Calma hits out at plans to relocate Indigenous communities

Stronger efforts are needed to understand the contributions of remote Indigenous communities to Australia’s culture, science and businesses, says the head of a national research consultancy.

Former Race Discrimination Commissioner and Ninti One chairman Tom Calma warned that Australia will be “a continent with an empty heart” if remote communities are forced to relocate by state and federal governments.

Ninti One is a not-for-profit company that manages the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation, based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The CRC works with more than 1,100 remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities across the NT, Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.