Linking accountability and self-determination in Aboriginal organisations

Abstract

The issue of accountability in Indigenous affairs has recently received national prominence. Accountability— usually meaning financial accountability to government or to the wider public—is often seen as being potentially inconsistent with Indigenous self-determination. This paper broadly delineates a conceptual framework which links 'organisational self-determination' with a notion of 'internal accountability', that is the accountability of an organisation to its Indigenous members, clients or constituency. It further argues that this internal accountability is also linked to 'public accountability', that is the financial and other accountability of an organisation to funding agencies and ultimately the wider public. While there may be inherent tensions between public accountability and self-determination, these policy goals can be linked through the development of effective mechanisms for internal accountability.