Coinciding with the G20 Summit and the 10th Eidos National Public Policy Congress, Ninti One is hosted an informative, dynamic event to share its recent research projects and early findings. Guests joined for an invigorating and thought-provoking forum about policy issues confronting remote Australia. The event was held as part of Eidos’ tenth anniversary celebrations at the Powerhouse, Brisbane on Friday, 7 November 2014.

1. Remote Wisdom
Innovation for remote Australia
and its relevance to policy
Friday, 7 November 2014

2. Ninti One is a not-for-profit company that builds opportunities for people in remote Australia through research, innovation and community development.
Ninti One also manages the CRC for
Remote Economic Participation and
external consultancy projects.
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Introducing Ninti One

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4. Precision Pastoral Management Tools Project

5. Northern Beef Industry Analysis
•In the last decade (1998-2008)
•Costs have escalated
•Debt levels have doubled
•Returns on Assets have been only 0.3 - 2%
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•In 2013, no further improvement
•Poor business performance due to poor herd productivity

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Research Questions
•What new technologies can assist the beef industry?
•Can we add technologies to the RLMS to benefit producers?
•Can we build an integrated decision-making tool?
•How much benefit is there for beef producers in using this tool?

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Benefits for beef producers
•Better matching of stocking rates to available pasture
•Improved liveweight gain and calving rates
•Improved land condition
•Increased ability to make strategic decisions
•Improved profitability

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How are we doing it?
1.Stakeholder consultations
2.Feasibility/Scoping Study
3.Prototype development
4.Business Plan
5.Focus Groups
6.Research & Demonstration Sites
7.Commercialisation

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Progress to date
•Stakeholder discussions
•Literature review of 62 technology products
•35 shortlisted & 4 selected
•Human & Animal ethics approval

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12. Progress to date
•Advisory committee appointed
•PPMS Prototype developed
•Business plan undertaken
•Student project
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Progress to date
•Developed our PPMS prototype

14. Progress to date
•Expressions of Interest (n=25)
•First three sites selected
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15. Current Research Sites
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16. Research Methodology
•Quantitative and qualitative methodology
•Validation of technology products
•Business analysis and economic evaluation
•On-going feedback and development of PPMS
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17. How are the research sites going?
•“Tarrina”, Qld, drought & destocking
•Newcastle Waters Station, NT, well above average wet season
•Glenflorrie Station, WA, average to above-average summer
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For further information, please contact: Sally Leigo Email – sally.leigo@nt.gov.au Phone – 08 8951 8144
Questions?

19. Remote Education Systems Project

20. Remote education: A ‘problem’ in search of solutions
•Numerous reviews and policy responses but little to show for the effort and investment.
•Responses so far have focused on:
•English language, literacy and numeracy
•Compliance measures
•Attendance strategies
•Residential boarding schools
•More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers
•Teacher retention, recruitment, incentives
•Programmatic approaches to pedagogy (e.g. DI, AL)
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21. No significant change over 6 years
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-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Attendance rates, very remote schools
-
100.00
200.00
300.00
400.00
500.00
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Year 5 numeracy results, very remote schools
-
50.00
100.00
150.00
200.00
250.00
300.00
350.00
400.00
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Year 3 reading results, very remote schools
Very remote schools with…
Up to 80% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
>80% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

22. RES project aim
To find out how remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities can get the best benefit from the teaching and learning happening in and out of schools.
Research questions
•What is education for and what can/should it achieve?
•What defines ‘success’ from the remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander standpoint?
•How does teaching need to change to achieve ‘success’?
•What would an effective education system in remote Australia look like?
Important focus
•Amplifying the voices of remote community stakeholders
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23. RES Project data sources
•Derived from analysis of publicly available datasets (my school and Census)
•Community surveys in 10 remote communities
•Observations from site visits in 3 jurisdictions (WA, SA, NT)
•Engagement of over 190 remote education stakeholders in formal qualitative research processes (20 Thinking Outside The Tank sessions)
•Dare to Lead Snapshots in 31 Very Remote schools
•Reading of the relevant research literature
•6 Post-graduate research projects in progress (topics include technology, curriculum, health-wellbeing-interplay, year 12 completions, boarding schools)
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24. 3 years in, here are some key learnings from RES
•Success isn’t necessarily what we think it is.
•Nor is the concept of ‘aspiration’.
•Local people often see these things differently from non-locals.
•Context complexity demands more than simplistic responses.
•Responses need to consider an advantageous education, rather than focusing on ‘disadvantage’.
•Communities are strong influencers of educational outcomes.
•Pathways through school to economic participation are unclear.
•While early years learning matters, learning for teenagers and parents also matters.
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An intentional strategy
•Education Departments, Independent and Catholic systems
•More than 900 stakeholders engaged
•Thinking Outside the Tank sessions: more than 190 engaged
•Community involvement and collaboration
•Academic writing (see http://crc-rep.com/remote-education- systems/project-outputs)
•Dissemination (e.g. Garma)
Think differently
Talk differently
Respond differently

26. What do the findings suggest?
•Working with communities is essential.
•Strengthen local school governance.
•Investment in community development to complement investment in schools.
•Recognise ‘success’ through alternative measures.
•Recognise the different ‘qualities’ of teachers needed for remotes.
•Build contextually relevant ‘red dirt curriculum’ which connects to ‘red dirt economies’.
•Offer a mix of local delivery and boarding options.
•Create knowledge exchange partnerships.
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27. Towards impact
•Connecting with current policy agendas (e.g. attendance, boarding, community engagement, ‘teasing’)
•Filling evidence base gaps with a view to future trends (e.g. ‘Red Dirt Curriculum’, boarding schools)
•Engagement with university partners on quality teacher preparation for remote contexts
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For further information, please contact: John Guenther Email – john.guenther@nintione.com.au Phone – (08) 8959-6049
Questions?

29. Population Mobility & Labour Markets Project

30. Why worry?
•In Wadjela world view: Geography and mobility critical to economic outcomes:
•Economic participation
•Labour supply & employment outcomes
•Income
•Consumption
•Access to services
•Education
•Health
•etc.
•Economics of delivering services and providing infrastructure
•Functions of Statehood
•Governing/policing
•Counting and measuring
•Taxing
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31. Policy can never be passive
•Government decisions inevitably shape where people are and when:
•Infrastructure provision
•Zoning, planning, land release, etc
•Models of service delivery and housing provision
•Temporal dimensions – working week, school holidays, public holidays
•Implications for remote vs. non-remote Australia
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32. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander livelihoods in remote Australia
Health
Employment
Family & kin connections
Education
Wellbeing
Culture
Income
Country

33. Socio-economic outcomes
•Remote vs. non-remote
•Generally lower outcomes in remote vs. non-remote Australia
•Issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
•Life expectancy 20 years lower - Infant mortality rate 2 to 3 times higher
•Suicide twice as prevalent
•Rate of incarceration 13 times higher - 23 times higher for juveniles
•Half as likely to complete high school
•etc …
•Only some of this disadvantage can be attributed to remoteness
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34. Underlying assumption of culture as a barrier
•Empirical evidence actually shows positive associations with cultural engagement and identity:
•Self-assessed health
•Completion of Year 12
•Probability of being employed
•Less likely to be arrested
•Lower alcohol abuse
•Mental health/subjective wellbeing
•Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture should be seen as part of the solution to disadvantage, not part of the problem.
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35. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mobility
•From first engagement, mobility patterns have been seen as ‘problematic’:
•Initially seen as random and unproductive
•The many policies to ‘civilise’ and ‘assimilate’ had the deliberate aim of sedentarisation
•To this day, mobility seen as inconsistent with mainstream models of service delivery and attempts to ‘Close the Gap’.
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36. Limited contemporary evidence
•“…policy makers who contemplate the effects of temporary mobility on the spatial pattern of demand for services do so in an information vacuum.” (Taylor: 2006)
•Virtually all ‘representative’ studies based on Census data
•Known to undercount Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (eg. Alice Springs Town camps)
•Use of culturally inappropriate constructs
•Case study evidence – limited and dated
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37. The CRC-REP’s ‘Mobility Project’
•Methodology: surveys in 25 Remote communities in Central Australia, to provide:
•A better understanding of the factors driving temporary mobility
•Empirical estimates of the extent and patterns of temporary mobility
•Development of a computer-based model with capacity for prediction and scenario planning
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38. Key lessons from the literature
•The traditional drivers of kinship, culture and country have proven to be extremely resilient
•“Attachment to place and community prevail, irrespective of a history of changing government policies. There appears no reason to expect that these attachments will change in the foreseeable future.” (Memmott et al. 2006)
•“Even after 200 years of colonisation … involving radical dispossession of Aboriginal groups and … severe curtailment of their freedom to move around their country, nearly 70% … recognised a homeland or traditional country” (Morhpy 2010)
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39. Engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
•Like culture, mobility will not be seen as a ‘problem’
•Seeing like a State (James C. Scott 1998)
•Need for culturally appropriate constructs
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41. Some preliminary findings:
400 surveys completed across 25 communities
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0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Food &
grocery
shopping
Other
shopping
Banking Health Centrelink Car
service/parts
Average trips per year
Trips away from the community to access
services
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42. Trips involving an overnight stay
- average of 15 per year
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0 5 10 15 20 25
For work
Cultural activities
See a doctor/other health svcs
Holidays
Football
Visit family and friends
Shopping
Percent of overnight trips
Main reason for going
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43. Issues of Vehicle Access Only 42% of respondents had a current driver’s licence
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051015202530354045YesMost of thetimeSometimesNot very oftenOnly in anemergencyNo Percent Can you access a vehicle when you need to?

44. Issues of Vehicle Access Major labour market implications
Proportion in employment
With driver’s licence
62%
Without driver’s licence
22%
High vehicle access (always/most of the time)
50%
Low vehicle access
27%
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45. Mobility Project Outcomes
•Improved planning and decision making by:
•Remote communities
•Service providers/delivery
•Policy makers
•Employers and jobseekers
•Information reported back to communities for use in own planning and representations
•Work with end users to improve models of service delivery in remote Australia
•Forecasting and scenario modelling capacity for policy and planning
•Map labour stocks and flows for remote employers
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Questions?
For further information, please contact: Mike Dockery Email – mike.dockery@nintione.com.au Phone – (08) 9266-3468

47. Enduring Community Value from Mining Project

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Why is research needed?
To understand the deeper push-and-pull affects of demographic and economic change in remote communities. To design responsive and responsible public policy. To gain a deeper understanding of the impacts of mining.

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Project Research Questions What constitutes enduring community value from mining? What are the enduring benefits and costs during and beyond a mine’s life and for who? What strategies can assist communities manage risk and resilience?

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Research locations and methodologies
•Collaborations with mining companies in the Pilbara (WA) and Northern Territory and northern South Australia.
•Measuring the impacts of long-distance commuting on communities including:
•The local economy & economic diaspora
•The commuting worker
•The family in the source community
•Community services
•Health and education services
•Gaps in service provision for long-distance commuting workers and their families

51. •Long-distance commuting could be better managed and understood. There are also benefits.
•Fundamental corporate reassessment about corporate social responsibility is required.
•Life cycle planning must be responsive.
•Government has a vital role.
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Research results have found

52. Value for mining for Aboriginal people is much harder to achieve and maintain.
•Push and pull factors
•Enduring cultural considerations
•Transience of business
•Legal frameworks do not always work in Aboriginal communities favour.
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Research results have found

53. Policy implications
•Research results are informing government and community policies and strategic plans:
•A pilot study conducted by the Western Australian Department of Justice to more accurately track domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and incidence of crime by employees who identify as long distance commuters in the resources and allied industries.
•Community strategies to embrace FIFO workers and their families.
•Changes to the way some large mining companies:
•conduct their employee induction
•engage with employee families
•engage with local communities and enhance services
•Organise employee rosters
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For further information, please contact: Fiona Haslam McKenzie Email – fiona.mckenzie@nintione.com.au
Questions?

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