https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-13/closing-the-gap-mining-royalties/100440358At least 40 per cent of kids in Tennant Creek don't attend regularly.
"When they get their royalties, families are more active with alcohol," he said.
"They buy cars and electronics and whatever's left over goes straight into alcohol and gambling at a certain house where people play for big money."
Mr Mayers said for some families having this money appears to remove the imperative to send children to school.
"We see the kids standing around the parents gambling and the kids are like, 'We're not going to school because we want to stay here,' because they're watching their parents gamble," he said.
"Or the kids just don't want to go to school because they've got money and they don't need to go to school."
About $230 million a year in Aboriginal royalties is paid by mining companies in the NT.
Since NT Land Rights laws were passed in 1976, $3.2 billion has been collected into the Aboriginal Benefits Account (ABA) managed by the federal government.
Today that could buy 6,400 Aboriginal community houses, 41 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or half of an Attack Class submarine.
About a third is paid to Indigenous land councils, which are still helping get Aboriginal land back and negotiating deals for access to it.
The other 40 per cent in the ABA is given out by the federal government as grants to Indigenous organisations for various projects, including the language centre building which the attendance team works out of in Tennant Creek.
The other third goes directly to traditional owners.
arumungu community leader Linda Turner's family gets some of this money because a railway line and mine road are on their land.
She said by the time it is divided, it isn't enough to make a big difference to her finances.
"I got royalties twice and I got $800 out of that, which went towards my power bill," she said.
She also sees a lot of royalty money spent on alcohol, bought on the black market to get around Tennant Creek's tight liquor restrictions
"When the royalties were on a couple of months ago, people went to Mount Isa and bought cartons of Mosel [white wine], they were selling that box for $1,000, and a bottle of rum of $200," she said.
"It just causes a lot of fighting between families, and people [are] just drunk, and then court list just gets bigger because they get picked up for drunk driving or whatever."
She said many traditional owners want to keep getting royalties in cash.
"I think the rules need to change regarding royalties," she said.
"But I don't think it's ever going to happen; people believe it's their right to get that money.
"When people live in poverty and all of a sudden you've got a lot of cash, you're in paradise for a couple of days, there's no stress, no worries, you can do whatever you want.
"It's amazing in Tennant Creek when its royalty day, people are dressed up and are walking there to be on time and we are thinking, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if they did that to look for a job or go to their work?'"
Ms Turner works as the chair of the Julalikari Council, which provides aged care and youth accommodation in the town and has businesses including a petrol station.
Warumungu traditional owner and community leader Norman Frank is another member of the Julalikari Board.
He said his clan group puts their royalty money to good use by pooling it into a trust fund.
They get royalties from a gold mine, gas developments and a pipeline.
"My clan group, we put money aside, we've got money for community use, we've got money for education for our kids and funeral money," he said.
"Half of it goes in our pocket, but half, we make sure it goes right way so that we know we got something there for the future.
"There's a lot of clan groups starting to put money aside now and that's really good, that's the main key now because government can't give any more funding out."
Using royalty money to buy businessesOther traditional owners have pooled their royalty money to buy businesses in Tennant Creek including a hotel and a car hire firm.
But Mr Frank said he is worried too many of his people are relying on the dole and royalty payments instead of looking for jobs.
"I try every day driving around the CLAs [town camps] trying to get these young people going to work," he said.
"They make me sorry, these young people, we need our young bucks to get off their bum now and start using the shovel or trying to get a job around town or training."
