– Introduction
– What does “Wunan” mean?
– The Wunan/East Kimberley region
– Indigenous disadvantage in the East Kimberley
– Addressing the challenge
– Looking forward – the plan ahead
– Relevant publications and other suggested reading

Whilst the region is rich in natural resources and contains some of the world’s most spectacular scenery and wildlife, the local Aboriginal people of the East Kimberley are by an large significantly disadvantaged and suffer very poor levels of health, social and economic wellbeing.

The following table highlights some of the startling facts about the degree of disadvantage that Indigenous people in this region suffer compared to non-Indigenous people:

	Indigenous	Non-Indigenous
Life expectancy	47 years	78 years
% of people aged 15+ who have completed secondary school to Year 12	7.2%	39.2%
% with an under-graduate degree	0.6%	10%
Number with a post-graduate degree	0	118
% of people aged 15+ unemployed or on CDEP*	72.8%	4.3%
Average number of dependents per income earner in mainstream employment	9.1	0.5
Median weekly individual income for people aged 15+	A$160-199	A$500-599
% who use a computer at home	2.1%	31%
% who have used the Internet	3.6%	33.5%
% of households owned or mortgaged	2.4%	18.5%
Arrest rates per 1,000 population	364.0	24.4

Source: 2001 Census, UWA Department of Criminology and Taylor (2003)

Whilst there is a complexity of underlying causes for these issues, physical
environmental factors, such as lack of housing and community infrastructure (eg. waste disposal, adequate water and power supply, road access) significantly impact the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people in the East Kimberley. Poverty, poor nutrition and poor environmental conditions contribute to slower progress in education and employment outcomes.

A significant area of health concern is the increase of substance abuse. The true extent of alcohol and other drug misuse among Indigenous people is not known due to poor documentation and no recent data. The legacy of dispossession, cultural dislocation and disengagement of Indigenous people has an intergenerational impact. The subsequent social effects of suicide, self harm, abuse, violence, accidents and poor health are widely evident amongst Aboriginal people in the East Kimberley.

Widespread poverty limits the capacity of Indigenous people to deal with many of these problems adequately, let alone proactively. At the same time, poor employment and enterprise opportunities only exacerbate these issues and the feelings of despair that many Indigenous people have.

With 58% of the Indigenous population in the East Kimberley being 24 years or
younger, the pressure and urgency to try to prevent and remedy these key areas of disadvantage for Aboriginal people is particularly great.

The following extract from the ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research report, "Aboriginal Population Profiles for Development Planning in the Northern East Kimberley" (Taylor, 2003), succinctly puts forward the case for the role of Wunan Foundation:

"If social and economic conditions for Aboriginal people remain the same as
currently experienced, then the cost to government in providing income support and other welfare payments, as well as program support in areas of health, housing and CDEP in particular, will escalate over time in line with the growth in the working age population. On the other hand, if Aboriginal people had more jobs at higher occupational levels, then, from their own incomes, they would be able to meet many of the basic needs that governments now provide for. Some estimate of the opportunity cost to government of simply continuing business as usual is provided here (in the report) in the form of welfare dependency rates and associated estimates of dollar amounts. What is not costed, though, is the potentially greater public impost of excess disease burden, infrastructure replacement, and foregone educational outcomes due to the continued and growing marginalisation of Aboriginal people within the regional economy. It is important to recognise that the policy options for addressing this situation are not cost neutral - expenditure will grow either in response to declining economic status, or in order to enhance it. Whatever the case, a fiscal response is unavoidable."