E/CN.4/2002/24/Add.1 page 14 25. ATSIC is part of a large infrastructure of organizations - governmental and non-governmental - that provide services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Commonwealth agencies, both inside and outside the portfolio of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, provide financial assistance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advancement either: (a) Directly through grants to incorporated community organizations or, very rarely, to individuals (there are about 3,800 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organizations which manage projects); or (b) Through grants to state/territory governments. These governments also fund Indigenous programmes, either as special projects or as part of their provision of services to the general community. 26. The activities of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander companies and organizations are spread through the health services, legal services, housing cooperatives, land councils, and social, cultural and sports organizations; they are important self-management instruments for the Indigenous peoples. The federal Government has stated that in the period 1998-1999 1,887 million Australia dollars ($A) were specifically allocated to Indigenous peoples, which represents an increase in real terms in relation to the three previous years; over 70 per cent of these resources go to priority areas such as housing, health and employment. During the period 2001-2002, the federal Government will allocate over $A 327 million to Aboriginal affairs. The resources allocated to these peoples in the period 1981-2002 will therefore total $A 2,390 million. Mr. Philip Ruddock, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, stated: “The 2001 budget contains a comprehensive and integrated set of initiatives which build on our record of providing more employment opportunities, appropriate housing, improved health and better educational outcome for Indigenous people. The budget confirms ATSIC’s funding base and will provide over $A 100 million in extra funding over the next four years for new initiatives contained in a package called Australians Working Together. This package covers measures related to community capacity-building, the Community Development Employment Project (CDEP), support to students, native title claims, housing and improvement of Indigenous health.” 2. The Torres Strait Regional Authority 27. On Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, the Special Rapporteur held a working meeting with the Torres Strait Regional Authority, an agency set up in 1993 to administer Islander affairs solely in the Strait; Islanders living on the mainland come within the ambit of ATSIC. There are 6,200 Islanders in the Strait living in a large number of communities comprising several hundred people belonging to three clans living on many islands (crocodile, snake and bird clans). The Islanders are recognized as a distinct people, with their own cultural practices, within Australia. They have a close link with the sea and nature, to which they say they belong.