Evaluation of the Bringing them home and Indigenous mental health programs

1.1 Background to the BTH and Indigenous Mental Health Programs

Up to Bringing Them Home

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Aboriginal children have been forcibly separated from their families and communities since the earliest days of European occupation of Australia (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission - HREOC, 1997 p27). In May 1995 a National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families was conducted in response to efforts by key Aboriginal agencies and communities to increase public attention to this issue. The report on the inquiry, the Bringing Them Home (BTH) Report, documented the scale and major negative impact of these practices on Aboriginal people and communities. (The literature review in appendix B provides more detail on the history of forcible removals of Aboriginal people in Australia and the BTH Report.)

The Australian Government set aside $62.85 million over the four-year period 1998-2001 to address the needs identified in the BTH Report, which included:

• $16 million devoted to the BTH Program (managed by OATSIH).
• $17 million for education and training, including the SEWB RC Program (managed by OATSIH).
• $11.25 million to establish a national network of Link-Up services, initially managed by the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) between 1998-2003, but then transferred to OATSIH on 1 July 2004.
• $5.9 million to be spent on parenting support programs (management of most of these funds was subsequently transferred to the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs - FaCSIA).
• $9 million which had already been allocated to support Indigenous languages and culture.

There were small additional sums for archiving, preservation of records and oral history recordings. The primary area targeted by the government response to the BTH Report was the SEWB and family reunion aspects of the BTH Report (recommendations 30 and 33-35).

In addition, in 2001-2002 the Australian Government allocated $53.8 million over four years (to June 2006) to continue the Link-Up services, the education and training, and the counselling and parenting elements of the original package of measures. This brought the total package of expenditure to $116.65 million for the period to June 2006. OATSIH has provided additional resources to the BTH Program, and (since 1 July 2004) to the Link-Up Program.

Funding for the BTH Program, the Link-Up Program and the SEWB RC Program has now been rolled into DoHA's base funding. This means that the funding is ongoing, eliminating the need to seek approval for continued funding at the end of each four-year period. Funding is now currently allocated on an annual basis, with $24 million being allocated for the four programs in 2006-2007.

The programs being evaluated here therefore represent the major component of the Australian Government's response to the Bringing Them Home Report. Other DOHA programs also contribute towards improving access for Aboriginal people to appropriate health care, including comprehensive primary health care, substance use and SEWB/ mental health services.

In 2006, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) made a major commitment to improve services for people with a mental illness. In its 2006-2007 Budget, the Australian Government contributed $1.9 billion towards a COAG Mental Health package for this purpose. The Budget allocated $20.8 million over five years to train around 1,200 health workers in Aboriginal communities to recognise the early signs of ill mental health and identify pathways for treatment and care.

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