Federal Government’s “national emergency response to protect Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory”
CDFVR encourages and supports all genuine efforts to address Indigenous family violence and agrees that urgent action is required to address the abuse of women and children in Indigenous communities, as it is in non-Indigenous communities. The level of resources now available to Northern Territory communities, through the Federal Government's 'state of emergency' plan presents an opportunity to make real progress in addressing these issues. However, we hold grave concerns that the intervention is a missed opportunity because of the lack of genuine partnership with community members, especially the many women who have been doing this work, without adequate resources, for many years. Each year CDFVR convenes an Indigenous Family Violence Prevention Forum to celebrate the work Indigenous people themselves are doing to end family violence and to share knowledge about strategies that work. Each year we hear about excellent initiatives struggling to secure Government funding, or those whose funding has been discontinued after three years, barely enough time to build the trust required for effective interventions.
The Federal Government’s “national emergency response to protect Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory”, announced on 21 June 2007, is purportedly in response to the Little Children are Sacred report, prepared by Pat Anderson and Rex Wilde QC and presented to the Northern Territory Government about eight weeks before the Federal Government intervention. The Federal Government’s emergency response includes scrapping the permit system that enables Aboriginal people to control access to their lands; and acquiring Aboriginal townships prescribed by the Australian Government through five-year leases. There is no basis for these powers in the Little Children are Sacred report, nor any other research report on Indigenous family violence that we can find. Indeed, it seems that the Federal Government has largely ignored key aspects of this report’s recommendations and the recommendations of numerous other reports, including those commissioned by the Federal Government itself.
In 1997, Prime Minister Howard convened a National Domestic Violence Summit, which resulted in the establishment of the Partnerships Against Domestic Violence (PADV) initiative. PADV resulted in numerous reports on Indigenous family violence, in addition to other major reports on this issue. These include: the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Taskforce on Violence Report (2000); the Violence in Indigenous Communities Report (2001) and Putting the Picture Together (2002). Not one of these reports recommends the Federal Government take control of Indigenous communities, while other key recommendations are ignored in the Government’s plan. Indeed, Putting the Picture Together (2002), prepared by Sue Gordon who is now Chair of the Prime Minister’s National Indigenous Council and a member of the taskforce overseeing the implementation of the Government's ‘emergency response’, summarises the literature as follows:
The literature proposes a number of solutions to the high levels of family violence and the disproportionate number of Aboriginal children who are involved with child protection services...the underlying theme throughout this literature is the need for greater involvement and ownership by Aboriginal community members in child protection and anti-violence policy, program design and implementation.
In discussing 'the way forward' Ms Gordon's report states:
What is needed is a new and systemic response to underlying factors, the existing social problems as well as intervening after Aboriginal family violence and child abuse have occurred...these recommendations are about building a service system from the ground up. They are about starting with the community...it is clear from the research, consultations with Aboriginal communities, submissions provided by Government agencies and others, that Aboriginal people and Aboriginal communities must be involved in shaping solutions to the epidemic of family violence and child abuse".
This is highly consistent with the first recommendation of the Little Children are Sacred report, which states:
That Aboriginal child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory be designated as an issue of urgent national significance by both the Australian and Northern Territory Governments and both governments immediately establish a collaborative partnership with a Memorandum of Understanding to specifically address the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. It is critical that both governments commit to genuine consultation with Aboriginal people in designing initiatives for Aboriginal communities.
Notably, the announcement of the Federal Government’s emergency response states that the “response reflects the very first recommendation of the Little Children are Sacred report…That Aboriginal child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory be designated as an issue of urgent national significance by both the Australian and Northern Territory Governments…”, failing to include the recommendation’s reference to a collaborative partnership and genuine consultation with Aboriginal people.
CDFVR congratulates the Combined Aboriginal Organisations (CAONT) of the Northern Territory on their excellent work in preparing a comprehensive response, and alternative plan, to the Federal Government’s emergency response. A copy of the CAONT’s alternative plan can be viewed here.
