Jon Altman
As seen in:
The Guardian,
The Conversation,
SBS,
openDemocracy,
Crikey,
SmartCompany (Australia),
New Matilda,
Inside Story,
Arena,
Daily Bulletin AU
and
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Jon Altman
Unemployed Indigenous peoples in remote Australia still penalised and impoverished
A key plank of the Albanese government’s Indigenous policy platform is to abolish the remote mutual obligation initiative known as the Community Development Program (CDP). As the jobs and skills summit starts, it is deeply disappointing to see the CDP still in place -- and still punitive. The dire circumstances of remote-living Indigenous Australians are still missing from the policy agenda.
To enable healing, there's a more effective way to Close the Gap in employment in remote Australia
Talk of healing, care, and well-being is woven throughout the refreshed Closing the Gap agreement. These things were also central to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of the Closing the Gap implementation package this week. As part of the package, the government launched a redress scheme to support “intergenerational healing”, though this was really in response to a class action by survivors of the Stolen Generations.
The desecration of Juukan Gorge lays bare the ugly truth about our settler logic
By focusing on the particulars of Juukan Gorge and Rio Tinto, rather than the big issues at play, we're looking to apply a sticking plaster when serious suturing is required. Juukan Gorge rock shelters in 2015 (Image: AAP/PKKP and PKKP Aboriginal Corporation) This is an abridged version of an article originally published on Arena. “Never again” will we see the destruction of sites of such extraordinary antiquity and cultural significance as those at Juukan Gorge.
The other Indigenous coronavirus crisis: disappearing income from art
Public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may be having an unintended effect on remote Indigenous communities. With the closure of Aboriginal lands to visitors, tourist visits have stopped abruptly along with the income from buying art they provided. In at least one large community, the art centre that sells the work of several hundred artists has stopped buying because stock levels are extraordinarily high and it has no money to buy.
How the coronavirus crisis is causing income from Indigenous art to plummet
John Mawurndjul with his artwork Dilebang, winner of the 2016 Bark Painting Award at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Image: Fiona Morrison/AAP. By Jon Altman and Francis Markham, Australian National University Public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may be having an unintended effect on remote Indigenous communities.
The other Indigenous coronavirus crisis: disappearing income from art
Public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may be having an unintended effect on remote Indigenous communities. With the closure of Aboriginal lands to visitors, tourist visits have stopped abruptly along with the income from buying art they provided. In at least one large community, the art centre that sells the work of several hundred artists has stopped buying because stock levels are extraordinarily high and it has no money to buy.
The world's best fire management system is in northern Australia, and it's led by Indigenous land managers
The tropical savannas of northern Australia are among the most fire-prone regions in the world. On average, they account for 70% of the area affected by fire each year in Australia. But effective fire management over the past 20 years has reduced the annual average area burned – an area larger than Tasmania. The extent of this achievement is staggering, almost incomprehensible in a southern Australia context after the summer’s devastating bushfires.
Remote Indigenous Australia's ecological economies give us something to build on
Land titling in Australia has undergone a revolutionary shift over the past four decades. The return of diverse forms of title to Indigenous Australians has produced some semblance of land justice. About half the continent is now held under some form of Indigenous title. Forms of title range from inalienable freehold title to non-exclusive (or shared) native title. Much of this estate is in northern Australia, as this recent map shows. K. Jordon, F. Markham and J.
Remote Indigenous Australia's ecological economies give us something to build on
Land titling in Australia has undergone a revolutionary shift over the past four decades. The return of diverse forms of title to Indigenous Australians has produced some semblance of land justice. About half the continent is now held under some form of Indigenous title. Forms of title range from inalienable freehold title to non-exclusive (or shared) native title. Much of this estate is in northern Australia, as this recent map shows. Status of Indigenous title across Australia. K. Jordon, F.
The Debilitating Aftermath Of 10 Years Of NT Intervention
A decade ago, they sent the Army in, and made things demonstrably worse. Professor Jon Altman wonders where to from here. The 10th anniversary of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response, the Intervention that was militaristically launched with extraordinary media fanfare on 21 June 2007, has come and gone. I wondered what sort of response this anniversary might elicit? The answers to this question are threefold.
A Toxic Mix: Welfare Reform And The Mob In Remote Australia
Rome (Canberra) continues to fiddle while Black Australia burns. Professor Jon Altman weighs in on the ongoing disasters of government policy that have a tight grip on remote living Indigenous people. In the last month I participated in two workshops. I used what I observed on my latest visit to Arnhem Land and what people were telling me to inform what I presented at the workshops.
How The Gap Widened, And How To ‘Refresh’ The Policy Approach For Remote Indigenous Australia
Every year a report card on the government’s performance in lifting Indigenous Australians out of poverty documents more and more failure, and a widening gap. Professor Jon Altman explains why. I have been visiting Aboriginal communities in remote Australia for over 40 years. In the last decade, particularly since the NT Intervention, I have observed both the destruction of lifeways and the entrenchment of deepening poverty.
The other Indigenous coronavirus crisis: disappearing income from art
Public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may be having an unintended effect on remote Indigenous communities. With the closure[1] of Aboriginal lands to visitors, tourist visits have stopped abruptly along with the income from buying art they provided. In at least one large community, the art centre that sells the work of several hundred artists has stopped buying because stock levels are extraordinarily high and it has no money to buy.
Indigenous workers: the ‘modern slaves’ of Australia?
How can the Global Slavery Index claim Australia has so few ‘modern slaves’, when so many Indigenous men and women are pressed into labour by the Community Development Programme? Sky writing on National Sorry Day, an annual event held in Australia on May 26 to apologise for "Stolen Generations" of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. butupa/flickr.
Australia's Indigenous spending
AFTER THE INTERVENTION - Today, The Conversation launches a series looking at the recent history of Indigenous policy in Australia, and some ways forward. Are any of the current approaches working? What could be done better, and how? Today’s piece looks at a recent review of funding for Indigenous programs. A government-commissioned report has found progress on Indigenous disadvantage has been “mixed at best”.
An election in Reconciliation Week? Amid silence on Indigenous affairs, here's what must be done
For the first time a federal election campaign is coinciding with National Reconciliation Week – May 27 to June 3. One hopes this coincidence might spark some serious policy focus on Indigenous affairs. So far, it has been notably absent during the early weeks of the long election campaign. The Coalition government has fundamentally altered the architecture of Indigenous policymaking and delivery since 2013.
Remote Indigenous communities are vital for our fragile ecosystems
Amid the questioning of government support for remote Aboriginal communities and what Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the “lifestyle choices” of those who live there, the growing role of Aboriginal management of large areas of remote Australia has been overlooked.
We're About To Clock Up The Biggest Month In New Matilda's 11-Year History, But We Need More Subscribers
It’s been a big month for New Matilda. September is on track to be the largest in the 11-year history of the site, with over 1.2 million page reads. This month we’ve also finally cracked the ‘Top 100,000’ on Alexa.com, putting New Matilda in the top 0.01 percent of websites in the world. We jumped more than 30,000 in the rankings (see graphic below) thanks to a lift in story count, and some strong scoops and analysis.
On Golden Ponds | newmatilda.com
If the new government is serious about tackling welfare dependence they can’t avoid this policy option, writes Jon Altman.
Violence Against Women In Australia, Bad; Violence Against Women In The Care Of Australia, Acceptable
In his first major policy announcement last week the new Prime Minister unveiled a serious campaign to tackle domestic violence. Mr Turnbull’s leadership comes at a crucial time for women, with domestic violence an epidemic in this country. But it is not only Australian women that our system is failing; the government is sending some of the world’s most vulnerable victims to an environment that it knows is especially dangerous for women.
A Transfield Insider's Account: We Were Shocked Our Immigration Detention Contract Was Renewed
Barely a day goes by without new allegations of sexual assault, self-harm, violence or dysfunction at Australia’s privatised, immigration centres. Whether on the mainland, Nauru or Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, detention contractors Serco and Transfield are seemingly immune from censure. No controversy, failure or aggression by their staff is enough to lose the billion-dollar deals with Australia.
As We Say Good Riddance To Tony Abbott There Is Much To Celebrate
Farewell, Tony Abbott. The 28th prime minister of Australia ruled for just under two years. Like Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard before him, he was brought down by plotters within his own party. Few close observers of politics were surprised. Australian politics is now synonymous with instability. Abbott has been living on borrowed time ever since the spill against him in February revealed the scale of backbench dissatisfaction with his leadership.
Bad Aunty: Seven Years On, How ABC Lateline Sparked The Racist NT Intervention
Self-praise is really no recommendation, so, in 2011, when television personality Tony Jones described ABC Lateline’s 2006 coverage of sexual violence in remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities – reporting which led directly to the 2007 NT intervention – as among the best he’d ever seen, I was a little underwhelmed. Jones, of course, is the former anchor of Lateline, now the face of the popular Q&A program.
Living the good life in precarious times
Living the good life in precarious times Jon Altman has been visiting the remote Aboriginal community of Maningrida for many years. In February, he talked to Kuninjku people about the impact of changing government policies February is the middle of the tropical wet season, and the remote Aboriginal community of Maningrida is cut off from the rest of the world – cut off by road, that is, so I flew in from Darwin, 400 kilometres to the west.
The indigenous hybrid economy
Author: Jon Altman is the Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research Thank you very much to Race Mathews and Jacki Yowell for organizing this seminar and to Noni Sharp for commentating. It is always nice to be back in Melbourne to intellectually engage, this is the city where I started my academic career in Australia in the economics department at the University of Melbourne nearly 30 years ago.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Jon
Contact Jon, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack