$53m for 800 Roebourne Aboriginals
More than $53.6 million was spent last financial year on services for about 800 Aboriginal residents of Roebourne in the Pilbara, according to a State Government report.
There were 206 services and projects delivered by more than 60 providers, some running short-term, uncoordinated programs.
The expenditure review by the Department of Premier and Cabinet, which included the provision of most general services such as police, health care, education and welfare, details a failure to improve outcomes for a community with entrenched social and health issues.
The report found "a scattergun approach to funding, fragmented service delivery, inadequate co-ordination and significant wasted effort".
"It is likely that the review findings are applicable in other regional, remote and urban locations across WA," it said.
Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Council chairman Michael Hayden said the report proved the need for the Auditor-General to investigate the $4.9 billion spent by the Commonwealth and State governments on Aboriginal West Australians each year.
"It exposes the dysfunction of bureaucratic processes and why we need accountability," Mr Hayden said.
Roebourne has been subject of many studies, including one by the Department of Indigenous Affairs' Pilbara office in 2009 that outlined similar issues.
It is believed the DPC report has been an impetus for the Barnett Government's move to overhaul Aboriginal services amid the Commonwealth's intention to withdraw funding for municipal funding to remote communities.
It compared Roebourne with the community of Jigalong, east of Newman, and a sample of smaller Martu settlements.
All had substandard housing, education and employment.
The report says that almost $68,000 is spent on services per Aboriginal person in Roebourne (calculated on the 2011 census figure of 789), almost $55,000 in Jigalong and almost $48,500 in the smaller communities.
Those figures appear to indicate that less is spent in the communities than the town.
However, they are skewed because residents of Jigalong and other Martu communities go to Newman for health care and other expensive services.
A figure for non-Aboriginal residents was not available.
The report identified improvements in service delivery and potential gaps, including minuscule spending on early childhood.
The percentage of Federal funding increased as the population got more remote, partly because of higher welfare dependency.
