Bob Debus (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In my speech in the House I had been saying in respect of the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs concerning remote area stores that poor nutrition, particularly low fruit and vegetable intake, was a very important determinant of the health gap as it concerns Aboriginal people. In most remote communities the store is the principal source of fresh fruit and vegetables, and therefore our committee made a number of recommendations aimed to promote the consumption and improve the supply and affordability of nutritious, fresh food in remote Indigenous communities, including collaborating with every remote Indigenous community to develop and manage a healthy store policy; and establishing a national remote Indigenous food supply chain coordination office. This office would support communities or groupings of communities to develop supply models appropriate to them that deliver healthy perishables regularly—weekly where possible. This may well be our most important recommendation.

Other recommendations include establishing a remote community store infrastructure fund to assist in the investment of delivery, refrigeration and storage of fresh and healthy produce; and supporting community garden, traditional food and farming projects. We have recommended these improvements with confidence because we have seen that some stores and some communities are doing especially well at the present time.

The financial capacity of Indigenous people living in remote communities is limited. This, combined with the fact that most goods and services in remote Australia are at least 20 per cent more expensive than in the city, poses an even greater strain on the access that may be had to healthy and affordable food. The committee found that there is no comprehensive data available on the cost of living for Indigenous Australians living in remote communities. Therefore, the committee recommended the commissioning of a regional cost-of-living study for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote communities.

By far the majority of stores are owned by Indigenous community members in the communities in which they are located. The committee was impressed by evidence from remote communities that both own and manage their community store. Many remote communities take the option of appointing a non-Indigenous manager individually or through a store management consultancy group. Outback Stores is one such group, which is invited into communities to manage stores on a fee-for-service basis. Outback Stores is a non-government enterprise established by the Australian government in 2006. It presently manages 27 community owned stores, and the committee found that the Outback Stores model offers a successful store management option for communities. However, there is a significant difference between the business task that Outback Stores was established to fulfil and the need for food security which it is, at present, meeting. The committee has recommended that the Australian government should revise the purpose of the Outback Stores’ novel and recognise two distinct roles: one as a commercially viable store operator but also, where it is deemed appropriate, as a supplier of healthy food in communities where there is no viable store, or where access to healthy food is limited.

As each community varies so much, so do the particular needs and the context in which the community store operates. The committee recognises this diversity and recommended that the government work with individual communities to develop and support a diversity of store operations and delivery models that recognise the unique needs and situations in remote Indigenous communities. Responsibility for making decisions such as who will manage the store, or what type of health policies will apply within the store are, first of all, with the Aboriginal corporation or governance body which manages the business of the community and the land on which the store is built.

The responsibilities taken on in the directorship of the store by these Aboriginal corporations and the store committees they may form to run the store can be very significant. It is extremely important that these bodies function within an appropriate governance and regulatory framework. The committee has recommended that all Aboriginal owned and controlled stores should, in future, register under the Corporations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2006—that is, the CATSI Act—which is administered by the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations.

At present, arrangements for this purpose are fragmented, with Aboriginal store bodies formed under a range of state, territory and Commonwealth jurisdictions. This not only creates confusion about legal obligations for the owners of the store but it also creates opportunities for unscrupulous money management. The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations offers a range of services that include store board education programs and auditing support, and it has powers to put a store experiencing difficulties into temporary administration. The committee also recommended that in the event that COAG agrees to a national licensing regime for all remote community stores—I understand that to be likely—the Australian government should take a number of factors into account, including concerns raised about the licensing process, governance structures, healthy store policies and eligibility.

This inquiry into remote community stores has been beneficial in highlighting the pivotal role the community store has in remote Indigenous communities. The store is often the only source of sustenance for many remote communities, and it is also the social and economic engine of the community. As the title of this report suggests, it is, indeed, everybody’s business how well a store operates, because it does play such a critical role in the economy, health and wellbeing of the whole community.

I take this opportunity to thank the previous chair of the committee, Richard Marles MP, for his contribution to the inquiry. I also thank the deputy chair, Andrew Laming MP, and all the members of the committee for the work they have done during the course of the inquiry. I should particularly mention two members present here, Mr Turnour and Ms Rea, for their quite special diligence in the prosecution of the inquiry that this committee has undertaken. I also express my gratitude to our especially competent secretariat staff: inquiry secretaries Susan Cardell and Rebecca Gordon; senior research officer, Loes Slattery; administrator, Claire Young, and secretary, Anna Dacre. All of these people have made a most important contribution to a report which has already generated a good deal of interest amongst remote Aboriginal communities and those who seek to support them. We have had steady stream of telephone calls and emails coming in from remote parts of Australia seeking more information, offering opinions and generally expressing gratitude that our committee has been able to make these unanimous recommendations to what we hope will be the long-term benefit of the communities that we have been examining. I thank this committee for allowing me to bring forward the report.

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