Income Management and Indigenous Peoples – Nudged into a Stronger Future?

Australian policy has been motivated by paternalism towards Indigenous peoplesfor the better part of Australia’s colonial history. Contemporary forms of incomemanagement that disproportionately affect Indigenous peoples extend a paternal-istic approach. The paternalism embedded within the income management discoursedraws heavily upon the framework of‘new paternalism’, which increases govern-ment supervision of those who receive welfare payments. However, in recent years,another form of paternalism has also been growing in popularity with Westerngovernments–‘nudge paternalism’–which may have future implications for policy-making in the welfare context in Australia. This article comprises three parts. Thefirst part explores specific problems that can arise with paternalistic policy-makingdirected towards Indigenous peoples, including nudge paternalism. The second partconsiders how income management departs from the principles of nudge paternal-ism, and the impact that income management has on Indigenous peoples. The finalpart explores some alternative suggestions for policy initiatives to addressdisadvantage experienced by Indigenous welfare recipients, particularly those livingin the Northern Territory.