The Future of Indigenous Policy on Remote Communities

Recent events on the Pitjantjatjara Lands in the North West of South Australia bear on the current debate on Indigenous policy in Australia and on the future direction of Indigenous policy. A coroner's report in 2002 into the deaths of three young people from petrol sniffing concluded that more could be done to reduce the incidence of such deaths. The description, by the Coroner and the South Australian Government of the circumstances in which substance abuse took place on the Pitjantjatjara lands raises questions about current Indigenous policy -- questions which John Summers argues go beyond the adequacy and effectiveness of government programs and services.