Key features of the government's response

The Government's Response to the Gordon Inquiry, Putting People First, December 2003, outlined the action plan for the future direction of Government responses to addressing family violence and child abuse in Indigenous communities in Western Australia.

• The challenge
• Principles underlying the Response
• Relationship with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
• Better Engagement with the Indigenous Community
• Doing Things Differently and Better
• Swan Valley Nyungah Community

The Challenge

The Response acknowledged the challenge now facing the Government and Indigenous communities. This challenge includes:

• the urgent need to improve responses to abuse and violence in Indigenous communities;
• the need for long term solutions to address the endemic nature of abuse and violence in many communities; and
• meeting the needs of current and future generations of Indigenous children through long-term environmental, social and economic improvements that will result in sustainable communities.

The Government and the Indigenous community have accepted this challenge.

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Principles underlying the response
The Response was underpinned by five key principles.

1. This is the first step in the implementation of long-term change. The Gordon Inquiry identified an overwhelming need for increased safety for Indigenous children and women in communities. This is an area requiring immediate action and a starting point for further improvements in all other areas of Indigenous community and family life.
   
2. The Government is committed to working in partnership with the indigenous community to address child abuse and family violence and to introduce reforms and initiatives that go beyond this initial response.
   
3. Indigenous women and men need to be supported to confront and prevent abuse.
   
4. The Government is committed to a strategy dedicated to engaging and working differently with Indigenous people and communities.
   
5. Formal partnership agreements need to reflect the commitment of both State and Commonwealth Governments and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission to jointly work with Indigenous people to build their capacity, governance and leadership for the development of sustainable communities.

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Relationship with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
The Government's commitment to working with the Indigenous community is embodied in the Indigenous Affairs Advisory Committee.

Through the Indigenous Affairs Advisory Committee, the Government and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission signed a Statement of Commitment to a New and Just Relationship, and subsequently created the Plan of Action to Prevent Child Abuse in Aboriginal Communities (September 2002). This Plan of Action takes into account the Gordon Inquiry recommendations and findings and focuses on four key areas of reform and partnership.

1. Building sustainable partnerships between Indigenous communities and Government, at all levels of decision-making.
   
2. Establishing a framework to enable identification, development and delivery of a range of service responses for the long term prevention of child abuse.
   
3. Establishing mechanisms to enable flexible responses and service agreements to be developed with Indigenous people.
   
4. Initiating policy and legislation that promotes and enables collaboration between Government and the community.

In December 2002, The Premier and relevant Ministers joined with members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission , State, Council and other Indigenous leaders at a roundtable to discuss long-term approaches to ending endemic violence and abuse and to building economically independent and sustainable communities. The IAAC Signed Communiqué (pdf = 225 kb) from the Roundtable forms the basis of much of the ongoing engagement between the Premier and ATSIC.

Note: Since these arrangements were put in place, there have been changes to ATSIC. The Indigenous Affairs Advisory Committee functions are now being fulfilled in other co-ordinating structures, such as the Human Services Directors' General Group.

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Better Engagement with the Indigenous Community
The Government agrees with the Gordon Inquiry's recommendation that communities be actively involved in identifying their needs and priorities, and in planning how best to address these needs with support from Government.

Key elements essential to improved collaboration and integrated service delivery.

• The Government is committed to Indigenous communities being supported to fully participate in achieving change and sustainable futures. This includes supporting Indigenous women and men to confront the level of child abuse and violence in their communities, the impact of this on individuals and families, and to take steps to develop integrated local community health and safety plans.
  
• The Government acknowledges that engaging and working with Indigenous communities is fundamental to improving the capacity of those communities. This partnership requires processes that enable community needs to be incorporated into Government planning, both centrally and regionally. In turn, it requires Government to be creative and flexible in responding to communities.
  
• The Government is committed to instituting processes that will identify community needs and involve Indigenous people in all levels of decision making as recognised by the Statement of Commitment. These processes will include the development of community action plans, as well as regional planning forums that bring relevant Government agencies together to ensure integrated and flexible responses.
  

The Gordon Inquiry found that the process to get genuine community involvement needs to be formalised. To help Indigenous communities develop solutions in partnership with Government departments, the Government will establish a Community Partnership Fund. Through this initiative, flexible funds will be made available for community and agency partnership initiatives identified through regional and local planning processes. Commencing in 2003/04, $400,000 per year will be allocated to this initiative for four years.

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Doing Things Differently and Better
The Gordon Inquiry Report (pdf = 4.5 mb) strongly signalled that Government needs to do its business differently and better. A significant number of the Gordon Inquiry's recommendations concerned the need for:

• whole-of-Government collaborative responses to communities needs;
  
• a simplified structure that allows for collaboration between frontline officers, middle management and strategic whole-of-Government planning bodies for service delivery to be effective;
  
• a framework for effective collaboration between departments and effective inter-agency coordination of service delivery on the ground.

A significant step towards this was the establishment of the implementation structure.

Swan Valley Nyungah Community

Putting People First (pdf = 1.2 mb) described how the Government registered a new management order over the Swan Valley Nyungah Community land. This new order was to make sure the management of the reserve was in the best interests of the women and children who lived there. Local service providers then made efforts to work with the management group and the residents. Despite this, the Premier was advised by Directors General that the risk to women and children at the Community remained unacceptably high. Subsequently, legislation has passed through Parliament and the Swan Valley Nyungah Community land is now to be managed for the benefit of all Aboriginal people.

A short-term administrator was appointed who met with interest groups and has provided a report on options for the future use of the land to Government. This report is now being considered.   The Government is also working with families from the community, who no longer reside on that land, to meet their needs.

- as at 11 November 2003
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