Responses to questions
1. What is working?
The placement of Government Business Managers and Community Employment Brokers has been a significant development in terms of new opportunities for communities. Having staff ‘on the ground’ in communities has been long overdue and it replaces the piecemeal attempts by previous governments from all persuasions to pay lip service to the needs of Aboriginal people living in remote communities
It has to be recognised that the staff employed under the NTER and living in communities must work collaboratively with other agencies in communities for initiatives that are develop and implemented meet the actual as opposed to the perceived needs of the community residents.
The follow up on child health checks has given people living in remote communities access to specialist medical services that has been chronically under resourced for decades. The changes in approaches to initiating the child health checks certainly engaged community members more readily however, the premise on which these were based still lingers and needs to be resolved quickly with a more robust and appropriate policy response.
Community clean ups achieved some short term improvements but the implementation was haphazard and resulted in some outrageous costs for services and goods that could have been avoided by a more planned approach and engaging community agencies and workers who were more able than the contractors who were employed to undertake the clean up. There were examples of properly functioning equipment being replaced because it was on a schedule of works. At the same time, items that needed replacing or repairing were not touched because they were not on the schedule of works.
Again, this demonstrates the need to better policy and implementation strategies to meet the actual needs as opposed to the perceived needs.
Income management has met with differing measures of success however, anecdotal evidence suggests that community residents are purchasing more goods from shops and there may be some improvements in health as a result of this. As an example, the community store in Gunbalanya has increased its weekly turnover by nearly 100% since income management was introduced and community residents also report less humbug for money for tobacco and alcohol. This may be an isolated case as the previous community government council had introduced a nutrition initiative to subsidise fresh fruit and vegetables and other perishables such as milk and bread. The council also operates a community bus that takes people from the shop to home which commenced before the intervention and these initiatives may have also contributed to the increased sales.
The benefits of alcohol restrictions are difficult to measure as a number of other initiatives were simultaneously introduced and measuring the success or otherwise of alcohol restrictions is problematic. Few people would argue that alcohol restrictions are fundamental to tackling child abuse and neglect. Coupled with this is the need for quality education and rehabilitation programs. These programs have to be developed and implemented for any long term changes to occur.
2. What isn't working?
If nothing else, the debate over the NT intervention seems to indicate that the vast majority of community residents support the right to control who enters their communal property. Although the current government has announced the permit system will remain, there is a lingering fear that there are few checks and balances in place to monitor who enters Aboriginal land and whether they have a valid permit. For example, entry into Arnhemland by road is over Cahill’s Crossing. In the dry season any vehicle can cross Cahill’s Crossing unfettered with little prospect of being asked to produce a permit.
Most Aboriginal people in Arnhemland would argue that their land needs to be protected from exploitation, potential damage, and that sacred sites and sites of significance should be off limits to all who should not be there. At present, there are few examples of land being protected and conversely, there are many examples of damage being reported to rock art, sacred sites, animals being killed and even peoples own homes being violated.
To achieve any lasting protection to cultural areas there needs to be a robust ranger program implemented to ensure that country is protected and Aboriginal people can feel confident that there land is still under their control.
There is little argument that rates of child abuse are particularly high in Indigenous communities (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2006: Table 2.8). Victoria has the highest number of Indigenous child-abuse substantiations per 1000 children (63.0), followed by the ACT (56.0), South Australia (43.20) and NSW (27.1). The NT had a relatively low rate of Indigenous child-abuse substantiations of 13.7 per 1000 children — only Western Australia (12.2) and Tasmania (5.8) had lower rates. It should be noted that child-abuse data may be particularly prone to measurement error as it involves an inherently difficult and sensitive subject matter. However, it should be noted that under-reporting of child abuse is not confined to either Indigenous communities or the NT — indeed, the ‘Little Children are Sacred’ report specifically rejects the notion that Aboriginal culture is the reason for the under-reporting of abuse (Wild & Anderson 2007: p.58).
It can be argued there is a need to put Indigenous child abuse into perspective (Botsman, 2007). Within the wider Australian context, child abuse among non-Indigenous families in Queensland (13.7 per 1000) is as high as that which provoked the NT intervention means that the problem is not confined to Indigenous communities. When the high level of disadvantage and poverty identified in NT Indigenous communities is considered, it is apparent that the level of substantiated child abuse is relatively low. Child abuse cannot be viewed in isolation of other factors or influences and policy has to address broader issues, rather than simply focusing on Indigenous-specific issues such as permits and land rights
There is considerable evidence on what needs to be done to respond to Indigenous child abuse — Radio National’s The Health Report presented a summary of the evidence-based response to child abuse (Swan 2007) — the overall lack of evidence on which to link various aspects of the intervention to child abuse is a major impediment to constructing effective policy options.
The Police Federation of Australia argues that the new liquor controls will make law enforcement difficult because there will be two competing legislative frameworks in place: the Commonwealth’s new rules, and the existing Territory legislation (Hall 2007). The Federation also argues that by opening up the permit system in the larger public townships and connecting roads, law enforcement efforts to address the ‘rivers of grog’ will become more difficult. Enforcement issues are critically important, as many Indigenous communities already have bans on alcohol consumption. Prohibition is especially difficult to enforce when there are non-Indigenous communities nearby with access to alcohol (that is, there is an incentive for a ‘sly grog’ market to develop).
Referring back to the earlier issue of access to Arnhemland, if the Government is serious about stopping the ‘rivers of grog’, one solution could be the introduction of a check point at Cahill’s Crossing where all vehicles are asked to be inspected and show their permit to enter. Those who refuse to comply or do not have a valid permit will not be granted access. Any vehicle containing alcohol without proper authorisation will be turned back or can enter with a valid permit without the alcohol.
The compulsory acquiring of land through leases in townships is an infringement of Indigenous property rights which are enshrined in legislation. Little has been done in terms of compensation provisions for the compulsory acquisition and many traditional owners are confused and angry about their land being controlled by outsiders.
One of the most substantial criticisms of the intervention is that it is an assault on Indigenous choice and, ironically, responsibility. It can be argued that the NT intervention is paternalistic and that it imposes a new set of constraints on what Indigenous people can do, both inside the welfare system and elsewhere. This is not applied to the rest of Australia as it contravenes states rights and it sets Indigenous Territorians apart from other Australians.
The intervention has been promoted on the grounds that it will assist in re-establishing norms in Indigenous communities and hence in enhancing social responsibility. In fact, it has taken away choice, restricted meaningful control of people’s affairs and added layers of bureaucracy to prop up a system that has been built on spurious grounds. Others have also argued that depriving people of personal responsibility may not be the best way to increase the capacities and willingness of individuals to exercise there responsibilities (Quinlan 2007).
It has been stated (Hunter, 2008) that it would not be unreasonable to characterise it as one of the largest social experiments in Australian history — with NT Indigenous communities being the ‘treatment group’. Hunter goes on to state:
Of course, the experiment analogy breaks down when one remembers that there has been no attempt to randomly assign people into control and treatment groups. Another problem for the analogy is that some of the policy initiatives are not entirely confined to the NT. Nevertheless, it is time to consider explicitly adopting a more scientific approach to ‘experiments’ in Indigenous affairs — especially since it is, arguably, already occurring.
3. Have there been any unintended consequences?
4. How is each NTER measure performing and how should each be taken
forward?
NTER MEASURES AND SUB-MEASURES
Measure 1: Welfare Reform and Employment
1.1 Income Management and Community Stores.
As discussed previously, there have been increases in purchases from community stores however, it has yet to be seen if this translates into improved health outcomes. Income management has increased the administration tasks of staff working in stores and this has increased costs. Store staff were advised they could increase the cost on items to absorb the increases but this defeats the purpose of supplying health affordable food items when stores are already dearer than major centres. Community stores still have not benefited from the supposed benefits of purchasing power of major retailers. Communities that only have barge access or plane access in the wet season are further disadvantaged by higher transportation costs that are not borne by larger retail centres.
1.2 Increased participation opportunities for people on income support in remote communities.
These benefits are yet to be felt as there are not enough real jobs in communities to absorb the CDEP participants. Until governments at all levels are really serious about business development, training and employment opportunities for Indigenous people, this is not likely to change in the short term.
1.3 CDEP transition to jobs and employment services
CDEP transition has only occurred where previous councils had a strategy of training and employing the local workforce, by matched funding from the Australian government for local government services, by transition from CDEP in HACC and Aged Care programs. The latter has accounted for a small but significant number of people.
1.4 Active school participation
To date, school participation rates have not increased in the West Arnhem region and it is difficult to see the picture changing without the introduction of a planned strategy to have children attend school. There are not the physical and human resources to cope with appropriate school participation rates. Most schools have difficulty attracting and retaining qualified experienced staff. Many teachers are new graduates with little experience in teaching let alone, understanding the difficulties living and working in communities and understanding the cultural mores of the region in which they are working.
Policy also needs to facilitate positive child development through funding community infrastructure and supporting families with young children. It is important to note that supporting families does not necessarily entail increasing welfare payments, as these are likely to entail negative incentive effects that work against participation in the mainstream economy (Henry 2007). Daly and Hunter (1999) showed that many (or even most) Indigenous people would earn less than their nominal expected welfare entitlements if they secured work. The likely disincentive effects of welfare payments are likely to have been exacerbated by the growth of generous family payments since the late 1990s. Given that it might be politically difficult to reduce welfare payments, it is necessary to consider the issue of conditionality of welfare payments, not unlike some of the initiatives embodied in the NT intervention. Another approach worth considering is to establish a more positive set of incentives for Indigenous youth to stay at school (Hunter 2003).
1.5 Community Employment Brokers
The introduction of Community Employment Brokers is a welcome initiative that needs to be linked to a well thought out policy on long term training and employment initiatives that increase the participation rate of Indigenous Australians in the workforce. Far too much of the intervention to date has been piecemeal, policy on the run, quick and dirty fixes aimed at ‘looking good’. It is folly to keep blaming past initiatives for the current state of affairs.
What is need is well thought out policy that engages people in remote communities at all levels to have a say in the events that shape their lives.
Measure 2: Law and Order
2.1 Alcohol, Drugs and Pornography
There has been little achieved in stemming the ‘rivers of grog’. As detailed elsewhere in this submission, during the dry season all road access to Arnhemland is through Cahill’s Crossing. There have been intermittent attempts to check vehicles coming into Oenpelli (Gunbalanya) but there are insufficient police resources for this to be sustained. Consequently, people wait until the police are gone and then are free to continue bringing in illegal drug and alcohol supplies.
There is little hard evidence that pornography has been the cause of child abuse in Arnhemland and there are fewer incidents of seizures since the implementation of the NTER.
2.2 Increased Police presence in communities
The increased police presence has been welcomed in all communities in Arnhemland. The question being asked is: How will it be sustained? A number of the police are on secondment from other jurisdictions for time limited periods and these will soon be concluding. The NT police have had difficulty recruiting its officers to remote communities for a number of reasons including workloads, remuneration and conditions, family pressures, very long hours and little support from the upper echelons who seem more concerned about image than substance.
2.3 National Indigenous Intelligence Taskforce
To date there is little evidence that the work of National Indigenous Violence and Child Abuse Intelligence Task Force has had any significant impact in Arnhemland. This could be due to the sensitive nature of the business of the organisation.
2.4 Child Abuse Desk
As above.
2.5 Northern Territory Aboriginal Interpreter Services
The NTAIS has operated since 2000 and people from West Arnhem have had sporadic use of their services. There are many people in West Arnhem who are equally proficient in both English and Kunwinjku.
2.6 Expansion of NT Night Patrol Services
Prior to the intervention both Maningrida and Gunbalanya had night patrols operating and both successfully. The night patrol in Maningrida consisted of women who concentrated on child protection and child safety. The night patrol in Gunbalanya has operated since November 2006 and has virtually eliminated petrol sniffing, reduced family violence by over 60% and significantly reduced presentations at the health clinic. Since April 2008 men have also been involved in the night patrol in Maningrida.
The night patrol services on Warruwi and Minjilang are yet to commence operations.
2.7 Additional Legal Services for Indigenous Australians
North Australian Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service has been visiting communities in West Arnhem under various iterations for many years. Service assistance has increased since the intervention however the service still has reasonably high staff turnover which is problematic throughout agencies in the Northern Territory.
Measure 3: Enhancing Education
3.1 Additional classrooms
3.2 Accelerated Literacy Program
3.3 School Nutrition Program
3.4 Volunteer Teacher Initiative
3.5 Quality Teaching Package
Many of the above initiatives are yet to be fully realised in the West Arnhem region so it is difficult to comment on their effectiveness. That said, they are welcome initiatives that when realised should contribute to improved educational outcomes for Indigenous children and young people. They need however, to be linked to the wider policy directions and the directions identified by community residents. No successful policy can be created in a vacuum, and unless community members are meaningful engaged in developing strategies it will be another case of an opportunity lost. The past is littered with the wrecks of failed policies that did not take account of regional and local differences and this has been a significant failing of the intervention. One size does not fit all and although many politicians and senior bureaucrats make this observation, they still plough ahead as we all take a size 7 shoe!
Measure 4: Supporting Families
4.1 Children's services and family support (crèches, laygroups and early childhood services).
The changes implemented in children’ services and family support have been varied across communities and have largely been incremental increases to existing services. Like many other initiatives within the intervention they were rushed, poorly planned and those visiting the communities had little understanding of community structures, Aboriginal terms of reference and had only worked in their program area for a very short period.
There was the end of financial year rush that is symptomatic of many government funded programs and this was further exacerbated by the amalgamation of community councils into larger shires as part of the NT Local Government Reform agenda. What this meant was that many communities had stopped purchasing on 30 May and found it difficult to accede to requests from Australian government staff wanting quotes for goods and services and funds spent by 30 June.
4.2 Child-at-Risk workers for NT Child Protection Services
There has been limited involvement to date of staff from this area.
4.3 Safe Place for families escaping family violence
In West Arnhem the only community to date with an agreed safe house is Gunbalanya. This was identified in the Gunbalanya 5 Year Community Plan in 2007 and this was the primary reason Gunbalanya was chosen. Despite this, FaHCSIA staff were still wanting to consult with the community about the suitability of a safe house for women and children and were wondering if a house for men would be more appropriate!! As commented throughout this submission, it highlights the need for Australian government staff to know the community, understand that Aboriginal people have been consulted to death on what they want, and the time has come for the understanding that Aboriginal people have long known how to resolve the issues that confront them. What they lack are the resources to change their lives.
4.4 Youth Alcohol Diversionary Services
These are still in their infancy and are yet to commence in most communities in West Arnhem. Gunbalanya has had a Juvenile Diversion program since 2007 that stemmed from the tragic death of 2 young men who were overcome by petrol fumes in a shipping container. In the time the program has operated, with close links to the night patrol there have been no hospitalisations due to petrol sniffing, and this malady has been virtually eliminated.
Measure 5: Improving Child and Family Health
5.1 Child Health Checks, Medical Follow-Up and Treatment
Other references have been made regarding the efficacy of child health checks in this submission. The medical follow-up has been mildly successful due to the nature of referrals of community members to Darwin. Usually this involves a flight to Darwin, occasional pick-up from the airport, possible booking into a hostel, possible pick-up and transport to hospital where an interpreter may be available. The discharge from hospital is equally parlous.
Many people have to take bus transport from Jabiru to Darwin which only operates daily. They face an equally daunting task of getting to their accommodation and then hospital. Discharge from hospital leaves them extremely vulnerable with little resources at their disposal that most of us just take for granted.
5.2 Child Special Services
Too early to comment on their effectiveness or otherwise.
5.3 Drug and Alcohol Response
Responses relating to drug and alcohol appear to vary from little effect to none at all. This is one area where there have been significant unintended consequences that could be catastrophic. With changes to the club opening times in Gunbalanya people are travelling long distances to drink and purchase alcohol.
People are driving back to Gunbalanya severely intoxicated and it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident. It is widely recognised that prohibition does not work and is difficult to enforce. It would make more sense to extend the opening hours of community clubs but restrict the amount of alcohol that can be purchased. This system was operating in Gunbalanya before the intervention restrictions were imposed however, the club decided to lift the restriction on alcohol purchases due to the reduced opening hours.
The limits on purchases at other centres along the Arnhem Highway vary but comply with the regulations implemented by the intervention. However the opening hours are the same as outlets across major centres in the Northern Territory.
Learning to drink responsibly is an important element of an Australian youth’s education (Brady 2004). Social policies that support the educational process within schools and families will also play a role in addressing the widespread problem of binge drinking.
Measure 6: Housing and Land Reform
6.1 Five year lease program
6.2 Urgent repairs to infrastructure
6.3 Permits
6.4 Community Clean Up
6.5 Land Compensation
The lease program was full of good intentions but was unnecessary. The 5 year leases are not required by the Australian government to undertake their proposed initiatives and have control over their assets. This policy needs to abolished and a reinstatement of the intention of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1976). Aboriginal people have clearly articulated the view that their rights have been violated and that they have been disempowered by the interventions action.
The urgent repairs to infrastructure were poorly planned and the carrying out of the work was a disaster in many communities. Comments have been elsewhere in this submission however it is appropriate to add more detail here. The individual item costs for repairs were grossly overpriced in some communities and there were concerns raise at the time but no action has been seen on the ground. Many councils/communities raised the point that there was little involvement of community apprentices/CDEP participants in undertaking the work. Concerns were also raised that there were many instances of inappropriate repairs in some houses and no repairs in houses where they were warranted.
At the start of the tender process councils were advised that they could not tender for the work as it would take them away from their normal functions. This proved not to be the case and in many communities there was a duplication of work being undertaken and demarcation disputes on who was responsible for the work to be carried out.
The land compensation has not been implemented in West Arnhem however there are concerns about how this will be implemented and who will be the beneficiaries. Many traditional owners are confused and still reeling from the decision to have their land forcibly taken from them. In terms of the compensation there are arguments that it should not go directly to traditional owners but invested into community infrastructure.
Measure 7: Coordination
7.1 NTER Taskforce
The NTER taskforce’s functions are little understood in communities. The flow of information from the taskforce to communities has been sporadic, the visits were hasty and not enough lead time was given to communities. As a result many visits coincided with other community meetings and community members felt they could not put their views directly to taskforce members.
7.2 Government Business Managers
There is an overall consensus that the placing of GBMs in communities has been positive and that action has occurred as a result of this.
7.3 Operations Centre
Comments on the effectiveness of the Operations Centre have been varied and concerns have been raised regarding their understanding of what happens on the ground. There is a feeling that staff in the Operations Centre need to be more aware of the differences between communities, that weather conditions vary significantly across the NT, they are unaware of the different Aboriginal terms of reference.
7.4 Community Engagement and Volunteering
7.5 Temporary Accommodation of WOG staff
7.6 Commonwealth Ombudsman support for NTER
7.7 Logistical support for NTER
The accommodation issues for GBMs was raised in October 2007 and it took until February 2008 before this was acted upon. This is symptomatic of centralised bureaucracies with too many intervening layers of decision makers that constrict appropriate action. The cost blow out in this area alone is predicted to be millions which could have been better spent on more appropriate accommodation or by a telephone call to each community asking if they had appropriate accommodation.
5. What progress has there been in improving the safety and well -being
of Indigenous children?
The new initiatives thus far implemented on the ground are in their infancy and it is difficult to ascertain how effective this has been. However, in some communities there were measures in place and these have continued to be effective.
6. Will the suite of measures deliver the intended results?
It could be argued that there have been some short term gains as a result of the intervention. However, the implementation was founded on spurious grounds and severely disempowered Aboriginal people. There needs to be a statement by government at the highest levels that clearly articulates the reasons behind the continuation of the intervention that is NOT based on the notion of child sexual abuse.
There needs to be a strong re-engagement of Aboriginal people at the local level to ensure that community members feel part of the process. Concomitantly local businesses/Shires need to be able to access funding initiatives (particularly new housing funds) to ensure they can continue to offer community members sustained employment.
The Australian government needs to streamline funding requirements at all levels. Many Shires receive in excess of 40 grants which all require quarterly reports and funding acquittals. Many of these grants overlap in terms of service types to the point where reports are repeating the same kinds of information in different formats.
The time frames for delivering some intervention initiatives have left many communities being frustrated to the point of disinterest as these initiatives will not be realised until July 2009. For example, new houses will not start to be built until July 2009. It would have been more prudent to allocate to the relevant communities a small number of houses (e.g. 3 – 5) as a show of goodwill. Aboriginal people have had many promises made over the past decades that have not transpired and this is seen as another example of promises not being delivered despite the pressing need.
7. Will the NTER lay the basis for a sustainable and better future for residents of remote communities and town camps in the NT?
8. What alternative measures should be considered?
9. Are there other ways of working that would better address the circumstances facing remote communities and town camps?
In the words of Nelson Mandela:
Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.
It is hard to deny the historical shortfall in public investment in NT communities, especially in areas of housing, community infrastructure, policing and schools (Taylor & Stanley 2005). What is needed now is a sustained effort, community consultation and partnership, effective and appropriate expenditure, and close monitoring by the media of what is being achieved (Altman 2007b).
The additional commitment of resources entailed in the NT intervention aimed at ensuring security of communities is laudable, but more is needed. It is a crisis that will now require serious commitment over many years. Governments should not underestimate the magnitude of the task — Jon Altman’s estimate of a $4 billion shortfall in expenditure is extremely conservative as it only focuses on certain aspects of the policy initiatives. (Altman, 2007b).
Not all people become depressed as a result of being in a situation where they appear not to have control, but the intransigence of Indigenous socioeconomic circumstances is such that it would be surprising if many Indigenous people had not learned to feel helpless. Prolonged exposure to dependence on welfare is likely to be one of the major factors underlying community violence and dysfunction (Hunter 2007b).
The top-down approach has many limitations, especially when it is attempting to change people’s behaviour. One of the limitations of military-style interventions is that it perpetuates attitudes of ‘learned helplessness’ that need to be changed if enduring changes are to be achieved. In a sense, some aspects of the intervention will address the learned helplessness arising from the lack of mainstream employment options. However, by bundling together more controversial measures that alienate Indigenous communities and their property rights, it also risks exacerbating the feelings of alienation and helplessness.
The community council in Gunbalanya developed a five year plan in December 2007 that involved extensive consultation with all residents and agencies that spelt out the community needs across a wide range of areas. The plan identified the responsibility of Australian Government and Northern Territory Government departments and how these agencies could assist in improving the lives of community residents. This was one of the first examples of a community setting its own agenda and identifying who could assist them and more importantly, how this should occur. The document has been used extensively throughout the time of the intervention and community residents continually refer agencies back to the initiatives spelt out in the document rather than get bogged down in another round of senseless consultations.
This approach needs to the norm rather than the exception. The Australian government should allow each community the capacity to develop its own plan and then respond to the issues raised but on the terms of each community.
In summary, even if one does not disagree with some aspects of the policy focus of the NT intervention, there has been a failure to provide for adequate planning, implementation and evaluation of the initiatives. Wicked problems, in inherently complex domains such as Indigenous policy, require negotiation between stakeholders and vigorous open public debate. In some ways, the public debate has been vigorous, but many commentators have criticised the lack of transparency and openness of the public discussions.
This submission emphasises the need for a bipartisan and long-term policy commitment so that substantial progress can be made in addressing Indigenous disadvantage and child abuse. While long-term commitment is essential, a transparent evaluation process is also essential to ensure that any bipartisan policy is based on solid foundations to achieve the desired outcomes.
Curiously, the former Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Amanda Vanstone, in a 2005 speech entitled ‘Beyond Conspicuous Compassion’ (Vanstone 2005), had this to say:
Good intentions are not good enough. Indigenous Australians must be able to expect the same range of opportunities as other Australians. No more cultural museums that might make some people feel good and leave Indigenous Australians without a viable future. Continuing cultural identity does not require poverty or isolation from mainstream Australian society.
As Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water was also reported as saying:
Like many areas of public policy … involving multiple levels of government, policy has been derailed by bickering and blame.
Problems ….. don’t get fixed by denial, delay or pointing the finger.