Reconceptualising mobility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

From first engagement between European settlers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the mobility patterns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been viewed as problematic, as random and unproductive. Subsequent policies to ‘civilise’ and ‘assimilate’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into Western society aimed to sedentarise them. To this day such temporary mobility continues to be seen as inconsistent with mainstream models of service delivery and economic and social advancement. This paper argues that, from a policy perspective, temporary mobility should be considered in the context of its contribution to wellbeing and challenges the prism through which mobility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is viewed as being problematic