Media Release
The Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory (APO NT) are calling on the federal government to urgently
increase the Remote Area Allowance to deliver real cost of living relief to the country’s poorest households in the face of
rising fuel costs.
APO NT chair Theresa Roe said “most people in remote communities rely on fixed incomes and have little capacity to absorb
rising costs. Families will struggle to keep up with a surge in fuel prices and the price of food going up”. APO NT is calling for
the allowance to be immediately linked to the consumer price index, backdated to when the allowance was introduced in 1984.
It also wants the base rate of the allowance to be substantially increased so that it reflects the extreme cost of living remotely.
Ms Roe said this would make Australia’s social security system fairer. "We strongly support Labor’s remote store subsidy
scheme, but what we are witnessing right now is that it is vulnerable to global uncertainty and energy price rises,” she said.
“The exact same amount that was paid 25 years ago is still being paid today, while prices in stores and at the fuel pump
have gone up a lot over this time.
” The cost of living remotely is estimated to be approximately 40 per cent higher than in capital cities. A fixed social security
amount buys a lot less in a remote community store than the same amount in a regional town or city. “Australian Bureau of
Statistics data shows that between 50 – 75 per cent of Aboriginal families in remote communities live below the poverty line.
Now is the time to make the change and increase the allowance,” Ms Roe said. Among recent reports making a strong case for
increasing the allowance are the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee’s2025Report to Government, the Productivity
Commission’s 2024 Inequality Snapshot and the final report of the Senate Inquiry into the Extent and Nature of Poverty in Australia (2024).
Media contact
Anthony Beven
0419 218 518
anthony.beven@apont.org.au
MR002/2026
26 March 2026
WE ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING MEMBERSHIP AND EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST TO BE A NTAECC DIRECTOR
ABORIGINAL PEARK ORGANISATIONS OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY - APONT
NTAECC
After years of lobbying and implementation of a funding agreement administered by the education departments of NT Labor and CLP governments’ the Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT Aboriginal Corporation (APONT) has established a peak representative body for education for the NT.
The name of the legal entity is the NT Aboriginal Education Consultative Council Aboriginal Corporation ICN 11857.
The corporation will be known as NTAECC for consistency and alignment with the names of Indigenous peak bodies for education around Australia.
NTAECC was incorporated as a legal entity under the CATSI Act in April 2026. NTAECC will be an advisory body to governments to ensure our voice is heard when it comes to education for Aboriginal people in the NT.
Objectives
1. Enter into a partnership agreement with the NT Department of Education and Training and become a member of NATSIEC
2. Establish partnership approaches and advocate to ensure all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Northern Territory receive quality, culturally appropriate and accessible education at all levels
3. Support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to lead education initiatives which transmit their histories, languages, traditions and culture through education, training and learning
4. Build education and learning into community values, norms and practices as the basis of building knowledge, skills and capabilities to improve economic and social prosperity in Aboriginal communities.
5. Support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators, staff and students in their education, training and learning aspirations, including the provision of appropriate career pathways and pathways for further education and training.
6. Advance Commonwealth and Northern Territory Government commitments to Closing the Gap Priority Reform 1—Formal partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
7. Advance Commonwealth and Northern Territory Government commitments to Closing the Gap priority reforms and socio-economic outcome areas that target education.
8. Ensure free, prior and informed consent in decision making and when engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities regarding decisions about education, training and learning issues
Governance.
In the first three months after incorporation the corporation will be governed by an interim board of directors with up to 12 members. The interim board of directors will:
1. Develop strategies to attract membership of the corporation
2. Represent NAETECC at Territory and National education forums, and
3. Act as an advisory body to Territory and Commonwealth governments
The term of the interim board of directors will end at the first general meeting due three months after the date of incorporation. At the first general meeting the term of the interim board of directors will end and the positions will be declared vacant. The members in attendance at the meeting will elect and appoint a new board of directors for a term of 2 years.
The corporation will ask members to appoint directors who are resident in regions throughout the NT.
The appointed directors will have experience and/or qualifications in specialist areas of education and have:
• current or previous employment in the NT education system
• cultural knowledge and authority
Together, the directors will have experience and/or qualifications in early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, vocational education and training, higher education and homeland schooling.
Membership
The corporation will have two classes of membership
A Full Member must be:
• at least 15 years old
• an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person that permanently resides in the Northern Territory
An Associate Member must be:
• at least 18 years old
• a person who is not eligible to be a full member
• a permanent resident in the Northern Territory
Directors:
There will be a maximum of 12 directors
A director must be:
• at least 18 years old
• be a Full Member
IF THIS IS YOU - WE ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING MEMBERSHIP AND EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST TO BE A NTAECC DIRECTOR
Please complete the membership form and the director nomination if you would like to be appointed as a director.
Application for membership form and
Board MemberNomination form
Please send forms or if you have questions please see contact details below:
education@apont.org.au
Phone: 08 7936 8620
9A Rowling Street, Casuarina NT 0810
