Community
21 June, 2023
Indigenous cash fill-up
INDIGENOUS councils, including Yarrabah, are to benefit from a Palaszczuk government one-off injection of $25.8 million in 2023-24.
Treaty and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Leeanne Enoch said the $25.8m was in addition to the more than $44m per annum in current Indigenous councils’ funding arrangements.
She said the 16 Indigenous councils didn’t have a rate-base, so the funding was heavily relied on to help deliver core services to their communities.
“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,” Ms Enoch said.
“They often deliver a wide range of service even in areas including child and aged care, banking and postal, and telecommunications and internet services,” she said.
