Policy Statement: Landmark Reform to the Welfare System, Reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act, and Strengthening of the Northern Territory Emergency Response    

The Government believes that the extreme disadvantage facing Indigenous people in the Northern Territory warrants continuing concentrated intervention and effort.

We are committed to closing the gap in the Northern Territory by working in partnership with Aboriginal people. Of the top 50 most disadvantaged locations across Australia on the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), the Northern Territory has 24.

In 2006, Indigenous students in the Northern Territory recorded the lowest level of achievement in the national reading benchmarks for years 3, 5 and 7.

The rate of hospital separations related to alcohol-use among Indigenous people is up to 5 times higher than for non-Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, and the rate of alcohol related deaths is around 10 times higher.

All Australian Governments are agreed that overcoming this scale of disadvantage requires a long-term generational commitment with major effort directed across a range of strategic platforms or ‘Building Blocks’

These Building Blocks are:

1. Governance and Leadership;
2. Early Childhood;
3. Schooling;
4. Health;
5. Economic Participation;
6. Healthy Homes; and
7. Safe Communities.

The Australian Government has recognised the need to invest in a range of strategies across the COAG Building Blocks aimed at Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory.  Australian Government initiatives in the Northern Territory against each of the building blocks are set out below.

1.  Governance and leadership

Over the past few months the Australian Government has conducted over 500 workshops and meetings with several thousands of Indigenous people in 73 Northern Territory communities and town camps on the redesign of NTER. These extensive consultations demonstrate the Government’s commitment to work in partnership with Indigenous people on the future direction of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).

We know that building strong on-the-ground relationships with communities is  critical.  Funding directed to this aim includes:

• $34.6 million over three years (from 2009-10) to facilitate more effective engagement between the government and Indigenous people through providing ongoing funding for Indigenous Engagement Officers;
• $84.1 million over three years has been provided for a boosted presence of government staff in remote regions, and interpreter services and cultural competency training for Government staff;
• $3.3 million over four years has been provided for the Ombudsman’s office to handle complaints, support complaint handling in Government agencies delivering programs to Indigenous communities, and identify systemic issues;
• $0.9 million has been provided for the Government to work with the Northern Territory Aboriginal Interpreter Service to improve its capacity to deliver services as required.

The Groote Eylandt Regional Partnership Agreement is an example of what can be achieved through strong community leadership and meaningful engagement by governments. The Agreement aims to achieve sustainable and measurable improvements across the areas of housing, health services, education, employment and business development, community safety, and local organisations' governance capacities. It includes significant financial contributions from Traditional Owners, and both the Australian and Northern Territory Governments.

Good governance is also about the way that governments deliver services in remote regions. We are committed to overhauling the way governments deliver services and invest in remote areas. Under the Remote Service Delivery Strategy, our benchmark is to progressively deliver in communities or townships the facilities and services one would expect in any Australian town of the same size.

Given the scale of the backlog of need in remote Indigenous communities, 29 priority national locations have been initially identified under the Remote Service Delivery National Partnership.

The Northern Territory has 15 of the 29 priority national locations. Those locations will continue to expand as benchmarks are achieved.  Through the Remote Service Delivery arrangements, local governance arrangements involve:

• community partners in setting priorities and implementing initiatives; and
• establishing and reporting against baseline data.

Under the National Partnership Agreement for Remote Service Delivery, leadership and governance training will be provided to Indigenous people in priority locations in the Northern Territory tailored to meet their specific training needs. ;The leadership and governance training will assist Indigenous people to develop the skills and capacity to engage effectively with government on the programs and services that affect their lives.

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2. Early childhood

Australian Government action in the Northern Territory has focused on increasing access to high quality early childhood health and education services and support for parents.  The youthful demographic and high fertility rates in the Northern Territory, coupled with extreme levels of poverty, underline the importance of acting early to give children the best chance in life. The Australian Government is making unprecedented investments into the Northern Territory to support children in their early years.

Increasing access to high quality early childhood health and education services

The National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education seeks to improve the supply and integration of early childhood services, including child care and early learning and development through the delivery of universal access to quality early childhood education in the year before full time schooling.  The universal access commitment is that by 2013 every child will have access to a preschool program in the 12 months prior to full-time schooling, for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year, delivered by a four year university qualified early childhood teacher, in accordance with a national early learning years framework.

In recognition of the importance of early education, the Australian Government is providing $955 million to states and territories over five years, to achieve Universal Access to early childhood education. Of this, the Northern Territory will be receiving $15.9 million.

The Australian and Northern Territory Governments have negotiated a Bilateral Agreement, which details the actions and strategies the Northern Territory will put in place to deliver the Universal Access commitment over the next five years.

Key commitments under the Northern Territory Bilateral Agreement are:

• increasing the level of participation while increasing hours of attendance that are available for children from 12 to 15 hours;
• increasing preschool participation for Indigenous children through developing a territory-wide plan for delivery of preschool in small remote communities and town camps; and
• increasing the proportion of four year early childhood education trained teachers.

The Northern Territory Government is undertaking planning discussions and has commenced a range of activities, including mobile preschool delivery initiatives, to ensure that all children, no matter where they live, will have access to a quality early childhood education program.

The National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood Development acknowledges that Indigenous children are the most vulnerable group of children in Australia and disparities with non-Indigenous children in some outcomes have widened in recent years. The Agreement seeks to improve outcomes for Indigenous children through:

• integration of early childhood services through Children and Family Centres;
• increased access to antenatal, pre-pregnancy care and teenage sexual and reproductive health; and
• increased access to and use of Maternal and Child Health Services by Indigenous families.

Under the National Partnership, Children and Family Centres will be established in Maningrida, Yuendumu, Ngukurr, Gunbalanya, and Palmerston.

These centres will deliver or link with a range of parenting, child care, health and early learning and development services, making these important services easier for parents and their children to access. The design and service mix of the Centres will be developed in consultation with the local community to ensure services meet local needs.

A school nutrition program has been set up in 69 communities providing breakfast and lunch to school-aged children. These programs are encouraging children to go to school by providing better nutrition:

• around 130 local Aboriginal people are employed either full-time or part- time under the program.

Support for parents

New Directions Mothers and Babies Services are located in Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Yuendumu:

• these services delivernew or enhanced services to: increase access to antenatal care; provide standard information about baby care; provide practical advice and assistance with breastfeeding, nutrition and parenting; monitoring of developmental milestones, immunization status and infections; and deliver health checks for Indigenous children before starting school. Additional services in the Northern Territory will be considered for funding this financial year.

$10 million over three years from 2008-09 of capital funding has been provided for new accommodation for Indigenous mothers from remote areas so they can access prenatal obstetric and postnatal services. Two sites in the Northern Territory are currently being considered.

A home visiting service in Central Australia funded through the Australian Nurse Family Partnership Program, is being implemented to help mothers gain confidence and improve their parenting skills.  It will provide home-visiting services and support mothers to improve pregnancy outcomes; improve child health and development; and encourage mothers to develop goals for themselves and their family.

Fifteen Indigenous Parenting Support Services will be established in: Angurugu, Gapuwiyak, Galiwin’ku, Gunbalanya, Lajamanu, Milingimbi, Maningrida, Nguiu, Ntaria, Numbulwar, Ngukkur, Yirrkala, Yuendumu, Umbakumba and Wadeye. 

• Parents will have access to a range of services aimed at strengthening parenting skills such as training in nutrition, hygiene, children's health and financial management. They will also benefit from regular home visits from case workers who can support parents with children with behaviour management issues.

Communities for Children is part of the new Family Support Program which provides prevention and early intervention programs to families with children up to 12 years, who are at risk of disadvantage and who remain disconnected from childhood services. This initiative applies to all Australian children in 45 sites around the country, including Alice Springs, East Arnhem, Katherine Region and Palmerston/Tiwi Islands. Examples of activities being implemented under Communities for Children include: home visiting; early learning and literacy programs, early development of social and communication skills, parenting and family support programs, child nutrition, and community events to celebrate the importance of children, families and the early years.

The Expansion of Playgroups for Indigenous Families program will fund Locational Supported Playgroups in Ngukurr, Yuendumu, Numbulwar and Milingimbi. Mobile Intensive Support Playgroups have been established in the town camps of Katherine and Tennant Creek, providing extensive support to isolated and disadvantaged families. These playgroups will help develop children’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive abilities and provide important opportunities for parents to establish social and support networks to assist them in parenting.

Parents will also get additional support for their children through funding for crèches in remote communities in the Northern Territory that previously had little or no access to early childhood programs for children under five years of age. New facilities have been established at Peppimenarti, Yarralin, Robinson River, Areyonga and Lajamanu, and existing crèche facilities have been upgraded at Ntaria (Hermannsburg), Nyirripi, Santa Teresa, Oenpelli (Gunbalanya), Borroloola, Maningrida, Gapuwiyak, Wugularr, Minyerri and Minjilang.

The Government funds a total of 118 non-mainstream child care services in the Northern Territory in locations where the market would otherwise fail to deliver child care. These services are mainly located in rural and remote Indigenous communities. The type of non-mainstream services vary based on community need and include Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Services (MACS), flexible / innovative child care services, outside school hours care, mobile child care services, playgroups and crèches.

The Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters is currently operating in Alice Springs and will also be delivered in Katherine in 2010. This home-based parenting and early childhood enrichment program empowers parents to be their child’s first teacher and foster parent involvement in school and community life.

Research on Children

The Australian Government is committed to building a better understanding of the needs of Indigenous children, through the Footprints in Time study and the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI).

The Footprints in Time study tracks the long-term development of 1,687 children and will give researchers the capacity to look in depth at the early childhood experiences of Indigenous children and how these experiences influence their future.

• The study measures the health and development of Indigenous children aged between six months and five years – and records the circumstances of their parents and carers. The study began last year and families will be interviewed yearly over at least four years.
• In the Northern Territory the study covers Darwin, Katherine, Galiwin’ku, Alice Springs and Hermannsburg.

The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is designed to present a population-level picture of how children in a community are developing by the time they reach school age. It measures five domains of early childhood development from information collected via a teacher-completed checklist in the children’s first year of formal schooling.

These domains are:

• physical health and wellbeing;
• social competence;
• emotional maturity;
• language and cognitive skills (school based); and
• communication skills and general knowledge.

A Snapshot of Early Childhood Development in Australia, the first AEDI national report, will be released in December 2009 along with mapped community results.

Community Profiles will be released in March 2010, which will help inform communities and government in developing and evaluating their efforts to improve outcomes for children.

The AEDI Indigenous Study initiated by the Centre for Developmental Health and the Kulunga Indigenous Research Network, was completed prior to the AEDI national data collection and helped ensure that the AEDI was culturally appropriate for Indigenous Australians.

Additionally, Indigenous Cultural Consultants completed the AEDI Checklist collaboratively with the child’s classroom teacher.

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3. Schooling

The majority of Indigenous students in very remote Australia currently do not meet the national minimum standard in reading, writing and numeracy, and the Government is giving particular attention to improving access to schooling, addressing infrastructure needs and providing funding to improve the quality of teaching. 

Specific measures funded in the last Budget as part of Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory are:

• $23 million for the Quality Teaching Package for Professional development framework to up-skill and retain the education workforce in NT schools with a particular emphasis on developing an Indigenous education workforce;
• $11.2 million in 2009-10 to build up to 22 additional teacher houses; and
• $22.7 million for onsite accelerated literacy and numeracy support for teaching staff through the assistance of regionally based specialist teams.

This builds on measures to support the NTER in the 2008 budget and in response to 2007 election commitments:

• $19.1 million under the Enhancing Education initiatives including funds to continue professional development of teachers of Indigenous students; and
• $98.8 million over five years for an additional 200 teachers in the Northern Territory.

$17.5 million has been committed under Building an Education Revolution for new and refurbished science and language centres for remote Northern Territory communities.

As well, the Government has given particular attention to enabling students from very remote communities to continue their schooling through support for boarding facilities, including $28.9 million committed over four years in 2008-09 to build three new boarding facilities for secondary students in the Northern Territory.

In addition to measures funded under the NTER, students, schools and teachers in the Northern Territory will benefit from investments through the following National Partnerships.

The National Partnership Agreement on Literacy and Numeracy seeks to put in place the infrastructure and practices that will deliver sustained improvement in literacy and numeracy outcomes for all students, with many NT schools participating.

The National Partnership Agreement on Improving Teacher Quality seeks to drive and reward systemic reforms to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in Australian schools.

• The national partnership incorporates a range of reforms. One indicative Indigenous-specific measure is building professional pathways for Indigenous people and Indigenous Education Workers who wish to progress to teaching through the Indigenous Pathways reform.

The National Partnership Agreement on Low Socio-Economic Status School Communities seeks to improve student engagement, educational attainment and wellbeing in participating schools.

• One of the specific focal points in the Northern Territory is on improving support for regional and urban Indigenous students through the Engaging Urban Students (EUS) reform.  16 schools will receive targeted resourcing to support attendance and engagement initiatives to enhance the connection between home, family and school.; Many of these schools service the needs of Indigenous students living in town camps.

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4. Health

Health outcomes for Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory continue to be poorer than for non-Indigenous Australians.  The most recent Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report shows that in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory the Indigenous mortality rate was twice the rate for non Indigenous people, with Indigenous death rates nine times higher than non-Indigenous death rates for diabetes, six times as high for cervical cancer, four times as high for kidney diseases and three times as high for digestive diseases. 

To address these, and other issues, significant funds have been committed under the Northern Territory Emergency Response, and through the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes.  Areas of focus include improving health outcomes for Indigenous children, increasing access to comprehensive primary health care services, strengthening food security and nutrition through community store licensing and addressing the impact of alcohol misuse.

As well as funding additional health services in the Northern Territory, the Australian and Northern Territory Governments have agreed to the Pathways to Community Control framework to help Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory get closer to taking primary health care into their own hands.

The National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes will contribute to closing the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians health across urban, rural and remote areas by focusing on five priority areas: tackling smoking, providing a healthy transition to adulthood, making Indigenous health everyone’s business, delivery of effective primary health care services and better coordination of the patient journey through the health system.

The Commonwealth is contributing $805.5 million over four years nationally to the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes.  This will tackle chronic disease risk factors, improve chronic disease management in primary care, improve follow up care and increase the capacity of the primary care workforce to deliver effective health care to Indigenous Australians. The Northern Territory Government is providing $175.87 million over four years for activities as its contribution to the National Partnership. 

To date, funding of $960,000 for six Indigenous Outreach Workers and two Indigenous health project officers has been approved for the Northern Territory for 2009-10.

The Department is consulting with the Indigenous Health Partnership Forums in each jurisdiction on priority regions for further investment.  It is expected that an equitable proportion of funding under the package would be available for the Northern Territory, taking into account the needs of other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

Below are some further measures specific to the Northern Territory.

Healthy children and families

A total of 14,610 Child Health Checks were carried out between July 2007 and 30 June 2009.  Over 69 percent of children who received a Child Health Check were referred to at least one specialist service. The 2009-10 budget provided $131.1 million over three years for expanded primary health care and health-related services in the NT, including

• continuation of increased primary health care services;
• regional reform of remote Indigenous primary health care services;
• continuing the Remote Area Health Corps;
• funding follow up services for dental and ear, nose and throat conditions identified through the NTER child health checks;
• continuation of alcohol and other drug services; and
• expanding the Mobile Outreach Services.

In addition, $21.5 million over five years will be provided to health services in the Northern Territory as part of the Better Outcomes for Hospitals and Community Health measure.  This will build and improve health clinics ($10 million over 3 years); provide increased access to renal dialysis ($5.3 million over 5 years); and expand sexual assault counselling ($6.2 million over 4 years from 2008-09).

Improving sexual health

$2.1 million will be provided during 2009-10 to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sexual health workers across the community controlled primary health sector and State-based health services. 

• $1.55 million has been allocated over three years (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11) to establish the Tri-State Centre for Sexual Health in Alice Springs to improve sexual health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the cross-border region of Central Australia.  The funds represent the collective contribution by the Commonwealth, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. 
• $780,000 from 2008-09 to 2010-11 has been provided to Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Inc to employ a senior Aboriginal man to develop and implement an STI/BBV peer education program for young Aboriginal men in remote and urban communities in central Australia.  The focus of the program will be on reducing the risk of BBV transmission during ceremonial business and promoting health seeking behaviour including STI/BBV.

Community Stores

An important part of a healthy community is reliable access to a good range and quality of fresh food.  A key measure of the NTER has been the licensing of community stores, which has meant that as at 24 June 2009, a total of 85 community stores have been licensed.  The community stores licensing process addresses concerns about the management of stores and the quality of food availability by setting standards for food, grocery quality and store governance.

• $18.3 million over three years from 2009-10 has been provided to continue assessing, licensing and monitoring stores; provide training and improve the capacity and operations of community stores; and provide food to communities where a store licence has been revoked.

Addressing alcohol abuse

Abuse of alcohol and other drugs can have devastating health and community safety consequences.  An important aspect of the NTER has been to provide additional services to assist individuals and families to address the effects of alcohol.

• $8 million to reduce alcohol and substance abuse and its impact on families, safety and community wellbeing in remote Indigenous communities.
•  $1.5 million through the Alice Springs Transformation Plan to expand and improve the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress’ Targeted Family Support Service which provides intensive case management for individual families, with a further $100,000 to employ an additional alcohol counsellor.

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5. Economic participation

The Government has developed both specific employment packages in the Northern Territory, as well as implementing nationwide reforms to the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP);program, the Indigenous Employment Program (IEP), and;mainstream employment services;so Indigenous Australians acquire the skills they need to get and keep a job.

NTER specific employment 

Under the 2007 Northern Territory Jobs Package, the Australian Government has provided more than $90 million over three years;to generate around 2000 jobs supporting government service delivery.

• As at 30;September;2009, the package has funded 2;122; positions, with;;1720; jobs in Australian Government service delivery and 402; in local government service delivery. Those people;in these jobs were;previously employed through CDEP now have properly paid work with entitlements and superannuation.

The Australian Government has also provided $28 million to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to create 169 new jobs in 28 Indigenous ranger groups, working on land and sea management activities in the Northern Territory.

• The investment supports the development of ranger groups in a number of regions across the Northern Territory including (but not confined to) Wadeye, Daly River, Pine Creek, Borroloola, Numbulwar, Waanyi-Garawa Aboriginal Land Trust, Minjilang, Warruwi, Maningrida, Laynhapuy, Galiwinku, Ramingining, Kabulwanamyo, Ngukurr, the Tiwi Islands, Lajamanu, Yuendemu, Ti-Tree and Docker River (Kaltukatjara).

More than $9 million is committed through the Working on Country Northern Territory program delivered by the Department of the Environment, Water and Heritage to create 61 new ranger jobs.

Employment through National Partnership Agreements

The National Partnership Agreement for Remote Indigenous Housing includes a requirement that 20 per cent of local Indigenous employment is to be included as part of procurement requirement for new housing construction. The 20 per cent target is currently being achieved in the first three packages - Tiwi Islands, Groote Eylandt and Tennant Creek.

The Indigenous Economic Participation National Partnership seeks to directly create employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians in the private and public sectors.  The national partnership will support:

• creation of sustainable jobs in government service delivery;
• strengthening government procurement policies to maximise Indigenous employment;
• incorporating Indigenous workforce strategies into all new major COAG reforms; and
•  increasingIndigenous representation across public sector;employment in the Northern Territory to;at least;10 percent by 2015.

Through the National Partnership Agreement on Productivity Places Program the Australian and Northern Territory Governments will invest over $21 million over three and a half years to deliver 5769 qualification commencements;for job;seekers and existing workers throughout the Territory in areas of demonstrated skills need.; Training through the Program is targeted towards all Territorians, including Indigenous people and training opportunities for job seekers are currently available in locations throughout the Territory including Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine, Jabiru and Tennant Creek.

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6. Healthy Homes

Safe, well-built and maintained houses are vital to good health, education, family safety and employment. Throughout the Northern Territory, the Australian Government is contributing significant funds to address this critical aspect of closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.

Housing through the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing

The Australian Government is providing $5.5 billion over ten years to reform Indigenous housing arrangements in remote Australia through the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing, with $1.7 billion to the Northern Territory.  The first stage – to be completed under the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure program (SIHIP) – will deliver 750 new houses, 230 rebuilds and 2, 500 refurbishments in remote communities and targeted town camps in the Northern Territory by 2013.  SIHIP is a $672 million program of which $572 million is being provided by the Australian Government and $100 million by the Northern Territory Government

The package will be delivered by the Northern Territory with Australian Government assistance and will also enable:

• improved tenancy management services to ensure rental houses are well maintained, rent is collected and support services are in place;
• economic development opportunities through increased local training and employment opportunities in construction and housing management;
• an ongoing maintenance and repairs program;
• upgrades to housing related infrastructure in remote communities, including town camps, and
• access to affordable accommodation options in regional centres to support employment, education and training opportunities in regional areas.

The National Partnership Agreement on Social Housing seeks to increase the supply of social housing through new construction, and contribute to reduced homelessness and improved outcomes for homeless and Indigenous Australians.

• This agreement will deliver construction of 44 units of accommodation for seniors to improve housing opportunities for Indigenous public housing applicants in Darwin.

The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness seeks to reduce the number of homeless Australians overall by 7%, and the number of homeless Indigenous Australians by one third by 2013.

• In the Northern Territory, total funding under the Partnership is $54.993 million.
• The National Partnership initially targets the urban centres of Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.

The Nation Building and Jobs Plan – Economic Stimulus – Social Housing Initiative seeks to increase the supply of social housing through new construction and refurbishment of existing stock that would otherwise be unavailable for occupancy; to provide increased opportunities for persons who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to gain secure, long term accommodation; and to stimulate the building and construction industry and business that supplies construction materials and help to retain jobs in the industry. In the Northern Territory, a total of 289 dwellings have benefited to date from repair and maintenance funding.

Housing Delivered through the Alice Springs Transformation Plan

Alice Springs Transformation Plan is a strategic joint initiative between the Australian and Northern Territory Governments which will deliver an investment of over $150 million into the town of Alice Springs and the town camps.; It aims to improve the life outcomes for Indigenous residents and visitors in Alice Springs.; It comprises three major streams:

• Social support services across the Alice Springs community ($27 million);
• Transformation of 18 Alice Springs town camps through major infrastructure and housing capital works program as well as tenancy reforms ($100 million); and
• Reducing homelessness through the provision of transitional and visitor accommodation in Alice Springs ($24 million).

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7. Safe Communities

The impact of violence and other crime comes at an enormous cost to families, and in particular women and children. Providing a safe and stable home environment for children is also a critical foundation for making inroads into other areas like education, health and employment.  The Government has focused on a number of connected aspects to improve community safety, including increased child protection and support for families, addressing family violence, providing youth diversionary activities, increasing police numbers and facilities, providing legal services and addressing the impact of alcohol and drugs.   

Addressing family violence and child abuse

$31.6m over three years for the Family Support Package has been provided under NTER to  support Indigenous families and communities suffering from violence or the threat of violence.; This program is for:

• 22 safe places in 15 remote communities as well as Alice Springs and Darwin. Of the 22 Safe Places, there are 13 Safe Houses for women and children, which provide an essential refuge for women and children away from family violence; and 9 Cooling-Off Places, to support men to make positive choices;
• a Mobile Child Protection Team, which provides support to areas with high caseloads, and allows for more investigations to take place in remote and regional communities across the Northern Territory; and
• placing Remote Aboriginal Family and Community Workers in 13 remote communities. These workers provide culturally appropriate liaison and linkage points between the child protection system, services and Indigenous families.;

$4.3 million over three years for AFP specialist investigators has been provided to support the Northern Territory Child Abuse Taskforce.; The Taskforce is a joint initiative between Northern Territory Police, Family and Children’s Services and the Australian Federal Police to investigate child abuse and child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory.

$5.5 million has been provided to continue the work of the Australian Crime Commission’s National Indigenous Intelligence Taskforce for 12 months (from July 2009).  The Taskforce provides Government with intelligence advice to help address the challenges of limited disclosure and reporting on crime in remote communities.

Addressing the impact of alcohol and other drugs

Alcohol is a factor in the majority of criminal activity, and working to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related harm is crucial.  This has involved a combination of effective policing strategies combined with availability of treatment services:

• $12 million over three years from 2007-08 to support alternatives for young people at risk of or engaged in petrol sniffing. This has allowed construction and refurbishment of recreation halls and youth worker houses and the employment of permanent youth workers and locally engaged Anagu workers in Finke (Apatula), Imanpa, Mutijulu and Docker River (Kaltukatjara).
• $7 million for continuation of alcohol and drug services, to enhance the remote drug and alcohol workforce and to support 16 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to provide substance misuse services. This builds on previous initial funding of $23.6 million.
• $7.8 million over three years from 2009-10 for continuation of alcohol and drug services to enhance and support the remote alcohol and other drug workforce in six Aboriginal Medical Services and four residential rehabilitation services in the Northern Territory. This builds on previous initial funding of $10.6 million in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Providing youth diversionary activities

Building up youth support services is vital, and $28.4 million over three years will provide young people with a range of safe and healthy activities as an alternative to drinking and substance abuse.; The funding builds on initial funding of $17.3 million for the period 2007-08 to 2009-10 and will improve the recreational infrastructure, fund more youth workers, including Indigenous trainee youth workers and provide diversionary programs for young people between 10 and 20.

Sport can provide a very important pathway to improved life outcomes for young people, and the Government has provided $1.2 million over three years to jointly fund a partnership with the Australian Football League (AFL) to deliver three programs – the AFL Club Fostership Program, the AFL Ambassadors for Life Mentoring Program and the Wadeye/Daly River AFL program.  These programs provide a way that sport can promote messages especially to young men about the importance of a good education and the value of a healthy and active lifestyle.

Law and Order

Currently there are 65 additional police in 23 remote communities, including nine Australian Federal Police officers in the child abuse taskforce, and 72 active night patrols. This increased presence has been possible through a range of initiatives, including:

• $50.2 million over three years to continue operation of ten temporary police stations and to construct five new stations at Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Yarralin, Arlparra and Imanpa;
• $24.1 million over three years for 60 Northern Territory Police to replace Australian Federal Police; and
• As part of the NTER an independent Review ofPolice Resourcing Levels in Remote Communities has been funded by the Commonwealth Government to inform future policing strategies in the Northern Territory.

$68.1 million over three years has been provided for night patrol services in 81 communities, employing many local Aboriginal men and women.

$11.2 million from 2005-2012 has been provided for two Substance Abuse Intelligence Desks in Alice Springs and Katherine.  These Desks:

• target trafficking in the cross-border regions of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia and the Top End;
• support the alcohol bans in the Katherine, East Arnhem, Nhulunbuy, Groote Eylandt and the Milingimbi areas; and
• include two Dog Operation Units.

$5.4 million over three years has been provided for the Northern Territory Aboriginal Interpreter Service.

$17.1 m over three years has been provided to fund the provision of legal advice and related services for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory.

Part 1 Table of contents