Project Introduction

This project has its genesis in a CAEPR report commissioned by the Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA) in 2005. The aim of the paper (published as CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 283) was to synthesise findings from a wide variety of regional and community-based demographic studies. What emerged was the identification of demographic 'hot spots'-particular Indigenous population dynamics in particular regions that give rise to issues of public policy concern. These trends spatially align with specific categories of place that transcend State and Territory boundaries. The 'hot spots' coalesce around several structural settings including city suburbs, regional towns, town camps, remote Indigenous towns, and outstations, as opposed to the more formal regionalised or jurisdictional spatial configurations that have tended to guide and inform Indigenous policy development.

Recognising that the structural circumstances facing Indigenous populations are locationally dispersed in this way, MCATSIA has established an enhanced research capacity at CAEPR over three years to further explore the dynamics and regional geography of Indigenous population and socioeconomic change.

This research activity commenced in late 2007 and is constructed around four discrete yet overlapping projects:

• a detailed regional analysis of relative and absolute change in Indigenous social indicators
• an assessment of social and spatial mobility among Indigenous metropolitan populations
• case-study analyses of multiple disadvantage in select city neighbourhoods and regional centres
• the development of conceptual and methodological approaches to the measurement of short term mobility.

Working Papers related to these projects are co-badged with MCATSIA and released as part of the CAEPR Working Paper Series. It should be noted that the views expressed in these publications are those of the researcher/s and do not necessarily represent the views of MCATSIA as a whole, or the views of individual jurisdictions.

Research Outputs

CAEPR Seminars

No.	Title	Authors
	Regional change in the Indigenous population: Early results from the 2006 Census	Biddle, N. , Taylor, J. , Yap, M.

Working Papers

No.	Title	Authors
41/2008	The entangled relationship between Indigenous spatiality and government service delivery	Prout, S.
43/2008	Locations of Indigenous Population Change: What Can We Say?	Taylor, J. , Biddle, N.
45/2008	A regional analysis of Indigenous participation in the Western Australian labour market	Biddle, N. , Taylor, J.
47/2008	The scale and composition of Indigenous housing need, 2001–06	Biddle, N.
48/2008	On the move? Indigenous temporary mobility practices in Australia	Prout, S.
49/2008	Ord Stage 2 and the Socioeconomic Status of Indigenous People in the East Kimberley Region	Taylor, J.
50/2009	Ranking regions: Revisiting an index of relative Indigenous socioeconomic outcomes	Biddle, N.
52/2009	Towards a gender-related index for Indigenous Australians	Yap, M. , Biddle, N.
53/2009	Location and segregation: The distribution of the Indigenous population across Australia’s urban centres	Biddle, N.
55/2009	Indigenous temporary mobility: An analysis of the 2006 Census snapshot	Biddle, N. , Prout, S.
56/2009	Indigenous population projections, 2006–31: Planning for growth	Biddle, N. , Taylor, J.
58/2009	The geography and demography of Indigenous migration: Insights for policy and planning	Biddle, N.

Discussion Papers

No.	Title	Authors
283/2006	Population and diversity: Policy implications of emerging Indigenous demographic trends	Taylor, J.
288/2008	Indigenous Participation in Regional Labour Markets, 2001-06	Biddle, N. , Taylor, J. , Yap, M.