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Australian Government Departments and Authorities

Many Australian Government Deparments have specific services and programs for ATSI people. The following Departments and Authorites are key ones with specific coordination or other relevant roles.

Family and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

FaCSIA oversees national implementation of the Australian Government's whole-of-government arrangements in Indigenous Affairs, established from 1 July 2004.

Within FaCSIA's National Office, the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination has a central role in coordinating cross-government policy development and evaluation. FaCSIA also manages the network of multi-agency Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICCs) around Australia.

FaCSIA administers a number of Indigenous-specific programs. Within its mainstream programs it keeps a focus on Indigenous services and projects that support communities, families, young people and children.
FaCSIA Indigenous web site home
FaCSIA Indigenous Programs

Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination

The Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OIPC) is responsible for:

• coordinating whole-of-government innovative policy development and service delivery across the Australian Government;
• developing new ways of engaging directly with Indigenous Australians at the regional and local level;
• brokering relations with State/Territory governments;
• reporting on the performance of government programs and services for Indigenous people to inform policy review and development;
• managing and servicing a network of Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICCs) across Australia;
  advising the Minister and Government on Indigenous Issues.

OIPC web site

FaCSIA manages the network of 30 Indigenous Coordination Centres across Australia. ICCs are multi-agency units that administer most of the Australian Government's Indigenous programs at the local and regional level, including managing the common application process.

Indigenous Coordination Centres

Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH)

In 1994, the Government established the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH) in the then Department of Human Services and Health to give a greater focus to the health needs of Indigenous Australians in mainstream health programs. On 1 July 1995 following a Government decision to transfer responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission to the Health portfolio, the Office assumed responsibility for providing funding to Aboriginal community controlled health and substance use services previously administered by ATSIC.

The long-term strategy of OATSIH is to improve the access of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to comprehensive primary health care services. The aim is to provide coordinated clinical care, population health and health promotion activities to facilitate illness prevention, early intervention and effective disease management. Evidence from Australia and overseas shows that improved access to comprehensive primary health care can make a real and sustainable difference to health status in the longer term.

This strategy is firmly based on the principle of working in partnership with the Aboriginal community controlled health sector.

The Department is pursuing a three way approach
Aims to improve access to, and responsiveness of, the mainstream health system
Ensure complementary action through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific health and substance use services
Collaborate across governments and the health sector to improve service delivery and outcomes

The Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations

The Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations is an independent statutory office holder who administers the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act). This Act guides how Indigenous corporations are run. The CATSI Act was passed by the Australian Parliament in October 2006, replacing the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 (ACA Act). It started on 1 July 2007. Under the CATSI Act laws governing Indigenous corporations have been modernised while still retaining special measures to meet the specific needs of Indigenous people.

Under the CATSI Act we are required to change our name, we are now called the Office of the Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations (ORATSIC).

ORATSIC supports and regulates the corporations that are incorporated under the Act. It does this in a variety of ways, for example, by advising them on how to incorporate, by training directors, members and key staff in good corporate governance, by making sure they comply with the law and intervening when needed.

ORATSIC web site

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) is the world’s premier institution for information and research about the cultures and lifestyles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Institute undertakes and encourages scholarly, ethical community-based research, holds a priceless collection of films, photographs, video and audio recordings and the world’s largest collections of printed and other resource materials for Indigenous Studies, and has its own publishing house.

Its activities affirm and raise awareness among all Australians, and people of other nations, of the richness and diversity of Australian Indigenous cultures and histories.

AIATSIS is a Commonwealth statutory authority within the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) portfolio.

It is located on the Acton Peninsula in Canberra, on the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal Aboriginal people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 established ATSIC and first came into operation on 5 March 1990.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission—ATSIC—has been Australia’s peak Indigenous organisation within what was, until 30 June 2004, the Australian Government's Indigenous Affairs Portfolio.

ATSIC is established by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 (ATSIC Act) and began operations on 5 March 1990 as a means to involve Indigenous people in the processes of government affecting their lives.

ATSIC's structure has combined:

• an elected arm of Indigenous representatives, consisting of 35 Regional Councils around Australia and a national Board of Commissioners led by an elected Chairperson; and
• an administration headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

On 16 March 2005 Parliament passed the ATSIC Amendment Bill repealing provisions of the ATSIC Act, and in particular abolishing ATSIC ( and transferring programs administered by ATSIC-ATSIS to mainstream government agencies.

The legislation received the Royal Assent and was proclaimed with effect from 24 March 2005.

The legislation also provides that Regional Councils will cease on 30 June 2005.

ATSIC archived web site