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Ngaanyatjarra Regional Partnership Agreement (RPA)

Date: 12 August 2005
Date To: 30 June 2008
Sub Category:Regional Partnership Agreement (RPA)
Place:Central Desert
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State/Country:Western Australia, Australia
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This Regional Partnership Agreement relates to the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Central Desert region of Western Australia. This region is home to twelve Indigenous communities: Cosmo Newberry, Tjirrkarli, Irrunytju (Wingellina), Tjukurla, Kiwirrkurra, Wannan, Mantamaru (Jameson), Warakurna, Papulankutja (Blackstone), Pira-kata (Kanpa), Patjarr and Warburton. It has a population of approximately 2000 to 2500 people.
Alternative Names:
  • Central Desert Regional Partnership Agreement (RPA)
  • Regional Partnership Agreement between the Ngaanyatjarra Council (Aboriginal Corporation), the Australian Government, the State Government of Western Australia and the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku
    • Payments:
  • Proposed contribution - Commonwealth government funding for infrastructure, services and resources for the Ngaanyatjarra Council amounts to more than $8 million over three years.
    • Subject Matter: | Management / Administration
    URL: https://apps.indigenous.gov.au/rpa/wa/ngaanyatjarra.pdf
    Summary Information:
    The Ngaanyatjarra Regional Partnership Agreement (RPA) was signed on 12 August 2005 by the following parties:

  • the Ngaanyatjarra Land Council;

  • the Commonwealth government;

  • the West Australian government; and

  • the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku.


    • Generally, RPAs are intended to establish a coordinated approach to shared goals with respect to Indigenous people across a region. The Ngaanyatjarra RPA is the first RPA to be signed in Australia under the Commonwealth government's policy for Indigenous people. It aims to provide for 'joint innovative action' and shared responsibility between the governments, the Council and the Ngaanyatjarra people in relation to the delivery of services and investment in the Ngaanyatjarra communities (Clause 1.2). The RPA seeks to increase Indigenous people's access to governments and service delivery, and also to enable the joint development of other agreements between the parties.
    Detailed Information:
    Objectives of this RPA

    The parties to the Ngaanyatjarra RPA have agreed to work in partnership to achieve the following objectives, which are necessary to achieve 'measurable and sustainable outcomes' for the people of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands:

  • establishing and improving access to mainstream programs and services;

  • reducing bureaucratic red tape; and

  • developing a Strategic Investment Plan for the Ngaanyatjarra region.


    • The RPA also has the objective of providing better-coordinated and resourced programs and services to achieve improvements in the following priority areas (Clause 1.7.6):

  • early childhood development and growth;

  • early school engagement and perfomance;

  • the transition from childhood to adulthood;

  • substance abuse;

  • functional families and communities;

  • effective environmental health systems; and

  • economic participation and development.


    • The parties intend to achieve these objectives through the making of other agreements, including Shared Responsibility Agreements supported by Service or Funding Agreements (Clause 2.1.2).

    Key commitments under this RPA

    Pursuant to this RPA, the parties have committed to:

  • take into account the Key Ngaanyatjarra Principles as a primary consideration (these principles are held to be important by the Ngaanyatjarra People, and are listed in Clause 1.6);

  • build on past and present initiatives by the Ngaanyatjarra people, communities and Council that demonstrate their 'commitment to the principle of mutual obligation';

  • take into account the WA government's commitment ot increasing investments in service and infrastructure; and

  • develop an Agreements Development Plan for each financial year.


    • The parties have also committed to undertaking four key projects:

    RPA Project 1: Improved Regional Capacity

    This project seeks to make changes to the structures, behaviour and capacity of each party to this RPA (Clause 4.2). Each party has committed to undertake an internal review of its capacity to satisfy the objectives of this RPA, and make changes to organisational culture to ensure that better coordination and outcomes can be delivered. The parties will report to the Regional Partnership Committee on their progress on this project.

    RPA Project 2: Establishment of effective structures to manage the Regional Partnership Agreement

    This project involves the establishment, maintenance and use of the Regional Partnership Committee and the Agreement Coordinators Group as part of a tiered coordination structure (Clause 4.3.1). Each party has committed to make certain reports to the Regional Partnership Committee, and to ensure a certain number of meetings for both the Committee and the Agreement Coordinators Group.

    RPA Project 3: Reducing red tape

    This project includes measures such as the minimisation of administrative overheads, the improvement of access to mainstream funding and programs, the streamlining of current funding and resource allocation processes and the creation of efficiencies and new operational structures in service delivery and administrative arrangements (Clause 4.4). The parties have also agreed to improving housing, housing maintenance and municipal and essential service provision.

    RPA Project 4: Development and implementation of a Ngaanyatjarra Strategic Investment Plan

    This project requires the parties to map investment in the Ngaanyatjarra region and share that information among them. It also requires them to facilitate and support the Ngaanyatjarra people in developing and articulating a 20 to 30 year vision for their communities. This vision is then to be achieved through the development of a Strategic Investment Plan.

    Other provisions of this RPA

    This RPA also includes provision for performance measurement and evaluation (Clause 5), an escalation procedure and dispute settling arrangements (Clause 6).

    The Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs)

    To supplement this RPA, three Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) have also been signed. These SRAs deal with communities on a case-by-case basis, and cover issues such as municipal services, community stores, and education and training for young people. Links to the entries for these agreements on the ATNS database have been provided below.

    Related Entries

  • Warburton Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA)
  • Wanarn Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA)
  • Ngaanyatjarra Municipal Services Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA)
    • Organisation
  • Commonwealth of Australia - Signatory
  • State of Western Australia - Signatory
  • Ngaanyatjarra Land Council - Signatory
  • Kalgoorlie Indigenous Coordination Centre (ICC)

    • References

    Media Release
    John Cobb, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (2005) Australian First for Desert Communities
    John Kobelke, Western Australian Minister for Indigenous Affairs (2005) First partnership agreement benefits WA indigenous community
    Senator Amanda Vanstone, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (2005) Minister Vanstone congratulates Ngaanyatjarra People on first Regional Partnership Agreement

    Glossary

    Regional Partnership Agreement (RPA) (Australia)
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    Created:Tuesday, 8 November 2005
    Modified:Monday, 12 December 2011
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