The Community Development Program (CDP) is remote Australia’s Work for the Dole (WFD) and 'job assistance' scheme. The CDP has been criticised by civil society groups, Indigenous groups, academics and even police, with allegations that it pays below minimum wage and its penalty system is punitive, entrenching poverty, causing housing stress and even hunger.

The broad goals of this report are to gain a better understanding of parents’ and carers’ behavioural motivation in relation to education, and to what extent attitudes and beliefs impact on school attendance in remote Indigenous Communities.

The key challenge for regional, rural and remote education is ensuring, regardless of location or circumstances, that every young person has access to high quality schooling and opportunities.

In November 2017, the ACFID Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community of Practice hosted a forum in Alice Springs, entitled Effective Development Practice Strengthening Indigenous Voice, Decision Making and Control. This report documents forum outcomes and learnings that can inform other engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia.

Like larger urban populations, rural and regional communities have also experienced significant changes with increasing forms of mobility across a number of areas involving rural-to-rural, rural-to-urban, urban-to-rural or international-to-rural migration.