Central government and social services

As New Zealand and Australia become more multicultural, it is becoming increasingly difficult for central government to devise and deliver social services for different ethnic groups.

One method may be for central government to establish minimum standards of service and allow private charities and state or local government more involvement in managing and delivering services.

In The Original Australians Josephine Flood points out some of the problems that have occurred in many aboriginal communities with the closing down of established mission stations:

"Outback communities may have achieved land ownership, but their has been a huge increase in substance abuse, domestic violence and crime and a sharp decline in health, education and jobs. Missions still functioning today are confined to the Torres Strait Islands and remote parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia, especially the Kimberley, where they provide a superb service in very difficult conditions. Now only 40 missions remain in remote regions."

In the small central Australian town of Pakatja, Flood says the transfer of the Ernabella Mission into Aboriginal management, in 1974, has had a very negative on the local Aboriginal community:

"Under its new name, Pukatja, Ernabella still exists and the craft centre continues, but now Pukatja suffers the problems of so many outback communities. Standards of nutrition, hygiene, health and education have declined horrendously, petrol and drunkenness are rife and dedicated missionaries have been replaced by short-term employees, who tend to burn out in a couple of years."

During the 1970s, central government spending on aboriginal advancement increased considerably, and by 2001, the federal budget for indigenous programs reached $2.3 billion.

However, while local missions provided services in exchange for work and certain standards of behaviour, few conditions are placed on eligibility for government welfare, and there is little policing of Aboriginal communities. Subsequently, there had has been little improvement in social outcomes for most outback Aborigines. These problems were exacerbated by the removal of state government controls on the sale of alcohol in the 60s and 70s.

In New Zealand, domestic violence in low-income Maori communities has become a major social issue, following a number of high profile child abuse cases.The response of central government has been to undertake national "family violence" awareness campaigns and heavy-handed legislation such as the "anti-smacking bill."

The obvious draw back with such an approach is that it generates resentment among those sections of the population in which domestic violence is not an acute problem.

Furthermore, many central government welfare services tend to promote a left-liberal agenda, which gets in the way of effective policy making. For example, Family and Community Services, a division of the Ministry of Social Development, argues that domestic violence is a significant problem among all ethnic and socio-economic groups, glossing over the fact that the problem is much worse among low income-Maori than other sections of the community. Subsequently, a problem that could be tackled cost effectively at the local level becomes a national problem, which requires costly social engineering policies.

While the lack of a federalised political structure makes it more difficult to tailor policies for particular communities, there has been no effort by central government to allow voluntary organisations a greater role in managing domestic violence, or to establish a suitable contestable fund for NGOs.

During the last 150 years, voluntary organisations have played an important part in providing social services to indigenous communities in both Australia and New Zealand, especially in cooperation with state and local government. As the cost and effectiveness of national social services comes increasingly into question, it is high time central government thought about ways to devolve welfare services to locally based NGOs who are more in tune with what is happening in the communities in which they operate.