Summary of this Submission
NAAJA was invited to contribute to the review of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (the “intervention”).
The following submission focuses on particular aspects of the intervention contained in “Measure 2 – Law and Order”. It is our view that these matters have not received appropriate public attention and scrutiny.
In our submission we argue that:
- the measures to deal with the “rivers of grog” are inadequate and inappropriate;
- there is an urgent need for stringent measures that reduce the availability of alcohol across the Northern Territory;
- a recent apparent spike in homicides in the north of the Northern Territory may be related to the intervention and highlights the need for more effective alcohol policies;
- the changes to customary law in criminal proceedings were based upon a fundamental lack of understanding of the operation of the previous law;
- the consequences both intended and unintended of the changes to customary law in criminal proceedings have not been properly considered;
- NAAJA has not experienced a rise in what we term child sexual abuse matters, but rather has seen an increase in prosecutions of what we term teenage relationships, however there has been a lack of accurate, publicly available information on this issue.
The direct and indirect effects of the intervention have exacerbated the unmet demand for services from NAAJA and have highlighted the urgent need for much greater levels of funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (“ATSILS”).