prime Minister, Minister Macklin and Chief Minister Henderson,
We ask you to increase investment in homelands which create healthy lands, healthy communities and healthy people. We ask you to provide practical support for what is working on the ground rather than limiting basic services to growth towns and forcing people to move from their ancestral lands. If you are serious about closing the gap then we ask you to listen to Indigenous voices.”
30,980 have joined this campaign – help us get to 35,000.
We have achieved 88.51% of our goal. Let’s keep going!
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Homelands Map
Many homeland communities are located hundreds of kilometers from the larger Territory Growth Towns’ where access to basic services such as health, education, housing is available.
Click on the map below to see the broad spread of homeland communities across the Northern Territory, the large distance from the ‘Growth Towns’ and the successful projects that are running in homelands. You can also see locations of GetUp members who have signed the petition.
Sign Petition!
Our Generation is an upcoming independent documentary that gives voice to the ongoing plight of Indigenous Australians and homelands in the NT.
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More information on Homelands:
The combined Indigenous population living in homeland communities has been estimated at 10,000 of a total remote Indigenous population of 40,000 across the Northern Territory.
The Federal Government has had responsibility for homeland service provision since the early 1970s however in September 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the NT and the former Federal Government outlining that the NT Government would take over responsibility for the delivery of essential services to homelands.
Instead of revisiting this damaging policy the the NT Government announced it will invest in 20 larger ‘Territory Growth Towns’ to provide basic services with just $20 million a year for the next 3 years allocated by the Federal Government to be divided between over 600 remote homeland communities, locking in continued chronic underfunding of homelands.
Residents from homeland communities will be expected to travel long distances to access health, education and welfare services from these ‘Growth Towns’. During the wet season many homeland communities are cut off and will be unable to access these towns.
The preservation of homelands plays a crucial role in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health in Australia. There is now overwhelming evidence that residents living on homelands are both healthier and happier than those living in more centralised communities.
Participation in ‘Caring for Country’ programs encourages physical activity and better nutrition, leading to significant reductions rates of obesity, diabetes, renal disease, cardiovascular disease as well as creating substantial environmental benefits for the land.
Homelands play a key role in self-determination and preservation of Indigenous culture. These areas are important for Aboriginal people and the broader Australian community as a whole, as they create valuable benefits for the environment, Indigenous health, culture, and education.
Find out more about the benefits of homeland communities on our blog.