17 November, 2021

Wednesday 17 November 2021

NSW CAPO Statement on the

Public Release of the first NSW Indigenous Expenditure Report

The NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations (NSW CAPO) welcomes the public release of the first NSW Indigenous Expenditure Report (IER) by the NSW Government.

Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and Aboriginal communities have been calling for greater transparency in how funds intended to provide services to Aboriginal communities are allocated.

We know that Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations are best placed to design and deliver services to Aboriginal peoples and the Aboriginal Community Controlled Sector delivers services more efficiently and more appropriately than non-Aboriginal service providers. Strengthening the Aboriginal Community Controlled Sector is a Priority Reform under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

The National Agreement on Closing the Gap requires jurisdictions to be more transparent and to identify funds and resources that can be re-directed to Aboriginal Community Controlled organisations. The release of the first phase NSW IER is an important step in supporting the NSW Government and NSW CAPO to review areas of inefficiency and the appropriateness of current funding arrangements to identify opportunities for funds to be re-directed to the Aboriginal Community Controlled sector.

NSW CAPO and Aboriginal communities and organisations have also been calling for greater evaluation of the effectiveness of programs for some time. The NSW IER shows that there is work to be done to ensure a more thorough approach to evaluation to ensure that funds spent to deliver services to Aboriginal people are done so efficiently.

NSW CAPO also looks forward to the Comprehensive Indigenous Expenditure Report and more in-depth review that NSW Treasury will undertake, including measurement of outcomes and evaluation of policies and programs.

For more information contact the NSW CAPO Closing the Gap Secretariat:

Email caposecretariat@alc.org.au or Phone: 0427 199 785

Robert Skeen                                Cr. Charles Lynch

Co-Chair, NSW CAPO                   Co-Chair, NSW CAPO

NSW CAPO is a representative coalition of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) in NSW including the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, Link-Up (NSW), Aboriginal Legal Services (NSW/ACT), Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council, AbSec – NSW Child, Family and Community Peak Aboriginal Corporation, First Peoples Disability Network and BlaQ. NSW CAPO provides a strong, independent, and coordinated voice to address issues affecting Aboriginal people including all the social determinants of health and wellbeing.