Introduction
On 21 June 2007 the Australian Government announced a ‘national emergency’ to protect Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory. The result was a raft of changes to key areas of social policy including pornography, alcohol, welfare, land tenure, CDEP and housing. The Australian Government gained powers over welfare spending of Aboriginal people and over all major remote communities through the compulsory acquisition of 5 year ‘leases’. In addition, the Commonwealth Minister also gained powers to unilaterally alter funding agreements, direct how services are to be provided, seize community assets (including community stores), sack community councils and amend NT legislation through regulation.
Taken together, the effect of the changes means that all aspects of Aboriginal life can now be controlled by the Commonwealth. Such broad powers might be appropriate in a genuine emergency context but the risk here is that, in time, they may be used capriciously in ways unrelated to the emergency response supporting children’s welfare. They are also discriminatory. It is not credible to argue that the emergency legislation, taken in its entirety, could be considered to be a ‘special measure’ for Aboriginal people under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth).
Finally, both through the permit review process and in the response to the Children are Sacred report, the previous Australian Government sought to link land measures with child abuse. No evidence was provided to support that assertion. The NT Police Association rejected the link: “The Federal Government has failed to make a case in my view, about the connection between sexual assault in Indigenous communities and the permit system”. The CLC rejects the link.
CLC welcomes the NTER review process. The CLC agrees that the current level of child abuse and other forms of violence in Aboriginal communities is unacceptable. The announcement of the review is the first attempt by the Australian Government to provide a level of critical analysis on the policy measures implemented. This is necessary to better shape forward thinking policies, prevent the misuse of powers and avoid any long-term unintended consequences.
However, the review is hampered because of the lack of a NTER policy framework outlining the overall aim, objectives and targets for the measures. For many measures, it is difficult to ascertain the objective. Baseline data was not collected and there is no independent data available on the impact of key NTER measures. Future measures need to sit within a proper framework that includes monitoring and evaluation.
The review also needs to move beyond the ‘intervention’, including the use of that pejorative term which speaks negatively of Aboriginal people. The review needs to critically evaluate each individual measure on its own merits and also look to a broader plan. The Children are Sacred report made 97 recommendations which focused on long term measures to improve education outcomes and reduce alcohol harm. The CLC supports these recommendations. While the CLC is pleased the Australian Government has at last taken issues of disadvantage and abuse in Aboriginal communities seriously, we are concerned that the emergency response lacks a long term investment plan, a community development approach or any benchmarks or critical evaluation process. The review has the opportunity to recommend the process for moving forward.
Accordingly, this submission starts with principles for action. The principles propose a simple approach to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people and are consistent with those laid out in the Children are Sacred report and elsewhere (although lacking in the NT emergency response). The submission then follows with an evaluation of each emergency response measure including an assessment of the relevant area of reform measured against the principles for action where appropriate.