1. Personal Background
I have worked in Aboriginal Affairs since 1967, initially with Catholic Missions and later with the former Commonwealth Department for Community Welfare. I transferred to the Northern Territory Public Service in1978 and have worked with many different Departments on projects in Indigenous communities. Many were directly related to law and justice.
I have assisted communities develop many innovative programs; some receiving Territory wide and National recognition and some leading to changes in legislation. My research and the application of Indigenous child rearing practises in the Barkly region in the late1970’s lead to changes to the Northern Territory Child Welfare and Fostering and Adoption Acts.
The Northern Territory Aboriginal Law and Justice Strategy (ALJS) won several National Crime Prevention Awards and was highly commended in the “Little Children Are Sacred Report”.
The Little Children Are Sacred Report recommended that the ALJS should be reinstated in communities where it had been operating successfully and sufficiently resourced to enable it to be implemented in other regions of the Territory. (See pages 176/185 of the Report: Recommendations 73/78 refers.)
The ALJS is widely referred to as an innovative and successful program by academics and researchers who have evaluated the program. (See Attachment A)
I am currently working as a Remote Area Housing Development Coordinator with Territory Housing. I have recently completed an extensive housing survey project for Health Habitat in the Katherine and Darwin regions and was able to observe the Australian Governments Emergency Response Strategy first hand.
The purpose of this correspondence is to provide some personal observations
about aspects of the Emergency Response and offer suggestions about ways forward
in achieving long-term gains in violence reduction and community safety.