Jon Altman has an academic background in economics and anthropology and over an academic career spanning over 40 years has focused his research and advocacy on examining forms of economic development that match the aspirations of First Nations people mainly in remote Australia but also elsewhere. Over many years he has advocated for various forms of basic income support for Indigenous Australians especially in locations with no or very limited labour markets. From 1990–2010 he was the foundation director of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, ANU. He is currently a non-executive director of several companies including the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust, Original Power and the Institute of Postcolonial Studies and is the Research Director - First Nations Clean Energy Network.

Publications

Altman, J.C. 2015. ‘Basic income a no brainer for remote Indigenous Australia, Power to Persuade, 15 September 2015. https://www.powertopersuade.org.au/blog/7iid82251v44plgndvg9ro9j6el9ey/16/3/2016

Altman J.C. 2016. ‘Basic income for remote Indigenous Australia: prospects for a livelihoods approach in neoliberal times’ in Jennifer Mays, Gregory Marston and John Tomlinson (eds) Basic Income in Australia and New Zealand: Perspectives from Neoliberal Frontiers, Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke, UK, 179–206.

Altman J.C. and Klein E. 2018. ‘Lessons from a basic income programme for Indigenous Australians’, Oxford Development Studies, 46 (1): 132–146.

Altman, J.C. and Markham, F. 2019. ‘Basic income and cultural participation for remote-living Indigenous Australians’ in Klein, E., J. Mays and T. Dunlop (eds) Implementing a Basic Income in Australia: Pathways forward, London: Palgrave MacMillan, 87–110.