A/HRC/15/37/Add.4 growth areas, in particular sparsely-populated homeland communities, will be forced to move to larger communities to receive basic services. In fact, the Northern Territory government states that it “will not financially support the establishment of new outstations and homelands” and that “government services to outstations/homelands will in most cases involve a form of remote delivery, based from the closest or most accessible hub town”.23 This policy further provides that residents of homelands are expected to contribute financially to the installation of basic services, such as water, electricity and sanitation. 69. For its part, the Commonwealth Government has communicated to the Special Rapporteur that it does not intend to abandon homelands or to relocate residents, that it is committed to maintaining current levels of funding for the maintenance of occupied outstations and for key government services and that it has committed AUD 60 million over three years to fund essential services to homelands. Nevertheless, members of homeland communities visited by the Special Rapporteur and other sources indicated weakening support from the Commonwealth Government for the homelands in practice. 70. The Special Rapporteur observed the profound connection that many Aboriginal people in Australia have to their homelands, many of which began to be repopulated in the 1970s when elders took their people back to ancestral lands from larger communities run by missions, and the importance of these lands to the lives and culture of Australia’s Aboriginal people. Further, homelands are widely understood to have lower levels of social problems, such as domestic violence and substance abuse, than more populated communities. According to reports, the health of indigenous people living on homelands is significantly better than of those living in larger communities, with the death rate among indigenous peoples living in homelands being 40 to 50 per cent lower than the Northern Territory average for indigenous adults.24 Homelands are also used effectively as part of substance abuse and other programmes for at-risk Aboriginal youth living in more populated or urban centres, such as the Mt. Theo programme discussed above. VII. Conclusions and recommendations Overarching conclusions 71. The Government of Australia is to be commended for the advancements made in addressing the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over recent years and for enacting reforms to redress historical negative policies and actions. The Special Rapporteur particularly notes the many instances of commitment made by the Government to reconcile with indigenous peoples, including the National Apology of 2008, and its support for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He is also pleased to note the important goal set to eliminate significant social and economic disadvantages faced by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by the year 2020 and the resources committed thereto by the Government. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the numerous policies, programmes and studies in place to address indigenous issues, many of which he was unable to detail in the present report, as well as the significant funding the Government has dedicated for the purpose. 23 24 18 Northern Territory Government, Headline Policy on Homelands/Outstations (May 2009). K.G. Rowley et al., “Lower than expected morbidity and mortality for an Australian Aboriginal population: 10 year follow up in a decentralized community”, Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 188, No. 5 (2008), pp. 283–287. GE.10-13887