.svg){kind=icon}
Abstract:
The Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) was announced on 21 July 2007 and has been implemented over the last four years. The NTER aims to protect children, to make communities safe and to build a better future for people living in Indigenous communities and town camps in the Northern Territory. It has changed since its initial implementation but its focus and many of the key themes and measures remain the same. The report of the Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: ‘Little children are sacred’, gave the issue of child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory a high profile and was a direct catalyst for the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER). There has been a very large increase in child protection substantiations for Indigenous children in the Northern Territory since 2006–07. Around three-quarters of this increase is accounted for by child neglect, and the increase probably reflects an increase in child protection resources rather than a change in the underlying rate. While child sexual assault is an issue, child neglect is a much larger one. The NTER sought to improve outcomes for Indigenous children and families by targeting communities that had lower than needed service levels for police, child protection, health, housing, education and infrastructure. The current NTER measures in the Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory National Partnership Agreement (NTNPA) are improving the basic services, infrastructure and safety of communities and showing some early signs of positive outcomes for Indigenous people. Outcomes for health, education, employment, housing and safety are still well below those for non-Indigenous people but they have improved since the start of the NTER. In a survey of over 1,300 NTER community members, most people (58.7%) reported that they felt that their lives were better than they had been three years ago. A majority of people surveyed (72.6%) also said that their community was safer now than it had been three years ago. The number of simultaneous activities (many unrelated to the NTER), the long lag time between actions and outcomes, and the short duration of the NTER mean it is rarely possible to attribute outcomes to individual measures. Educational attainment remains a key challenge. Average school attendance rates were low and have not improved since the start of the NTER. There has been some improvement in National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results for Year 3 reading in NTER schools since 2008, but most children in NTER schools do not meet national minimum standards for reading, writing and numeracy. Problems with the implementation of the NTER relate primarily to poor consultation and the blanket imposition of a small number of initiatives. The initial rollout was marked by a sense of crisis that favoured short-term approaches with little consultation. This delivered much needed additional government services, such as police, teachers, night patrols and classrooms. Communities generally welcomed these additional government services despite short consultation periods. However, for initiatives specific to the NTER communities—such as income management and signage outside communities referring to the alcohol and pornography bans—the abrupt, imposition broke trust and made some people feel that they had been unfairly labelled. Many people valued the measures, but the manner in which they were implemented caused problems. Additional engagement mechanisms have been added over the course of the NTER. A survey of 85 government and service providers conducted by the Allen Consulting Group found that 71 per cent of respondents thought that engagement approaches improved over time. Despite this, there are ongoing challenges. Looking forward, new measures to improve enrolment and attendance at school and the extent and sustainability of the economic base are needed if the NTER is to fulfil its objectives. Education and jobs are critical to the wellbeing of communities. Housing also remains an issue of prime importance to communities. Workforce shortfalls, especially shortfalls of suitably skilled Indigenous people, are evident in health, education, policing and governance. Yet there is low employment and low school attendance. There is potential for more Indigenous people to pursue careers that would assist their communities, particularly if they succeed in school. Longevity of both programs and personnel has been demonstrated to work better than rapid change. Long-term commitment and evolution in accordance with community strengths and on timeframes agreed with communities have the greatest chance of bringing about sustained improvement. The capacity of communities to build on government services will be essential to sustained improvement. Dodson and Smith have identified Indigenous governance as the key factor for the sustainable development of Indigenous communities: ‘Without improved governance capacity, there is unlikely to be sustained development, and valuable opportunities will be squandered.’
