Shooting the banker : essays on ATSIC and self-determination

Abstract

Aboriginal representatives contemplating an open argument with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) about funding or representation sometimes caution each other: ‘don’t shoot the banker’. There is little doubt that this volume of essays in ATSIC will be taken in some quarters to be doing just that, but they are intended, and should be viewed, in a more constructive light. They are a collective attempt to analyse this complex organisation after six years of its operation, and to open up debate about reform. The writers adopt a variety of perspectives on the role and impact of ATSIC and they do not agree with each other on all points.