Regional Outcomes Directorate

DIA's Regional Outcomes Directorate is predominantly an operational area that works on-the-ground with Indigenous people to facilitate improved access and delivery of services and to support land initiatives and heritage management. The Directorate provides a key point of engagement with the Indigenous community and works strategically across the whole of Government.

The Directorate in collaboration with the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) leads the COAG Indigenous reform agenda in WA to address Indigenous disadvantage. This will initially focus on developing and implementing remote service delivery models for communities on the Dampier Peninsula, Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek and will support capacity building initiatives, local decision making and governance.

The Directorate will also lead the State’s effort to address service gaps in a metropolitan, regional and small remote setting. The initial communities selected are Armadale, Roebourne and Oombugurri respectively. The Directorate is committed to an integrated State response and to working alongside Aboriginal people in WA to make a positive difference in their living conditions and social and economic prosperity.

Directorate structure

There are two branches within the Directorate:

Strategic Projects and
Regional Operations

The Strategic Projects Branch is a Perth-based specialist unit that engages with Indigenous communities and other stakeholders to undertake specific initiatives, address systematic issues and develop local solutions to local and regional issues. The branch performs the following roles:

Program manages specific Commonwealth–State agreements and associated projects to ensure optimal investment and accountability;
Negotiates and develops partnership agreements and other regional agreements aimed at economic participation to improve training and employment opportunities for Indigenous people;
Leads the coordination of government effort at targeted Indigenous communities to improve living conditions, provide supports for good governance and assist in building sustainable communities; and
Promotes reconciliation activities such as delivering cross cultural training and supporting state government agencies and other organisations to develop Reconciliation Action Plans.

The Regional Operations Branch comprises a network of seven regional offices throughout the State. DIA regionalised its operations in 1994 as it was considered that localised and targeted coordination would be more effective in resolving issues and improving service delivery. The regional network has a focus on achieving sustainable and strong Indigenous communities. In broad terms the functions of the DIA regional offices are to:

Build partnerships across government and non-government sectors to enhance services to Indigenous people;
Facilitate local inter-agency committees and provide advice to selected regional forums and working groups;
Support governance and capacity building initiatives;
Support community safety initiatives such as Aboriginal Community Patrols;
Facilitate and advise on land initiatives and provide assistance in relation to the management of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Estate {link to Land Branch};
Undertake cultural resource management activities to manage and protect Aboriginal sites; and
Support Indigenous events such as NAIDOC to promote Indigenous achievements and cultural heritage.

Key projects

The Regional Outcomes Directorate is managing a number of key projects to address Indigenous disadvantage. Some of these are:

Western Australian Strategic Intervention Package (WASIP)
In October 2007, the Western Australian and Australian Governments jointly allocated more than $100 million over four years for a range of initiatives aimed at improving the living conditions of Indigenous people in regional Western Australia.

The Australian Government’s financial contribution for these initiatives, totaling $51.41 million, was allocated to DIA through a funding agreement between this department and FaHCSIA. This funding agreement is known as the Western Australian Strategic Interventions Package.

The package secured funding for new housing, employment and training facilities and associated accommodation, to support substantial investments already being made by the Western Australian Government including $36.6 million for an intervention strategy at Halls Creek and $6 million for a new school at Wiluna.

DIA is the Program Manager for the WASIP Agreement and works in partnership with a number of State agencies to progress the individual projects.

Achievements include:

Extension and refurbishment of the Seven Mile Rehabilitation Facility in Wyndham which has enabled doubling in capacity and an improved quality of service;
Upgrades to water supplies in eight remote communities,
Completion of design and documentation to construct a vocational training centre at Wiluna;
Establishment of a community-based training and mentoring program for Indigenous youth in Balgo and neighbouring communities; and
Completion of housing needs assessment at Bidyadanga and Kalumburu to inform a comprehensive program of new housing, refurbishments and extensions.

Improved policing in very remote areas Memorandum of Understanding
DIA and FaHCSIA entered into the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 17 September 2007. It provides for funding allocations totalling $20 million to DIA from FaHCSIA over three financial years to October 2010, to support the establishment of new Multi Function Police Facilities (MFPF) and associated staff accommodation at Blackstone, Burringurrah and Looma, and visiting officers’ accommodation for the existing facility at Bidyadanga.

The establishment of the MFPFs in nine other locations in the State have allowed for police to stabilise communities and provide safety for other government agencies to provide their core services in the communities. Previously this was difficult due to the degree of instability and inconsistency of police presence.

The very fact that a facility has police and other agencies co-located provides for the environment to ensure for a better understanding of roles and responsibilities, better response to family violence and child abuse issues and a holistic approach to community issues.

The Valentin Report commissioned by the Commonwealth in 2007 found that: "The Western Australian model for Multi Functional Police Facilities (incorporating other government agencies in a coordinated approach to service delivery) is the most progressive of the four jurisdictions and has much to recommend it."

DIA leads implementation of the MoU through a partnership with WA Police as project manager. Police have engaged Department of Housing to design, develop and construct the facilities.

Regional partnerships supporting Indigenous economic enhancement
The department has played a strong coordinating role in the outturn of Regional Partnership Agreements (RPA) at five trial sites in Western Australia that arose from the Minerals Council of Australia and the Commonwealth Government’s joint MoU of June 2005.

The MoU, in practical terms, sought to generate, in a regional setting, best practice outcomes to make Indigenous people work-ready and place them in available employment in the mining and other sectors of the local economy. The RPAs through which this was to take place were negotiated and instigated with the involvement of a range of stakeholders to provide frameworks for action that support wealth-creation initiatives directed to Indigenous people.

In its support of the RPA process, DIA has directed considerable resources at the capacity-building of Indigenous corporations to allow them to play a direct and sustainable role in work-readiness training and its coordination. Notable achievements have been made by Bloodwood Tree Incorporated and the Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation in training and placing in employment large and consistent numbers of Aboriginal people in the West Pilbara. Their work and the willingness of employers who have offered employment to Indigenous people, has resulted in more than 1000 Indigenous people taking up full time employment in the Pilbara since 2006.

Different regional partnerships have extended their involvement into Aboriginal housing, education, health and child care issues with varying degrees of success. Most of the achievements have been gained after persistent engagements to bring about change. The success of the agreements is achieved through building the right partnerships through which to exercise the necessary influences.

Target locations
The Government’s response to the Gordon Inquiry – “Putting People First” – included implementation of place-based programs aimed at improving the response to child abuse and violence in Aboriginal communities, and developing long-term strategies and solutions to address environmental, social and economic disadvantage.

Consistent with DIA’s whole-of-government coordination mandate, broad-based strategic interventions have been implemented at targeted Indigenous regional and remote communities designed to achieve lasting change in living standards and the social and economic environment. Areas targeted include Kalumburu, Oombulgurri, Fitzroy Valley communities, Beagle Bay and Narrogin.

With the signing of a Remote Service Delivery National Partnership (RSD NP) with the Commonwealth there will be further effort in Fitzroy Crossing and Hall Creek townships and in the Dampier Peninsula located north of Broome. To close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage the following actions will occur:

Community governance and engagement;
Baseline mapping and service audits;
Establishing integrated service planning and service delivery mechanisms;
Developing local implementation plans to deliver integrated services that meet the needs of Indigenous people in the priority locations;
Monitoring and evaluation, reporting and sharing best practice; and
Risk management.

The State, through the Aboriginal Affairs Coordinating Committee (AACC), will also target the areas of Armadale, Roebourne and Oombulgurri. Key agencies will work collaboratively with local Indigenous people and organisations to ensure targets are being achieved and impediments are promptly addressed.

The AACC will work alongside other expert groups such as the Indigenous Implementation Board and the newly created Western Australian Aboriginal Advisory Committee.

The AACC will also form a direct link with the COAG Remote Service and Economic Participation Implementation Group to ensure synergies with the COAG Building Block framework for the identification of targets.

DIA is committed to a holistic approach, empowering local decision making and enabling the implementation of innovative strategies to ensure significant and long-lasting improvements in Indigenous communities.

Services Mapping and Gap Analysis
The purpose of a Mapping and Gap Analysis (MAGA) is to identify any gaps, duplications or shortcomings in the provision of services, programs, housing and infrastructure to Indigenous people and communities.

A MAGA provides an analysis of what a community looks like; who makes up the population; what is happening within a community; what the community’s needs are; what services, programs, housing and infrastructure are in place; and provides recommendations in relation to new/improved service, housing and infrastructure provision.

A MAGA exercise is one strategy that informs Government and enables agencies to better meet the needs of Indigenous communities. MAGAs have already been undertaken in places such as Port Hedland and Derby. MAGA projects are being carried out for the Wheatbelt Region, South-West Region and for the Laverton and Leonora Shires.

Aboriginal community patrols
DIA is the Program Manager for the Aboriginal Community Patrols Program. The patrols program was initiated in response to the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1992).

Sixteen service providers are funded to deliver 18 patrols throughout metropolitan and regional Western Australia. Patrols are operated by the community and are supported by DIA and other agencies

The patrol program deals with social and welfare issues throughout Western Australia as an early street level intervention for Indigenous people who are at risk of:

Self harm;
Family and community violence;
Homelessness; and
Substance abuse and misuse.

The purpose of the patrols is to provide support to Aboriginal people to:

Minimise and/or prevent conflicts;
Provide protection and safety to vulnerable people displaying anti-social behaviours;
Improve co-operation between Indigenous people and relevant support agencies; and
Provide diversion from potential contact with justice and criminal enforcement authorities.

Reconciliation Action Plans
In 2006 Reconciliation Australia launched the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program as a forward-looking aspect of the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum. The program engages diverse organisations – from large corporates, State Government agencies, schools and Local Councils – in the national effort to close the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.

In 2007, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs announced that all Western Australian State Government agencies were to develop RAPs and that DIA would facilitate this process.

DIA builds partnerships with Western Australian State Government agencies to identify realistic actions that will achieve lasting results for Indigenous Australians. DIA provides advice and guidance at all stages of the RAP development and encourages agencies to work with Indigenous staff and community groups throughout the RAP journey.

In 2009 DIA approached all Western Australian Local Government Authorities to develop RAPs in consultation with the local Indigenous and non Indigenous community.

DIA’s RAP

Reconciliation funding
Funding is made available to local community groups for Reconciliation projects that recognise the relationship between the original inhabitants of the State and the people who have made this country their home over the past 200 years through the DIA administered Reconciliation Funding Program.

The program is made available on an annual basis. Please register to DIA's newsletter, Tarwangin, to ensure you are advised of the next funding round.

Cultural awareness training
DIA conducts a number of cultural awareness training sessions throughout the year for its head office and regional staff.
The training course was extended to other government agencies and the corporate sector in regional areas and has consolidated the department’s good working relationships across government and with the private sector organisations.
The cultural awareness training has provided the opportunity for agencies to have a much clearer understanding of the impact of policies and programs on Indigenous people and to better understand and communicate with Indigenous stakeholders and clients.
During the training sessions a panel of Indigenous people provide local content and context and assist in the development of networks and the forging of future relationships.

Substantive equality
“If you want to treat me equally, you may have to be prepared to treat me differently.”

DIA understands that an important part of combating systemic racism is to find ways to recognise the consequences of actions, practices and policies that impact different groups and individuals unequally.

DIA has embraced the Public Sector Anti-Racism and Equality Program which assesses how policies, programs and practices affect Indigenous people. These are actioned by:

Monitoring the implementation of policies and programs and making sure these meet the diverse needs of the people of Western Australia;
Ensuring staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to address issues of systemic racism; and
Recognising and appraising organisational progress towards achieving substantive equality.

This program assists the public sector to break down these barriers and move from achieving formal equality to achieving substantive equality for all Western Australians.

DIA is ensuring that its programs and policies treat all people fairly.