Safer Communities

'Safer Communities' is one of seven building blocks introduced under the National Indigenous Reform Agreement as part of the Closing the Gap Campaign. This aims to make Indigenous communities safer through a focus on the prevention and reduction of crime rates, substance abuse, family violence and child abuse. It takes a 'tough stance' on crime but couples this with community protection and education efforts.

Although aiming for 'safer communities' is not an actual target of the Closing the Gap Campaign, the goal of reducing child abuse was the impetus behind the first phase of the Intervention in 2007. Actual measurements of improvements in this area are difficult to quantify.  For example, it is difficult to tell whether an increase in reported assaults is a result of more assaults occurring, or of improved policing.  Conversely, a decline in assaults may be the result of decreased willingness on the part of victims to report to police.

Family Violence and Child Abuse

Child Abuse:

The Little Children Are Sacred report prompted the establishment of the Intervention in 2007 to address the perceived 'national emergency' of Indigenous child abuse rates. Data from 2013 shows that Indigenous children are "substantially over-represented in every area of the child protection system" and are up to eight times more likely to be the subject to substantiated reports of harm. However, it should be noted that while the report focused on child abuse, over 85% of reported cases are actually related to child neglect.

Between 2007-12, the total number of people convicted for child sexual assaults in Intervention communities was 45. In the four years prior to the Intervention, 25 people had been convicted.

As of  30 June 2017, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were almost 10 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children. In all jurisdictions, the rate of Indigenous children in out-of-home care was much higher than that for non-Indigenous children. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were 8 times as likely as non‑Indigenous children to have received child protection services (163.8 per 1,000 children compared with 19.7 respectively )

As of 2017 In the Northern Territory, Aboriginal children are 11.6 times more likely to be in out-of-home care (OOHC) than non-Aboriginal children. While this is not the highest rate in Australia, this statistic should be interpreted with caution given widespread evidence that child protection matters are significantly under-reported in the Northern Territory. Of the Indigenous children in OOHC, emotional abuse and neglect were the most common types of substantiated abuse.

Family Violence:

Family violence refers to violence perpetrated by any family member (including extended relations) against any other family member, whereas domestic violence more commonly refers to violence against an intimate partner, whether it occurs in a public or private setting.

Indigenous women are significantly more likely than the wider Australian community to be hospitalised as a result of family violence. In 2014-2015, Indigenous women were 32 times as likely as non-Indigenous women to be hospitalised for family-violence related assaults. Indigenous men are similarly over-represented in hospital for family violence, with a rate 23 times that of non-Indigenous males.

Measures taken

In 2006, prior to the start of the Intervention, the National Indigenous Violence and Child Abuse Intelligence Task Force (NIITF) was established under the Australian Crime Commission. Its role was to collect and analyse data about violence and child abuse, using coercive powers to gather such information if necessary.

In 2008, a fly-in Mobile Outreach Service Plus project was launched to provide counselling and support services for child abuse-related trauma in remote Northern Territory communities. In 2013, this project began operations from regional service centres to provide more consistent assistance.

In 2009, fourteen government funded Women's Safe Houses were opened throughout  remote communities of the Northern Territory. They are intended to provide a safe environment for women and children who are escaping domestic and family violence. The Remote Aboriginal Family and Community Worker Programme is staffed by Indigenous locals in 21 remote communities to promote early intervention in child protection and family support. Education has been provided for remote health and community workers through workplace training and development programs to increase their capacity to respond to child abuse and other related trauma.

In 2012, the Alice Springs Family Safety Framework commenced an integrated service response for people at high risk of family or domestic violence under the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. It received 114 referrals within its first 20 months of operation. The 2013 Child, Youth, Family and Community Wellbeing Implementation Plan was implemented to streamline frontline services offered to families. A Cross Border Domestic Violence Information Sharing project was introduced alongside this to protect victims of domestic violence across the NT, SA and WA borders.

In October 2016, then Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, released the Third Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children. This included a $25 million investment in frontline Indigenous organisations and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services to address family violence experienced by Indigenous women and children. The package sought to deliver practical outcomes which prevent and reduce violence against Indigenous women and children. Amongst these outcomes, the Third Action Plan delivered a sexual assault specialist service which operates out of the Alice Springs Women’s Shelter, and extends to four remote Indigenous communities and 19 town camps(COG + NAP 3).

In addition, the Commonwealth government has introduced the Building Better Lives for Ourselves (BBLFO) program which aims to empower and equip Indigenous women to address and halt the effects of trauma and family violence in their communities. Since April 2015 this project has delivered a series of trauma-informed consultations, “think tanks” and workshops to a network of Indigenous women. BBLFO’s stated aims are to tackle the factors underlying and ongoing violence and abuse of women and children using three approaches: community-driven development to build community ownership; use of a trauma-based approach to leadership training; and building confidence, responsibility and personal empowerment to develop women’s leadership.

Various Northern Territory laws have been enacted since the start of the Intervention to make reporting child abuse mandatory. These include s124A of the Domestic and Family Violence Act 2009 and s26 of the Care and Protection of Children Act 2007.

Results

Child Abuse: 

There have been mixed results regarding the protection of children from child abuse in Indigenous communities

On the one hand, Indigenous children have experienced increased access to Indigenous child protection services.  Such access increased by 2.5 times in the Northern Territory between 2006-11. The largest increases occurred in remote areas, and the increase outstripped all other states. While the total number of reported child abuse incidents increased between 2007-10, most likely due to the introduction of mandatory reporting legislation, the numbers have steadily declined from 2010-12.

On the other hand, there has been a 69% increase in Indigenous children being placed in out-of-home care due to no longer being able to live with their parents. This makes them 4 times more likely to not be living with their parents than non-Indigenous children. The Child Placement principle states that children should be housed with Indigenous family members or foster carers if removed from their immediate family, yet in 2016-2017, the percentage of children being placed according to this principle decreased from 74% (2007-2008) to 67.6%. Additionally, reported attempts of suicide or self-harm by Indigenous children are also up by almost 500%.

Family Violence: 

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of family violence cases, which is likely an effect of both extra policing and mandatory reporting. The rate of increase seems to have slowed according to the most recent figures from 2013-14, which report only a 3.2% increase. The 2014-2015 data indicates that hospitalisation rates for family-violence related assault for Indigenous females is 32 times the rate for non-Indigenous females. Between 2016-2017, 531 women, and 438 children sought shelter at the Alice Springs Women’s Shelter alone, and 96% of those who sought shelter were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. This provides a dramatic increase from 2012-2013 where 312 women and 394 children sought accommodation from the Women’s Safe Houses, showing the importance of such shelters, and the need to address the causes of disproportionate violence against Indigenous women and children.

Crime

The Indigenous community experiences a higher rate of contact with the criminal justice system than the non-indigenous. Indigenous people are 5 times more likely to be the victim of homicide than non-Indigenous people, but in nearly all cases the perpetrator is known to the victim. As of 2017-2018, the principal offence for Indigenous offenders was 'acts intended to cause injury', which accounted 52% of offences in the Northern Territory. A significant number of these offences were alcohol related, and involved family violence.

Measures taken

In 2008-9, the Australian Federal Police deployed 66 police to the Northern Territory to maintain law and order in 18 priority remote communities. $18.5 million of Commonwealth funding was allocated to support the exercise. Five new police stations were built throughout the Northern Territory during 2011-12. Community Engagement Officers were trained to improve relationships between police and local indigenous people.

The Community Safety and Justice Implementation Plan was signed in 2013 to support ongoing improvements in community safety in remote Northern Territory communities. A Safe Streets Audit was commissioned in 2014 to help inform effective strategies to reduce crime rates in the Northern Territory. The Government has committed to funding for 4 new police stations to be built in remote Northern Territory communities by 2019.

The NT Government has also increased the operation of Community Night patrols in 81 communities in the Northern Territory in 2018. This service provides transport to a safe place, refers people to additional services and intervenes to limit ‘antisocial behaviour’. Through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy the Commonwealth Government provides $28.5 million which funds 20 service providers. The night patrol in 2017 assisted with over 245,000 incidents and this helps to reduce crimes and make the community safer. The Australian Government has also continued to support the Northern Territory with remote policing presence, and providing funding to address substance, domestic and child abuse. Community Engagement Officers operate within the Northern Territory to promote crime prevention and community engagement.

Results

The 2012 Closing the Gap report found that remote communities in the Northern Territory have reported that neighbourhood conflict levels have nearly halved. Despite this, the Northern Territory Safe Streets Audit found that overall, citizens of the Northern Territory feel more unsafe compared to the rest of Australia. However, there have been suggestions that the government’s approach to crime management has not been culturally sensitive. It has also failed to include proper consultations with Indigenous communities. In a 2009 report by the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, an Indigenous elder was quoted as saying that “we feel that the intervention offers us absolutely nothing, except to compound the feeling of being second class citizens.  The  only thing  that  we have gained out of the intervention is the police.”

The latest Northern Territory Police statistics indicate that there has been a 13.12% decrease in crime overall between 2018-2019, including reductions in assault, alcohol related and domestic violence related crimes. These rates have however fluctuated in the past, with NT Police reporting an overall increase in crime between 2017-2018.

Nationally rates of reoffending also remain high, with 76% of Indigenous prisoners having previously served a sentence, compared to 49% of non-Indigenous prisoners. National crime overall had reduced in 2016-2017, from 2,005 to 1,949 offenders per 100,000 persons.

Alcohol and Drugs

Alcohol remains a significant issue in Indigenous communities across the Northern Territory. It has been cited as the “biggest cause of crime” in the Territory and also contributes to ongoing Indigenous disadvantage through reduced life expectancy, poor health, reduced education and employment outcomes and decreased community safety.

The 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey indicated that of Indigenous Australians who drink alcohol, 35% are likely to drink at risky levels. These rates are higher compared to non-Indigenous Australians, where 25% of those who drink alcohol are likely to drink at risky levels. However, the report suggested the overall the percentage of the population consuming alcohol daily had declined between 2013 (6.5%) and 2016 (5.9%). The alcohol induced death rate is five times higher for Indigenous people and they are 12 times more likely to be hospitalised for acute alcohol intoxication. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy also contributes to a higher prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder amongst Indigenous communities. Although there was an increase in people abstaining from alcohol overall, the percentage of people exceeding the lifetime and single occasion risk guidelines was still higher than any other state.

Drugs remain a prevalent issue in Indigenous communities. The Northern Territory has the highest  proportion of people using illicit drugs. 22% of people reported personal use of illicit substances in 2016. It was also found that daily smoking continues to be the highest in the Northern Territory compared to all other states. The Northern Territory also had up to 13% more smokers compared to other states. Remote Indigenous communities are more likely to engage in risky alcohol consumption and smoking, but less likely to use illicit drugs.

Measures taken

Under the Intervention, all Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory was designated as a 'prescribed area'. Alcohol was banned in all these areas and police were empowered to randomly search and seize alcohol. The Income Management scheme through the BasicsCard also restricted the use of income payments to purchase alcohol or drugs.