Report calls for empowerment of Indigenous communities

10 April 2015

A new report released recently has highlighted the social and economic change that has taken place in Indigenous  communities. The Empowered Communities: Empowered Peoples report stresses the need for a fundamental shift away from the traditional social policy framework in which Indigenous affairs has been conducted, to a comprehensive Indigenous Empowerment agenda. The report calls for Indigenous people to be able to empower themselves by taking all appropriate and necessary powers and responsibilities for their own lives and futures.

There are more than 40 Indigenous owned and operated co-operatives in Australia, all operating in the social enterprise space. Many are involved in the arts and cultural industries but also in other sectors including health where they provide services in regional areas.