Overall Discussion: What progress has there been in improving the safety and well–being of Indigenous children?
The NTER has made limited progress on improving the safety and well-being of Indigenous children in the CLC region. Increased police presence and other services are likely to have been beneficial and improve community safety. However, this is only a part of improving child well-being. Any markers or evidence of progress are limited to non-existent.
The CLC survey also found that flexible funding provided through the NTER only contributed 19 per cent of funding on what could be consider as child safety or youth programs. Across the CLC region of the NT, the provision of youth services has generally been ad hoc and based on assumptions that mainstream youth programs are effective for Aboriginal youth. The level of inconsistency in youth programs has occurred because of a lack of regional co-ordination of programs, suitable buildings to run activities, no access or limited access to vehicles, no worker supervision, poor or no accommodation or facilities for youth workers, insecurity in on-going funding arrangements, and difficulties in recruitment and retention of suitably qualified youth workers. The NTER has not addressed these problems, but has typically added to the levels of irregularity and discrepancy in youth programs across communities.
Those youth programs that do exist are often stuck in the ‘Sport and Recreation’ approach to youth work. These programs fail to gain and retain the attention of young people in a meaningful way. Youth programs need to provide activities and services that are culturally relevant and developed with a group of residents. There is also a need to look at provision of case management services for at risk youth.
Education is a key underpinning issue. Under the NTER’s first year, there was an inadequate focus on the provision of education services. The lack of focus on education was noted in the CLC survey. The only program that was introduced in the first year of the NTER included school lunch and breakfast. However, this was already running in many communities. Moreover, this program has not been consistently rolled out for years, because of a lack of NT departmental support for nutrition programs run through schools. The absence of improvement in enrolment and attendance figures demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the NTER so far. The $99m over 5 years for 200 new remote teachers announced by the new government is a good positive step in the right direction. The CLC would advocate for further effort in this area to increase future opportunities and control over life decisions.
CLC POSITION
A multi-targeted approach is required to address the multiple disadvantages faced by children living in remote communities. The CLC recommends that the Australian Government needs to have a much more dedicated position in improving child well-being focusing on improving the key foundations of education, health and housing in a culturally relevant way.