bipacsa_final_report

1.3 Commencement of Inquiry
Upon commencement of its work in August 2006, the
Inquiry immediately announced a call for submissions (see
Appendix 1) and held initial public launches and media
conferences in Darwin and Alice Springs.
The Inquiry also developed an innovative DVD to provide
information for Aboriginal communities about the Inquiry.
It introduced the Inquiry members and aimed to encourage
discussion about ways to better protect Aboriginal children
from sexual abuse. The DVD was sent to all local and
community government councils in the Territory, was
handed out at meetings during the early months of the
Inquiry and was also placed on the Inquiry’s website.
The Inquiry quickly developed a set of policies and
procedures to underpin its work and began an extensive
consultation process that continued from August 2006
through to March 2007 (see Appendix 2).
Finally, an Expert Reference Group was appointed in
September 2006. This group has been an important
resource for the Board of Inquiry, offering advice on such
matters as best practice in the area of child protection and
issues for Aboriginal communities. Several members of
the Reference Group also provided advice and assistance
in relation to consultations with community and
stakeholder organisations.
The Inquiry took the opportunity to move into more
publicly accessible office premises on the ground floor of
Tourism House in Darwin in early September 2006.
Inquiry Process (Methodology)
A full set of the Inquiry’s policies and procedures is
provided in Part II. These were designed to enable the
Inquiry to collect material in an effective and sensitive
manner, while at the same time being mindful of the
psychological wellbeing of Inquiry staff 10 , respondents and
other affected parties from dealing with disclosures of
abuse and detailed accounts of violence and assaults.
These materials primarily consisted of staff recruitment
and data collection policies. The latter covered receipt
and management of written submissions, consultations
10 For the purposes of this paper, unless otherwise defined, “Inquiry
staff” is defined as Board members and all other staff attached to
the Inquiry. They are identified in Acknowledgements.
Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle “Little Children are Sacred”
and site visits, sourcing government data, interviewing
children, staff safety planning, and data management.
Informing the Inquiry
The Inquiry ensured its work was informed by developing
a large collection of relevant reports and literature about
child sexual abuse, from within the Northern Territory
and other Australian and international jurisdictions, and
information and statistics relevant to the Inquiry’s terms
of reference.
In order to form a view about the nature and extent of
sexual abuse, its causes and possible solutions within a
Territory context, the Inquiry also collected substantial
information through consultation, seeking information
from government agencies and through the receipt of
written submissions.
Meetings
Under section 9 of the NT Inquiries Act, the Inquiry had
the power to hold formal hearing processes and to
subpoena witnesses to provide information. However,
it decided early in the Inquiry process that, rather than
arranging formal hearings and using its statutory
powers, it would conduct its enquiries in a cooperative
and relatively informal manner, preferring to collect
information or statements from self-identified individuals
and non-government agencies “in the field”, via telephone
interview, or at the Inquiry’s office.
The Inquiry subsequently held more than 260 meetings
with stakeholders around the Northern Territory
and, in some cases, from interstate. These included
meetings with service delivery organisations, Aboriginal
communities, government agency staff and individuals.
The Inquiry conducted consultations in the main regional
centres of Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Katherine and Alice Springs
and also visited and held meetings in regional and remote
communities in the Tiwi Islands, the East Arnhem region
including Groote Eylandt and Elcho Island, western
Arnhem Land, the Daly River region, Katherine region,
Barkly region and in Central Australia (see Figure 1 - Map
of the Visits).
The Inquiry’s Senior Policy Officer traveled to many
communities in advance of the visit to make contacts in
those communities, explain the purpose of the Inquiry,
encourage people to consider the issues, and arrange
planned meetings.