Vietnamese National Assembly Provincial Study Tour

On behalf of AusAID, CDI designed and organised a study tour to Darwin , Sydney and Canberra for a senior delegation from the Vietnamese National Assembly. CDI consultant Robert Goodrick accompanied the delegation and their study of indigenous issues in Australia , which focussed on three main areas, namely: (1) Land - including treatment of claims on ancestral land and related issues of "co-habitation" - i.e. relationships between majority/minority and indigenous/immigrant groups in the same territory, dispute settlement etc; (2) Poverty reduction - including job creation, economic empowerment; and (3) Education - maintaining ethnic identity and language versus 'mainstreaming'.

The program was conducted between 16-26 February 2005, and the delegation met with representatives of multiple stakeholders in indigenous affairs on each leg of the tour, including senior policy advisers to the Northern Territory Government; senior staff from the Northern land Council and the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education; senior staff from the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs; the chairman and senior staff of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies; and the Director and senior staff of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy research at the ANU.

In all the discussions held during the tour, members of the delegation energetically questioned their Australian counterparts about the situation of Indigenous people in Australia and about the policies being followed by government in the areas of interest the delegation had nominated. Regarding education for example, the delegation found points of interest to compare and were able to come to their own firm conclusions about the relative strengths and weaknesses of government policy and practice in Australia and Vietnam . They were also very interested in the technical facilities used in organisations such as AIATSIS to preserve and promote language. By the end of the tour, the members of the delegation had gained a better understanding of the difficulties faced by Aboriginal communities and government in promoting economic activity in remote areas.

Report & Program