Analytical Frameworks

The delivery of services to remote communities takes place through the interaction of supply with demand. The basic project framework for the research considers the influences bearing on both supply and demand sides of the equation and places particular emphasis on understanding the scope and nature of the interactions between the two. In this context, ‘demand-responsive’ means much more than service providers coming to a better-informed estimate of what a community requires. The concept also goes beyond the development of better ways in which communities can interact with service providers. Demand-responsiveness means access to services both to meet the broader needs of Aboriginal people and with a clear-sightedness about their capacity to make the best use of a service for their particular needs. In short, services at a level that can be handled locally with the assets available.

The diagram below is a schematic representation of the funding and implementation arrangements for the NT Indigenous Housing Program, taken from a forthcoming working paper by Rae Porter of the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT). It identifies the key elements (boxes) of the program as a basis for defining the areas where Territory Housing is recommended should undertake an extended demand side process with residents of Aboriginal communities to find common ground. The grey boxes represent government processes, red boxes are the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program, blue is Territory Housing and green is local government.