bipacsa_final_report

1. Introduction
The increasing expansion and identification of social ills
or issues (such as child abuse and parenting problems,
youth suicide, bullying, domestic violence, substance
abuse, relationship breakdown etc.), combined with a
greater focus on the quality of family life and the health
and wellbeing of family members (Tomison & Wise 1999)
have produced significant demand for assistance from
families and communities. They seek external support to
help them achieve and maintain a “reasonable” standard
of living, health and wellbeing. This has occurred as
traditional forms of support provided by extended family
and/or friends and neighbours appear to be decreasing
(Bittman & Pixley 2000).
Accurate statistics about the incidence of child abuse
and other family violence in Aboriginal communities are
scarce (Bolger 1991). Although the available statistics are
imperfect, they are sufficient to demonstrate that the
occurrence of violence in Indigenous communities and
among Indigenous people “is disproportionately high in
comparison to the rates of the same types of violence in
the Australian population as a whole” (Memmott, Stacy,
Chambers & Keys 2001:6).
O”Donoghue illustrates the extent of the problem of
family violence, noting that many Indigenous children are
growing up in communities where violence has become “a
normal and ordinary part of life” (2001:15).
Only one per cent of the Australian population lives in the
Northern Territory – occupying one-fifth of the nation’s
land mass. Almost one third of the population identifies
as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and many of these
people live in small settlements in some of the most
remote parts of the country. It is a young population often
beset with a range of social and environment problems.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the rate of child sexual
abuse and other forms of maltreatment and family
violence are among the highest in the country.
Despite having some knowledge of the nature of the
sexual abuse problem Aboriginal communities are facing,
it has only been relatively recently (since the 1990s),
that concerted efforts have been made by a number of
government agencies to address the incidence of sexual
abuse. The extent of the problem has also been more
clearly demonstrated. Since 2001-02, greater attention
0 Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle “Little Children are Sacred”
and surveillance of the maltreatment of Aboriginal
children in the Territory has meant that the actual number
of Aboriginal children who have been the subject of
substantiated child abuse and neglect now outnumber
non-Aboriginal children in the Territory’s published child
protection data. This did not happen because Aboriginal
children suddenly became more at risk of harm, but has
more likely resulted from a new focus and investment in
the Territory’s health and welfare system. Expanded FACS
and health (and police) services have been better placed
to deliver increased surveillance of rural/remote and
Aboriginal populations (see below).
The Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children
from Sexual Abuse was created to further explore the
nature of the problem and provide some ways forward for
government in addressing sexual abuse.
1.1 Establishment of the Inquiry
The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Clare Martin
MLA, established the Board of Inquiry into the Protection
of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse on 8 August
2006. The purpose of the Inquiry was to find better ways
to protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse.
Inquiry members
Rex Wild QC and Patricia (Pat) Anderson were appointed
Co-Chairpersons of the Inquiry under the Northern
Territory Inquiries Act. Initially, Mr Mick Palmer (a former
Commissioner of NT Police Fire and Emergency Services
and of the Australian Federal Police) was announced as
Co-Chair, along with Pat Anderson in June 2006, but Mr
Palmer resigned prior to his appointment being formalised
and was replaced by Mr Wild.
Rex Wild has a Master of Laws degree from Monash
University and was admitted to practice as a Barrister and
Solicitor in Victoria in 1968. He joined the Victorian Bar in
1973 and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1991. Mr
Wild was admitted to practice as a legal practitioner in
the Northern Territory in 1992 and subsequently worked
as Senior Assistant Director to the Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP) and then Senior Crown Counsel with
the NT Attorney-General’s Department. Mr Wild was