Kununurra and Halls Creek in Western Australia’s East Kimberley region, and Ceduna on South Australia’s remote west coast are poised to introduce the healthy welfare card that mining magnate Andrew Forrest proposed a year ago, following a wide-scale review of indigenous training and employment.
And a Cape York-style panel of leaders will be empowered in the towns to recommend greater access to cash for those who can prove they send their children to school and otherwise behave responsibly.
The federal government has not yet formally announced the trial sites, but has been in intensive discussions with community leaders in Ceduna and the East Kimberley. The northern NSW town of Moree, which was being discussed as another potential trial site, is not expected to join the initial trial after significant division emerged in that community over the proposal.
Assault rates in Kununurra at the gateway to the Kimberley are 68 times the national average. The town of Halls Creek has endemic social strife and chronic low school attendance. Many of the town’s children are affected by fetal alcohol disorder.
Heard Alan Jones interviewing Allan Tudge on his breakfast show this morning. Mr Tudge says trial has begun in Ceduna.
