Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership facts for kids
| Abbreviation | CYI |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Cape York Institute |
| Formation | 2004 |
| Founder | Noel Pearson |
|
Region
|
Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia |
|
Parent organization
|
Cape York Partnerships |
The Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, often called the Cape York Institute, is an Australian group. It studies and puts into action ideas to help people in Cape York. Their main goal is to reduce unfair differences between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people.
The Institute was started in July 2004 by Noel Pearson, a lawyer and Indigenous advocate. It works with the people of Cape York and Griffith University. The Institute writes reports for the Australian Federal Government. These reports highlight important areas like education, jobs, and housing. They aim to help communities become stronger and more independent. The Cape York Institute works with partners like Cape York Partnerships. It gets money from the Australian and Queensland governments for its projects.
Contents
What the Institute Aims For
The main goal of 'The Cape York Agenda' is to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people more freedom. It wants them to join the "Real Economy" and rely less on "Passive Welfare." The "Real Economy" means a system where people are rewarded for working and managing their own lives.
The Institute encourages ATSI people to take part in the economy. It helps manage how welfare money is used. This encourages people to be responsible when using benefits for education, jobs, and housing. The Agenda wants Indigenous people to be independent from welfare. It also aims to stop harmful behaviors. It promotes owning homes, getting jobs, and finishing school. The Institute's main aim is to help Indigenous people feel in control of their lives. They want people to be responsible, not just depend on welfare.
The "Hand Out to Hand Up" Report
The Cape York Institute wrote a report called "Hand Out to Hand Up." This report explained how the Cape York Welfare Reform Project should work. It suggested that welfare payments should come with responsibilities. The report aimed to rebuild community standards in Aurukun, Coen, Mossman Gorge, and Hope Vale. It focused on responsibility, education, jobs, and housing for individuals, families, and communities.
To help families and protect children, the report suggested creating the Family Responsibility Commission (FRC). The FRC would be an independent group. It would make sure people in Cape York used their welfare money responsibly. This would be done through schemes that manage income. The report also suggested changes to the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP). CDEP helped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get jobs. The report wanted the FRC to oversee CDEP payments. This would reduce too much reliance on welfare.
The report also wanted more access to the ABSTUDY payment scheme. This scheme helps with education costs and living money for ATSI youth who board at school. To help Indigenous people own homes, the report suggested making rental agreements normal. It also pushed for building affordable houses in rural areas. A program called Pride of Place would help with renting, home ownership, and renovations.
The Cape York Trial
After the "Hand Out to Hand Up" Report, the Australian and Queensland governments supported a trial. They gave 96 million dollars from 2008 to 2012. The Cape York Institute and its partners ran this trial. It focused on four main areas where Indigenous people faced challenges: social responsibility, education, employment, and housing.
Social Responsibility
In 2008, the Family Responsibilities Commission (FRC) was set up. This was part of the Institute's trial with the Queensland Government. The FRC checks if people receiving welfare payments meet their responsibilities. It gets information from government groups about individuals and families.
The FRC steps in if someone breaks the rules of the Income Management Scheme. This includes things like having a criminal record, acting in harmful ways, not following a rental agreement, or not protecting children. The FRC holds meetings with community members. They decide if the person has followed their welfare rules. If someone breaks an agreement, their welfare money can be managed more strictly. This means their money can only be spent on important things like food, clothes, and medicine. This helps people use their welfare money wisely.
Education
In 2011, the Cape York Institute helped create the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy (CYAAA). This Academy was a new part of the Cape York Trial. In the last two years of the trial, the CYAAA helped improve school attendance. It also managed money from ABSTUDY and Student Education Trusts (SETs).
Case Managers worked with parents, students, and teachers to get more kids to school. The CYAAA helped families plan budgets for school costs. The ABSTUDY allowance was also expanded. This allowed young people from Cape York to attend boarding schools outside their local communities.
Employment
The Institute's trial changed the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme. People who were paid through CDEP now received Conditional Income Payments. The Institute and the Family Responsibilities Commission monitored how they spent their money and their progress. Under this scheme, CDEP workers were given full-time jobs.
More training and work placement programs were also added. This helped residents get better jobs and keep them. Business areas were set up in Aurukun and Hope Vale to help small businesses grow. The Cape York Institute worked with Mission Australia. They offered mentoring and skills training. This helped local businesses grow and encouraged graduates to join the workforce. It also increased participation in trade, engineering, and healthcare apprenticeships.
Housing
The Institute's trial created programs to help people in Cape York own or rent good homes. Laws were changed to make it easier for people to rent public homes from private landlords. The FRC used the Income Management Scheme to make sure renters followed their agreements. If someone broke the agreement, they could be evicted or face stricter money management.
To help people own their homes, housing and land laws were changed. Amendments to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Act 1991 (QLD) allowed for 99-year private residential leases. This meant Indigenous residents could get money to buy or build a home. In 2008, the Pride of Place Program started. It renovated backyards of homes in the four communities. This renovation was partly paid for and encouraged people to take pride in their homes.
How the Cape York Trial Worked Out
In 2013, a review of the Cape York Trial was done. It looked at how well the trial worked. It checked if it helped bring back community standards and change attitudes towards responsibility, education, jobs, and housing.
At first, the FRC faced challenges. It had trouble with staff and costs. There were delays in setting up meeting places. It was also hard to find options for referring people to income management. These issues meant the FRC couldn't fully do what it was meant to do. However, the review found that the FRC did help more than half the adults in the trial communities. This made it easier for the FRC to refer people for meetings and manage welfare money. Surveys showed that 90% of people said they followed the agreements they made. After the trial, the Queensland Government decided to continue the Income Management program until June 2019. The Australian Government extended it further until June 2021. The FRC still operates in Aurukun, Coen, Mossman Gorge, and Hope Vale today.
In education, the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy (CYAAA) was set up in Aurukun and Coen in 2010, and Hope Vale in 2011. For the three years it operated, the CYAAA did not fully achieve its goals of increasing student attendance. Attendance improved at first in 2010. But in 2011 and 2012, attendance slightly dropped in Hope Vale and Coen. After the trial, attendance in Aurukun and Hope Vale with CYAAA involvement went down to pre-trial levels. However, there was progress in test scores. For the NAPLAN tests, more students (from years three to seven) who received CYAAA help scored above the national average in reading and math. But student progress varied across schools. The Coen Campus kept higher average results for longer than schools in Aurukun and Hope Vale. This trend continued even after the trial ended.
In jobs and housing, some programs were not fully put into action or did not continue after the trial. Census data showed that the employment rate in all four communities went up. This was because 103 CDEP workers moved into full-time jobs, and 118 new service jobs were created. However, building business areas to create jobs outside of welfare faced problems. Construction in Coen and Aurukun was delayed because community leaders did not approve the initial plans. This slowed job growth. In Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale, new business areas led to more jobs. Employment levels increased by 20.3% and 23.4% from 2006 to 2011.
For housing and rental agreements, the trial created 442 rental agreements. The Pride of Place Program built 32 new houses and did 197 renovations. But the trial did not fully meet its goals for private home ownership. It was hard to help residents move from public housing to owning their own homes. No properties were bought in Aurukun, Hope Vale, and Mossman Gorge during the trial. After the trial, the Pride of Place Program is still running. It continues to renovate newly built houses in the Cape York region. In 2013, the Australian Government gave 2.7 million dollars to help build sewerage, water, and electricity systems. This was to encourage people to buy homes.
