Abstract
One of the major tasks of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) following its establishment in 2000 has been to establish statistical profiles of the world’s Indigenous peoples. As part of this broad task, it has recommended that the Millennium Development Goals and other global reporting frameworks should be assessed with a view to incorporating greater recognition of Indigenous concerns, interests, and interpretations of development and well-being. This article reviews the conceptual basis for this recommendation and compares the activities of the UNPFII towards the development of appropriate indicators with the practices of the Australian government in measuring disadvantage among Indigenous peoples in that country. Indigenous peoples’ own perceptions and understandings of well-being are seen to extend beyond and sometimes conflict with conventional reporting frameworks with the latter constructed more around processes of governmentality than Indigenous priorities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (2004). Social justice report 2004. Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (2005). Social justice report 2005. Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.
Altman, J. C. (2005). Development options on Aboriginal land: Sustainable indigenous hybrid economies in the twenty-first century. In L. Taylor, G. Ward, G. Henderson, R. Davis, & L. Wallis (Eds.), The power of knowledge, the resonance of tradition (pp. 34–48). Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Altman, J. C., Buchanan, G., & Biddle, N. (2006). The real “real” economy in remote Australia. In B. H. Hunter (Ed.), Assessing the evidence on indigenous socioeconomic outcomes: A focus on the 2002 NATSISS (pp. 139–153). Canberra: ANU E-Press. Available at <http://epress.anu.edu.au/>
Altman, J. C., & Rowse, T. (2005). Indigenous affairs. In P. Saunders & J. Walter (Eds.), Ideas and influence: Social science and public policy in Australia (pp. 159–177). Sydney: UNSW Press.
Anderson, T., & Poppel, B. (2002). Living conditions in the Arctic. Social Indicators Research, 58, 191–216.
Arabena, K. (2005). Torres Strait Islander issues. Paper presented at the Workshop on the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Report, Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney.
Begay, M., Cornell, S., & Kalt, J. (1998). Making research count in Indian country: The Harvard project on American Indian economic development. Boston: Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy and Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, J.F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Calma, T. (2005). Overcoming Indigenous disadvantage key indicators report 2005: A human rights perspective. Paper presented at the Workshop on the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Report, Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney.
Cornell, S. (1993). Accountability, legitimacy and the foundations of native self-governance. Boston: Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy and Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, J.F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Cutcliffe, T. (2005). Measuring success: Sharing power and accountability with Shepparton’s Aboriginal people. Melbourne: The Eureka Project.
Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). (2004). Tool kit: Best practices for including Indigenous peoples in sector programme support. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dodson, M. (2005). Indigenous governance. Paper presented at the Workshop on the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Report, Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney.
Dodson, M. (2006). Indigenous community governance project. Paper presented at The International Expert Group Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals, Indigenous Participation and Good Governance, UNPFII, New York.
Dodson, M., & Smith, D. E. (2003). Good governance for sustainable development: Strategic issues and principles for Indigenous Australian communities. CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 250. Canberra: ANU.
Dyack, B., & Greiner R. (2006). Natural resource management and Indigenous well-being. In J. P. White, S. Wingert, D. Beavon, & P. Maxim (Eds.), Aboriginal policy research: Moving forward making a difference (pp. 239–263). Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.
Greiner, R., Larson, S., Herr, A., & Bligh V. (2005). Well-being of Nywagi traditional owners: The contribution of country to well-being and the role of natural resource management. Townsville: Report for the Burdekin Dry Tropics Board, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.
Grieves, V. (2007). Indigenous well-being: A framework for governments’ Aboriginal cultural heritage activities. Sydney: NSW Department of Environment and Conservation.
Mantziaris, C., & Martin, D. (2000). Native title corporations: A legal and anthropological analysis. Sydney: Federation Press.
Martin, D. (1995). Money, business and culture: Issues for Aboriginal economic policy. CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 101. Canberra: ANU.
McNicoll, G. (1988). The international union for the scientific study of population and population policy research. Paper presented at the Expert Group Meeting on the International Transmission of Population Policy Experience, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, New York.
Morphy, F. (2004). When systems collide: The 2001 census at a northern territory outstation. In D. F. Martin, F. Morphy, W. G. Sanders, & J. Taylor (Eds.), Making sense of the census: Observations of the 2001 enumeration in remote Aboriginal Australia (pp. 29–77). Canberra: ANU E Press. Available at http://epress.anu.edu.au/caepr_22_citation.htm
Peterson, N. (1996). Cultural issues. In J. C. Altman & J. Taylor (Eds.), The 1994 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survey: Findings and future prospects (pp. 149–156). Canberra: CAEPR Research Monograph No. 11, ANU.
Peterson, N. (2005). What can pre-colonial and frontier economies tell us about engagement with the real economy? Indigenous life projects and the conditions of development. In D. Austin-Broos & G. Macdonald (Eds.), Culture, economy and governance in Aboriginal Australia (pp. 7–19). Sydney: Sydney University Press.
Riedmann, A. (1993). Science that colonizes: A critique of fertility studies in Africa. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Ringen, S. (1995). Well-being, measurement, and preferences. Acta Sociologica, 38, 3–15.
Schwab, R. G. (1995). The calculus of reciprocity: Principles and implications of Aboriginal sharing. CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 100. Canberra: ANU.
Sen, A. (1987). The standard of living, [Lectures I and II]. In G. Hawthorn (Ed.), The standard of living: The tanner lectures, Clare Hall, Cambridge, 1985. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, D. E. (2005). Researching Australian Indigenous governance: A methodological and conceptual framework. CAEPR Working Paper No. 29 (Canberra, ANU). Available at http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/working.php#wp29
Smith, L.T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. London and New York: Zed Books
Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (SCRGSP) (2005a). Overcoming Indigenous disadvantage: Key indicators 2005. Canberra: Productivity Commission.
Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (SCRGSP) (2005b). Report on government services 2005 Indigenous compendium. Canberra: Productivity Commission.
Taylor, J. (2004). Social indicators for Aboriginal governance: Insights from the Thamarrurr region, northern territory. Canberra: ANU E Press. Available at http://epress.anu.edu.au/
Taylor, J., & Scambary, B. (2005). Indigenous people and the Pilbara mining boom: A baseline for regional participation. Canberra: ANU E Press. Available at http://epress.anu.edu.au/
Taylor, J., & Stanley, O. (2005). The opportunity costs of the status quo in the Thamarrurr region. CAEPR Working Paper No. 28. Canberra: ANU. Available at http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/working.php#wp28
United Nations (UN) (2004). Report of the workshop on data collection and disaggregation for Indigenous peoples. New York: United Nations Economic and Social Council, E/C.19/2004/2, para 23.
United Nations (UN) (2006). Report of the meeting on Indigenous peoples and indicators of well-being. New York: United Nations Economic and Social Council, E/C.19/2006/CRP.3.
Usher, P. J., Duhaime, G., & Searles, E. (2003). The household as an economic unit in Arctic Aboriginal communities and its measurement by means of a comprehensive survey. Social Indicators Research, 61, 175–202.
Wereta, W., & Bishop, D. (2006). Towards a Maori statistics framework. In J. P. White, S. Wingert, D. Beavon, & P. Maxim (Eds.), Aboriginal policy research: Moving forward making a difference (pp. 263–281). Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.
Wet Tropics Aboriginal Plan Project Team. (2005). Caring for country and culture: The wet tropics Aboriginal cultural and natural resource management plan. Cairns: Rainforest CRC and FNQ NRM Ltd.
Young, O., & Einarsson, N. (2004). Introduction. In: N. Einarsson et al. (Eds.), Arctic human development report (pp. 1–15). Akureyri: Stefansson Arctic Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Taylor, J. Indigenous Peoples and Indicators of Well-being: Australian Perspectives on United Nations Global Frameworks. Soc Indic Res 87, 111–126 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9161-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9161-z