- The Palaszczuk Government will provide an additional one off injection of $25.8 million for Indigenous councils in 2023-24.
- The State Budget will include a total funding pool of $69.85 million for Indigenous Council Funding Program
Helping Indigenous councils deliver services in their communities is a key focus of the State Budget.
The Palaszczuk Government is investing an additional $25.8 million to the more than $44 million per annum in current Indigenous councils' funding arrangements.
The funding will be used to deliver essential services in communities including maintaining water and road infrastructure.
Queensland's 16 Indigenous councils don't have a rate-base, so the funding is heavily relied on to help deliver core services to their communities.
The investment follows a commitment at the last election to review the funding arrangements for Indigenous Councils including the State Government Financial Aid and the Revenue Replacement Program and Indigenous Economic Development Grant.
All three programs will be combined into one and funding will be provided to councils under a new, more up to date, methodology. No Indigenous council will be worse off.
The former methodologies were outdated and give rise to likely inequities between Indigenous local governments, they also have not kept pace with population changes.
Using the latest data, funding allocations will be better placed to improve sustainability across the 16 Indigenous councils.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Treaty and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Leeanne Enoch:
"Indigenous councils face enormous challenges including managing small, dispersed and remote populations, the difficulty of attracting and retaining experienced personnel, and functioning with a limited ability to raise own source revenue.
"They often deliver a wide range of service even in areas including child and aged care, banking and postal, and telecommunications and internet services.
"Without grants to assist them, many of Queensland's Indigenous councils would not be able to deliver core services for their communities.
"The State Budget is adding $25.8 million to ensure Indigenous councils can continue to deliver for their communities.
"There's no doubt the total of $69.85 million from the 2023-24 State Budget for the Indigenous Council Funding Program will help the councils deliver positive outcomes for their communities
"We're also making sure the funding is distributed with greater equity for Indigenous councils to better meet today's challenges."
