Reluctant Representatives

‘How can you make decisions about Aboriginal people when you can’t even talk to the people you’ve got here that are blackfellas?’ So ‘Sarah’, a senior Aboriginal public servant, imagines a conversation with the Northern Territory Public Service. Her question suggests tensions for Aboriginal and Torr...

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Main Author: Ganter, Elizabeth
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: ANU Press 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:621497
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author Ganter, Elizabeth
author_browse Ganter, Elizabeth
author_facet Ganter, Elizabeth
author_sort Ganter, Elizabeth
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description ‘How can you make decisions about Aboriginal people when you can’t even talk to the people you’ve got here that are blackfellas?’ So ‘Sarah’, a senior Aboriginal public servant, imagines a conversation with the Northern Territory Public Service. Her question suggests tensions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have accepted the long-standing invitation to join the ranks of the public service. Reluctant Representatives gives us a rare glimpse into the working world of the individuals behind the Indigenous public sector employment statistics. This empathetic exposé of the challenges of representative bureaucracy draws on interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who have tried making it work. Through Ganter’s engaging narration, we learn that the mere presence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the public service is not enough. If bureaucracies are to represent the communities they serve, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public servants need to be heard and need to know their people are heard.
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institution Directory of Open Access Books
language eng
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
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publisher ANU Press
publisherStr ANU Press
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-352082025-01-26T07:26:10Z Reluctant Representatives Ganter, Elizabeth australia representative bureaucracy public service aboriginal people Civil service Government of the Northern Territory Indigenous Australians Northern Territory Torres Strait Islanders thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MB Australia and New Zealand / Aotearoa::1MBF Australia thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration ‘How can you make decisions about Aboriginal people when you can’t even talk to the people you’ve got here that are blackfellas?’ So ‘Sarah’, a senior Aboriginal public servant, imagines a conversation with the Northern Territory Public Service. Her question suggests tensions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have accepted the long-standing invitation to join the ranks of the public service. Reluctant Representatives gives us a rare glimpse into the working world of the individuals behind the Indigenous public sector employment statistics. This empathetic exposé of the challenges of representative bureaucracy draws on interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who have tried making it work. Through Ganter’s engaging narration, we learn that the mere presence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the public service is not enough. If bureaucracies are to represent the communities they serve, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public servants need to be heard and need to know their people are heard. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2016-12-21 00:00:00 2020-04-01T13:53:52Z 2016 book 621497 OCN: 1030818121 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31946 9781760460327 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/35208 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31946/1/621497.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31946/1/621497.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31946/1/621497.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31946/1/621497.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31946/1/621497.pdf ANU Press 10.22459/CAEPR37.11.2016 10.22459/CAEPR37.11.2016 975ba519-3ce2-4517-95bf-b847729fbcf1 9781760460327 open access
spellingShingle australia
representative bureaucracy
public service
aboriginal people
Civil service
Government of the Northern Territory
Indigenous Australians
Northern Territory
Torres Strait Islanders
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MB Australia and New Zealand / Aotearoa::1MBF Australia
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration
Ganter, Elizabeth
Reluctant Representatives
title Reluctant Representatives
title_full Reluctant Representatives
title_fullStr Reluctant Representatives
title_full_unstemmed Reluctant Representatives
title_short Reluctant Representatives
title_sort reluctant representatives
topic australia
representative bureaucracy
public service
aboriginal people
Civil service
Government of the Northern Territory
Indigenous Australians
Northern Territory
Torres Strait Islanders
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MB Australia and New Zealand / Aotearoa::1MBF Australia
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration
topic_facet australia
representative bureaucracy
public service
aboriginal people
Civil service
Government of the Northern Territory
Indigenous Australians
Northern Territory
Torres Strait Islanders
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MB Australia and New Zealand / Aotearoa::1MBF Australia
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration
url 621497
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