NT Child Abuse – What You Can Do
Help to develop a national
response to prevent child abuse and neglect
July
2007
SNAICC encourages people
and organisations to actively express their support for the development
of a national response to child abuse and neglect including immediate
measures to combat abuse and violence.
SNAICC has long advocated
that the child protection system in the Northern Territory has failed
to respond adequately and protect children from all forms of child
abuse - including sexual abuse. In doing so we have not sought to
blame individuals or governments but propose evidence-based culturally-safe
solutions.
What you can do
SNAICC is asking people
and organisations express their views directly to the relevant Federal,
State and Territory Ministers, as well as speak to local federal
members of parliament, outlining your concerns in relation to child
abuse and neglect. You should also write to the Federal ALP requesting
that they commit to a full and proper response to child abuse and
neglect.
You may wish to express support for the position taken by SNAICC
and for the recently released detailed response from the Coalition
of Aboriginal Organisations of the NT, which many organizations
from across Australia, including SNAICC, helped develop. (add link
here)
We suggest you:
Write, fax or email the
relevant state, territory and federal government ministers and federal
opposition, and make direct representation to your local members
of federal parliament, calling for them to sign up to a National
Response.
Use SNAICC’s form letter
SNAICC has has developed
a sample letter that you can
use for writing to the Federal Minister, and to State and Territory
Governments or to your local member of parliament. You are welcome
to use it as is, or add more to it.
Sample
letter to Minister Brough
Write to:
The Hon Mal
Brough, MP
Federal Minister
for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6277 7560
Fax: (02) 6273 4122
Email: mal.brough.mp@aph.gov.au
Ms Jenny Macklin,
MP
Shadow Minister
for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Parliament House RG111
Canberra ACT 2600
Fax: (02) 6277 2307
Email: JMacklin.MP@aph.gov.au
Federal Members
of Parliament
A list of contacts is
on Australian
Parliament House website
Or download
a PDF with their contact details here (236 KB)
State and Territory
Premiers/Chief Ministers and Indigenous Affairs and Communit Services
Ministers
Contact
details (these have been compiled and published on our website)
Some
points to think of
If you wish to write your
own letter(s), here are some points you may wish to include when
writing to or speaking with Ministers or members of parliament:
• Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander children should be able to live a life
free from violence and abuse
• The Federal Government is to be commended for taking action
but a better outcome will be achieved if it seeks input into the
emergency measures
• The Little Children Are Sacred report on child
abuse in the NT included 97 recommendations for action - the Federal
and NT Governments should respond to the whole report - not just
some of the report
• Child abuse and neglect affects all communities - not
only Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory
• The Prime Minister has called child abuse a ‘ national
emergency’ - where is the national response for all states
and territories
• A national problem like child abuse and neglect requires
a long term national response
• Short term measures for the Northern Territory will create
no lasting impact without input from local Aboriginal communities
• The Federal Government should be doing things with Aboriginal
communities to protect children - not to Aboriginal communities
• Poverty, child neglect and malnutrition also cause great
harm to children but these problems can’t be fixed without
long term investment in communities
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities
have a right to expect that basic essential services such as police,
child protection, preschools, schools, health services, public
phones and communication systems, transport and housing are available
• It is not acceptable that life expectancy for an Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander child is 17 years less than for all
other children in Australia
• The Federal Government should show leadership, work with
all states, territories and other stakeholders and develop a national
action plan to prevent child abuse and neglect
• Issues about land use and permits in the Northern Territory
should be put to one side and dealt with separately - not as part
of an emergency child protection response
• A detailed response developed by the Coalition of Aboriginal
Organisations of the NT should be supported by all governments
• SNAICC has been calling for a national action plan since
as early as 1995.
We would appreciate it
if you would send SNAICC a copy
of your email(s) or letter(s) to Ministers and Members of Parliament.
Keep up to date
You can find out about
SNAICC's responses to
the federal government's intervention on child abuse in NT through
our website.
First published
11 July 2007
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