Building better economic outcomes for Indigenous Australians

Professor Peter Yu, ANU Vice-President for First Nations, is calling for greater economic sovereignty for Indigenous Australians. Photo: ANU - Experts from The Australian National University (ANU) have raised alarm bells about the "economic apartheid" facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and are calling for an urgent, nation-wide strategic approach to ensure their economic self-determination. This is the key theme of a landmark series of events to be held this week and led by the ANU First Nations Portfolio (FNP). A first for Australia, the forum and symposium will chart the path to First Nations Australians' economic development, wealth creation and a self-determined economy. Professor Peter Yu AM, Vice-President First Nations at ANU, said Australia remains the only Commonwealth country to have never signed a treaty with its Indigenous people. "Self-determination is a fundamental right of all peoples, recognised by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to which Australia is a party," he said. "Without the development of an economic self-determination framework, Indigenous Australians will continue to be second-class citizens in their own country." According to Professor Yu, the lack of progress by Australian governments in addressing significant socio-economic inequality is running at an all-time high.