Impact of the Governments Plan for a New Tax System on Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities Report Prepared by ATSIC January 1999 The Allen Consulting Group
Tabled paper 965
Tabled Papers for 8th Assembly 1997 - 2001; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
1999-02-16
Tabled by Sydney Stirling
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
English
Tabled papers
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https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C1968A00063
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/295731
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/394614
I m p a c t o f a N e w T a x S y s t e m o n R u r a l a n d R e m o t e I n d i g e n o u s C o m m u n i t i e s The reality is that there is no Indigenous identifier within the HES and, as a result, expenditure data on those Indigenous households included in the survey cannot be extracted. As indicated by Smith (1991) in a study for the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research: There are currently no quantitative data, comparable to the HES, which enable a cross-sectional analysis of Aboriginal household expenditure levels and patterns, or a comparison with the non-Aboriginal Australian population. Accurate indicators o f poverty and the standard of living actually achieved by the Aboriginal population require direct measurement of their expenditure capacity and patterns. In order to provide more solid evidence on actual expenditure patterns, ATSIC commissioned a sample survey of urban, rural and remote Indigenous households. The data contain a sample of households within three distinct areas (rural, remote and urban) in two states. The similarity of results for the three regions, and consistency with anecdotal evidence from other sources, suggest that the sample provides a fair indication of spending patterns. A description of the survey, the questionnaires used and the responses received are set out in Appendix 1. The eight tables set out below show patterns of expenditure for households o f increasing sizes in urban, rural and remote Indigenous communities, as well as an average for all households. Average expenditure on various items across each of these communities was very similar. This held true whether the household was classified as urban (eg, Katherine), or rural (eg, Wugularr), and so inferences can be drawn from these average results and applied across households from each locality. Table 1 Expenditure Patterns by Household Size N o. in H o u s e h o ld : E x p e n s e s (a s % o f In c o m e ) Food: 35% Clothing & Footwear: 6% Household Items: 2% 2 Housing (Rent): 19% Fuel & Power: 12% Transport: 8% Recreation: 3% Alcohol & Tobacco: 11% Other: 7% Savings: -2 % T in ; Aik:n C o n s u l t i n g < ir< n ip 5