World Vision CEO Tim Costello will be joining Guardian Australia for a live question and answer session today, from 11am, on Indigenous Australia and World Vision’s Australia Program.
Tim is one of Australia’s most recognisable voices on welfare, foreign aid and social justice, so post your questions on those topics too, in the comment thread below.
Tim says:
I’m inviting you to join me in a conversation about walking alongside Indigenous Australians as they work towards change in their communities.
World Vision’s Australia Program supports families, communities and organisations to build on their strengths to help tackle Indigenous disadvantage and enable empowered, thriving communities to grow strong, healthy and happy children.
We work through strong partnerships, community voices and local solutions for local needs. Change must be led by Indigenous people.
World Vision works alongside multiple Aboriginal language groups and nations in more than 28 Indigenous communities across Australia.
If education is the key to addressing Indigenous disadvantage but kids in remote areas aren’t attending school, what can be done to change this? Are truancy officers the solution? Should there be punitive measures for parents (like income management), or is the quality of teaching/resourcing of the schools the problem? To what extent should the parents be held responsible for ensuring their children attend school every day?
Tim says:
On the question of education access & attandance - school readiness is also a focus of our work. We are supporting Indigenous people in the Pilbara ad Central Australia to gain early childhood & education qualifications, so community members are the ones teaching the kids in their own communities.
Doesn't World Vision have an underlying proselytising motive? From my limited experience, strong Aboriginal culture helps to keep communities healthy and prosperous. Undermining that by spruiking Christianity would seem to be disadvantageous and not building on communities' strengths.
Tim says:
I agree that connecting to culture is of central importance. We support those cultural connections as we work alongside communities - eg cultural camps and cultural road trips as part of the Young Mob Leaders Program, and supporting communities to teach pre-school-aged children in their own language, as well as English. Bush trips and connecting to country are also part of early childhood programs
Hi Tim,
You say change must be led by Indigenous people. How many Indigenous employees does World Vision have working on projects for Indigenous communities?
Tim says:
Over 20% of our Australia Program staff are Indigenous and we work with Indigenous communities, not for them.
G'day Tim, World Vision currently has a significant number of partners in Australia that have a national footprint. Such as Jetstar, PWC, ANZ, Arowana & Co, Macquarie Group to name a few. Is it possible to have a discussion to direct Australian raised monies over a 12-24 month period toward evidence based successful Indigenous suicide prevention programs in Australia. Cheers, Db.
Tim says:
Jetstar already partners with us on our Australia programs. We are also currently fundraising specifically (and clearly) for our work alongside Indigenous communities.
How do you justify a accepting a salary of around $500k per year as a Baptist Pastor. It seems a contradiction for heading a Christian charity. I can't imagine Jesus demanding a salary that is commensurate with the Australian Prime Minister.
Tim says:
Our Board sets the salary. The total package is around $300,000. Below industry standards. We transparently report this every year - winning PwC Transparency award for 2 years running
We recently saw the Fed govt retreat from a 50-year policy to directly fund Indigenous programs and service provision, abdicating responsibility to states.
I am worried that state governments don't have the capacity, institutional knowledge, to do this as they haven't done it before. Also worried about efficiency: given that these programs are fairly specialized, doesn't it make sense for feds to do it due to returns to scale?
Many other countries, including Canada, believe that Indigenous affairs are a national responsibility, are of national importance, and the entire country ought to have a voice in ensuring that these communities are taken care of.
Is this a socially just decision on the government's part? What about those governments like SA who lost out, is it just for Indigenous communities there to suffer as a result?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-24/federal-government-to-provide-24100m-for-services-in-indigenou/5764974
Tim says:
Indigenous programs - just like health & education - suffer from a Fed/State split. The reality of our Federal model does produce clunky outcomes, without seamless policy coherehnce. So World Vision works with both the Fed & State/Territory jurisdictions for solutions that work for Indigenous Australians.
HI Tim,
I work in the international health/development sector, and from what I have seen, both government and non-government organisations working with Indigenous communities in Australia seem to lag far behind in implementing what are standard practices in international development contexts - I'm talking about everything from requiring strong community participation in the program design stage, to requiring local capacity building elements in every program, and requiring extensive culture and language learning for all external staff. How do you see this issue and what might be the reasons for this apparent exceptionalism?
Tim says:
I agree. World Vision’s engagement in the Indigenous arena is intentionally not as a service deliverer, but reflects the best practice of development that we have seen internationally, which can be summarised as: long term, locally-driven by Indigenous people, integrated across employment, health, education, and accompanied by investment in capability-building
How would you best initiate changes at a community level with regards to pro-active healthcare?
Tim says:
We support parents & pre-schoolers ie in the early years, to get this right. We support leaders within the community, particularly women, who can model best healthcare practice, & take responsibility in their community. The ripple effects from their example are remarkable
Hi Tim. First, thanks for all you do for those less advantaged. The example you set, on how to walk with compassion and purpose is personally inspiring.
I'd like to ask, do you think that remote indigenous communities will ever achieve economic equality with the major cities of Australia. If so, what will be the key to seeing this change, and if not, what, in your opinion, would be the major blockage.
Tim says:
The aim of what we do is to let Indigenous communities make their own choices & hopefully have sufficient bi-cultural fluency to function in two worlds eg Martu Leadership program, and supporting Indigenous women through early childhood training & certification. Remote communities (Indigenous or otherwise) will always face challenges around economic independence in comparison to the cities & larger towns
"Change must be led by Indigenous people."
But indigenous people are so rarely given the opportunity to do so......
How will World Vision ensure that this actually happens?
Tim says:
Our guiding principle is to never displace Indigenous leaders & organisations, but to work alongside them in a relationship of respect & trust. Relationships with Indigenous people are key in all that we do.
The impact of money being stripped from Aboriginal Legal Aid is already being felt throughout many communities, with one of the hardest hit being mothers who themselves are being sent to gaol in record rates. With the mother often being the care giver, this is essentially ripping more families apart. Not to mention the stigma their children will then carry through school and life, having had an imprisoned parent. Aboriginal women wield the least power in this country, as evidenced by their children being taken from them in record numbers. What are your thoughts on Aboriginal Women self-determining their and their own childrens futures without governmental interference?
Tim says:
We abhor the situation that sees money taken away from services like these. We support Indigenous women to realise the future they want for their families and communities. This is a fundamental driver of World Vision’s approach to working in Australia and overseas. There are many strong Indigenous organisations working alongside communities, and we partner with them to bring our skills together
Where are the biggest problems and will the government's proposed policies deliver improvements.
The biggest problem is our history. unlike New Zealand, we never established a treaty & acknowledged prior existence & ownership of lands. Although we’re attempting to address this, the legacy - in communicating that Indigenous culture has little to teach us, or for us to admire - has continuing effects. The swings in our history - from hostility to assimilation to self-determination aka benign neglect, where we walked away - continue to trip us up. Practically, it is now trying to close the gap against a history & legacy that has been perverse.
Why is a strength-based approach to the Indigenous Australian story so important?
Tim says:
We work to activate local solutions to meet local needs. The evidence shows that programs being designed and run by Indigenous people are the most successful. Indigenous people have told us this and continue to tell Australian governments this.
Hi Tim,
I have two questions for you:
1. As the Abbott government’s changes to the aid program align it with Australia’s national and commercial interests and away from poverty alleviation, do you think Non Government Organisations have a role to play in the next election in letting the Abbott government know that poverty alleviation should be the main criteria again?
2. Do you think aid NGOs may jeopardise their funding if they speak out against government policy, for example being critical of the current requirement that aid programs must meet Australia’s national interest?
Tim says:
I’m just back from New York. Met with the UN Dep Sec General about Syria. I was shocked to discover the World Food Program has been suspended for a month because it’s run out of money, essentially. Syrian refugee crisis is biggest humanitarian challenge in the world, and Australia’s contribution is underweight. To cut aid now is unimaginable. I spoke at a concert in Central Park with Ban Ki Moon & President Modi of India and I made the point that it is always preferable to ‘bomb’ with development, than bomb to kill civilians. We mustn’t pinch from aid - that will cost lives - to fund our war on terror
Hi Tim
Can you tell me what view World Vision has on Constitutional recognition for Indigenous people? Thanks
Tim says:
I’m a long-term passionate supporter of reconciliation. World Vision is right behind the Recognise campaign (Reconciliation Australia). Again it’s Indigenous voices which must be heard on this. Right now there’s a great opening for all Australians to think about what this means - when else can every Australian of voting age get a chance to make a real difference. I encourage everyone to get on the Recognise campaign website - sign up & join this wave of chage
Hey Tim, I was wondering what your views are on bi-lingual education in Indigenous communities?
I realise there are many challenges involved in this (such as standardised testing, teaching resources and staff, and the impact this has on equipping children to live in mainstream Australia) but I think there are also a host of benefits - not to mention a huge ethical question of respecting a community/cultural right to learning in their own language.
Tim says:
We have supported communities to produce early years education materials in their own language. Maternal & newborn health resources also in local languages. Language is at the heart of any culture.
Two questions: 1. Instead of large NGOs like yours competing against Indigenous organsiations for increasingly limited funding, wouldn't a better option be to not take Indigenous specific funding and provide Indigenous owned and operated services with additional training and logistical support to ensure that they can grow and maintain their own services and programs in their own communities on their own terms?
2. Considering the large amounts of Indigenous funding secured by World Vision, how do you justify that you have only ever tweeted anything at all to do with your Indigenous programs twice from your personal account; once on November 2012, and before that on June 2011, and you have never tweeted those words without reference to your own programs. Not on Sorry Day, not during NAIDOC Week, not during any time or issue affecting Indigenous Australians. Is this reflective of the extent of your commitment to Indigenous issues? (NB: Aboriginal & Indigenous both have capital letters)
Tim says:
Everything we do is geared towards building independence & capability, & we partner with people, families, communities & Indigenous organisations. It’s important that NGOs & Govt play an enabling role, & not crowd out by being the ‘do-er’.
Hi Tim,
I work with Awabakal Ltd, an Aboriginal organization which represents a diverse urban community of over thirty thousand people living across Newcastle, Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter Valley. So often policy has been informed by a remote focus, while urban Aboriginal communities struggle with issues which are distinct from those which exist in remote communities.
Why do you think a one-size-fits-all approach has been so commonly applied by government? To me this approach neglects to question the reasons behind some of the challenges facing Aboriginal Australians, an approach most recently reflected in the Forrest Review.
Tim says:
There seems to be a shift - which we support - to local & regional solutions, based on local priorities. Enabling & supporting, rather than ‘doing’ is the way forward for governments & others. We have programs with remote and urban communities, and these are driven by local priorities, so there are plenty of differences even between these emote communities in the same region. We dont support a one-size-fits-all approach.
How is World Vision supporting the LGBQTI Communtiy ? Particulary in Australia. Another high risk group of suicide.
Tim says:
In our Indigenous work, we support youth to re-connect to culture eg the Young Mob program in Sydney. That’s about promoting leadership, resilince and young people finding their voice. The LGBQTI community is not a separate focus point for our work.
Do you believe there should be more affirmative action within Australian employment, as statistics indicate employers are still more likely to hire a white candidate over an Aboriginal candidate with the same qualifications?
Tim says:
World Vision has a Reconciliation Action Plan, which includes an Indigenous employment strategy (organisation-wide). We also support community members to complete training that they have identified as being of benefit to themselves & their community eg early childhood workers and rangers. Efforts to improve employment must be part of an integrated approach, starting from the early years. I’m not sure there are silver bullets here, but business, government and others all need to improve efforts in this area.
Thanks for your questions - sorry if I didnt get to all of them.
Let's keep this conversation going - at a national level and within communities, but most importantly let's listen to Indigenous people (whether we are govts, NGOs, business or individuals)
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