ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Indigenous-led development in Indigenous communities, yet recognises that governments are in the early stages of establishing policy frameworks to support this, and communities vary significantly in their readiness to lead their own development. Through a case study of the Martu Leadership Program (MLP), the chapter discusses the structures, resources and opportunities that are enabling Martu communities of remote Western Australia to increase their level of control over the conditions of their lives. Evaluation is highlighted, because it is likely that successful programs in remote communities are emergent and adaptive, and evaluation methods for emergent programs are not well understood, valued or funded. In the case of the MLP, two complementary evaluation streams addressed this: developmental evaluation and social return on investment. The MLP empowers a generation who have suffered deep harm from the continuing violence of post-colonial impacts and cross-cultural collision.
