Mobility for survival: A process analysis of Aboriginal population movement in Central Australia

Abstract

This study arose from requests for assistance from Aboriginal groups based in Alice Springs, in particular, the Pitjanjatjara Council and the Arrente people. These and other groups were concerned with the problems which population movement posed for service provision and with the lack of understanding of Aboriginal mobility processes shown by administrators and others. The government shared these concerns. In late 1983 the Department of Aboriginal Affairs provided funds for a study of Aboriginal Population Mobility in Central Australia, and contracted with Dr. Elspeth Young, of the North Australia Research Unit, to formulate and carry out the project. Its terms of reference were to: determine the demographic characteristics of communities representing the principal types of Aboriginal settlement in the region, obtain data on past and present mobility between different types of settlement, obtain data on the interrelationships between population mobility and service provision and analyse these data for assessment of short term and possible long term trends...