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| NT youth detention inquiry: the key task will be getting governments to act NT youth detention inquiry: the key task will be getting governments to act | |
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| After its first public hearing in Darwin was devoted to treading old ground, it became apparent a major task of the Northern Territory juvenile protection and detention royal commission will be how to get governments to act on the advice they repeatedly ask for. | After its first public hearing in Darwin was devoted to treading old ground, it became apparent a major task of the Northern Territory juvenile protection and detention royal commission will be how to get governments to act on the advice they repeatedly ask for. |
| At a community meeting on Friday, Mick Gooda said the commission would call for fundamental policy change but governments must be held to account. | At a community meeting on Friday, Mick Gooda said the commission would call for fundamental policy change but governments must be held to account. |
| It followed three days in Darwin’s supreme court, where Gooda and co-commissioner Margaret White heard evidence on the long-broken systems from a parade of familiar experts singing familiar refrains. | It followed three days in Darwin’s supreme court, where Gooda and co-commissioner Margaret White heard evidence on the long-broken systems from a parade of familiar experts singing familiar refrains. |
| The inquiry was this week tasked with examining more than 50 prior inquiries, reports and reviews from the past decade which had delivered recommendations relevant to the commission’s terms of reference. It included 23 independent reports and three royal commissions. Few were adequately acted on. | The inquiry was this week tasked with examining more than 50 prior inquiries, reports and reviews from the past decade which had delivered recommendations relevant to the commission’s terms of reference. It included 23 independent reports and three royal commissions. Few were adequately acted on. |
| On day one senior counsel assisting, Peter Callaghan, posed a question for Australia which addressed the biggest concern held about this commission: that it is just another review to be ignored like the others. | On day one senior counsel assisting, Peter Callaghan, posed a question for Australia which addressed the biggest concern held about this commission: that it is just another review to be ignored like the others. |
| Do we need to confront some sort of inquiry mentality in which investigation is allowed as a substitution for action, and reporting is accepted as a replacement for results? The bare fact that there has been so much said and so much written over such a long time is suggestive of a persistent failure that should not be allowed to endure.” | Do we need to confront some sort of inquiry mentality in which investigation is allowed as a substitution for action, and reporting is accepted as a replacement for results? The bare fact that there has been so much said and so much written over such a long time is suggestive of a persistent failure that should not be allowed to endure.” |
| The inquiry’s twin issues of protection and detention – both with high Indigenous overrepresentation – don’t just run parallel in the NT, but are rather a tangle of interconnecting concerns of equal and codependent importance. | The inquiry’s twin issues of protection and detention – both with high Indigenous overrepresentation – don’t just run parallel in the NT, but are rather a tangle of interconnecting concerns of equal and codependent importance. |
| To address one problem you must concurrently address many others. | To address one problem you must concurrently address many others. |
| At its most simplistic, reform in the NT’s juvenile justice system requires changes in the child protection sector, which need improvements in health outcomes, which need improvements in housing. | At its most simplistic, reform in the NT’s juvenile justice system requires changes in the child protection sector, which need improvements in health outcomes, which need improvements in housing. |
| High rates of domestic violence, alcohol abuse, homelessness and unemployment were inextricably linked. | High rates of domestic violence, alcohol abuse, homelessness and unemployment were inextricably linked. |
| Based on the evidence this week, the tendency for governments of both sides, and their departments, to put things in the “too hard” basket appears entrenched, and it became clear the royal commission is facing two key questions. | Based on the evidence this week, the tendency for governments of both sides, and their departments, to put things in the “too hard” basket appears entrenched, and it became clear the royal commission is facing two key questions. |
| The first is how to affect cultural change in the parliamentary and departmental levels of government to end the cycle of inquiring-reporting-forgetting following a national moral outrage. | The first is how to affect cultural change in the parliamentary and departmental levels of government to end the cycle of inquiring-reporting-forgetting following a national moral outrage. |
| The second question arises if cultural change can’t be encouraged, and that is of enforcing a government to at least try to implement the recommendations they’ve asked for and received. | The second question arises if cultural change can’t be encouraged, and that is of enforcing a government to at least try to implement the recommendations they’ve asked for and received. |
| At the end of this commission, rather than deliver another set of recommendations, perhaps commissioners Gooda and White will return a finding which tells government: you already have the answers, but you must be made to use them. | At the end of this commission, rather than deliver another set of recommendations, perhaps commissioners Gooda and White will return a finding which tells government: you already have the answers, but you must be made to use them. |
| Co-author of the Growing Them Strong, Together report, Prof Muriel Bamblett, told the commission if the NT government had acted on recommendations delivered in 2011, it could have stopped an exponential rise in child protection notifications. | Co-author of the Growing Them Strong, Together report, Prof Muriel Bamblett, told the commission if the NT government had acted on recommendations delivered in 2011, it could have stopped an exponential rise in child protection notifications. |
| Emeritus Prof John Boulton, Dr Damien Howard and Jodie Barney described how underlying health issues, such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and undiagnosed hearing loss, could be the first step on the road into the child protection and criminal justice systems. | Emeritus Prof John Boulton, Dr Damien Howard and Jodie Barney described how underlying health issues, such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and undiagnosed hearing loss, could be the first step on the road into the child protection and criminal justice systems. |
| Boulton also spoke of the impact of intergenerational trauma causing harm from colonial frontier violence until now, and of how early childhood trauma and the feeling of fear delays neurological development. | Boulton also spoke of the impact of intergenerational trauma causing harm from colonial frontier violence until now, and of how early childhood trauma and the feeling of fear delays neurological development. |
| From Pat Anderson, a co-author of the Little Children Are Sacred report, we heard election cycles were the biggest impediment to Indigenous policy around. | From Pat Anderson, a co-author of the Little Children Are Sacred report, we heard election cycles were the biggest impediment to Indigenous policy around. |
| From children’s commissioner, Colleen Gwynne, we learned that little education and poor parenting were two of the biggest triggers for children ending up in the justice system, which until recently had been wrongly combined with adult corrections. | From children’s commissioner, Colleen Gwynne, we learned that little education and poor parenting were two of the biggest triggers for children ending up in the justice system, which until recently had been wrongly combined with adult corrections. |
| From Gwynne’s predecessor, Dr Howard Bath, we heard the CLP government immediately lost interest in child protection reform and defunded advisory groups when it won the 2012 election. | From Gwynne’s predecessor, Dr Howard Bath, we heard the CLP government immediately lost interest in child protection reform and defunded advisory groups when it won the 2012 election. |
| From the former NT Ombudsman, Carolyn Richards, we heard that under the previous Labor government a backlog of hundreds of cases were falsely “written off” as completed and needing no further action through the use of dummy forms instigated by a manager. | From the former NT Ombudsman, Carolyn Richards, we heard that under the previous Labor government a backlog of hundreds of cases were falsely “written off” as completed and needing no further action through the use of dummy forms instigated by a manager. |
| In the midst of writing her report, Richards’ powers to investigate child protection were stripped, a reminder that the public issues the commission is dealing with are not problems solely of the highly criticised CLP government. | In the midst of writing her report, Richards’ powers to investigate child protection were stripped, a reminder that the public issues the commission is dealing with are not problems solely of the highly criticised CLP government. |
| These experts and report authors were questioned extensively and a common theme emerged of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people not being consulted. We are having things done for us, not with us, and not much of it is working, the inquiry was told again and again. | These experts and report authors were questioned extensively and a common theme emerged of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people not being consulted. We are having things done for us, not with us, and not much of it is working, the inquiry was told again and again. |
| The commission heard this expert evidence and more, but also peppered through were allegations and incidents of real people who continued to bear the brunt of the failures. | The commission heard this expert evidence and more, but also peppered through were allegations and incidents of real people who continued to bear the brunt of the failures. |
| Of the deaf child in detention who was bashed during the “vulnerable time” he was momentarily blinded after being moved from an area of harsh light to a dark corridor. Of Deborah Melville, a 12-year-old who died alone from blood poisoning after an injury went untreated. Of women locked in shipping containers for their own protection from domestic violence abusers. Of people co-sleeping with 20 others on the floor of a house littered with faeces. Of the 15-year-old girl who had “self-placed” herself in different care homes since the age of 11, with nothing reflected in her case file. And, of course, of the teenagers teargassed in their cells, the treatment inside Don Dale that sparked the inquiry. | Of the deaf child in detention who was bashed during the “vulnerable time” he was momentarily blinded after being moved from an area of harsh light to a dark corridor. Of Deborah Melville, a 12-year-old who died alone from blood poisoning after an injury went untreated. Of women locked in shipping containers for their own protection from domestic violence abusers. Of people co-sleeping with 20 others on the floor of a house littered with faeces. Of the 15-year-old girl who had “self-placed” herself in different care homes since the age of 11, with nothing reflected in her case file. And, of course, of the teenagers teargassed in their cells, the treatment inside Don Dale that sparked the inquiry. |
| On Friday a community meeting participant questioned how much longer Indigenous groups and people would continue to put themselves forward to give evidence, to tell stories of hardship and trauma, to offer solutions and feedback on what works, again and again. | On Friday a community meeting participant questioned how much longer Indigenous groups and people would continue to put themselves forward to give evidence, to tell stories of hardship and trauma, to offer solutions and feedback on what works, again and again. |
| At least for this royal commission it seems people will keep coming back, hoping this is the one that changes things. | At least for this royal commission it seems people will keep coming back, hoping this is the one that changes things. |
| The commission is currently scheduled to continue until March. | The commission is currently scheduled to continue until March. |