Tiwi Islanders to have private hearings with sex abuse royal commission
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Version 0 of 1. The royal commission into child sexual abuse in institutions will hold private session for Tiwi Islanders as part of its engagement with Indigenous communities. Indigenous inmates in prisons across Australia are also being contacted by the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse to ensure they can share their stories. At a public hearing in Darwin the commission has heard allegations of brutalisation and sexual maltreatment of Indigenous and mixed-race children in the Retta Dixon home from 1946 to 1980. It has also heard evidence of Northern Territory failures to prosecute alleged perpetrators. The commission chairman, justice Peter McClellan, says the Darwin hearing is an important chapter in the inquiry’s work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. At the opening of the hearing on Monday he said 827 Indigenous people had contacted the commission. This equates to 18% of all people who have made contact since the commission began engagement with the public in April; 9% of those who have attended private hearings are Indigenous. Just 3% of Australia’s 23m citizens identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. McClellan said many Indigenous organisations and advocacy groups had submitted issues papers and taken part in round-table discussions. Community meetings and forums had also been held. He announced that in May 2015 there would be private sessions for people from the Tiwi Islands. “We have been working with elders on the island throughout this year,” he said. “A number of Tiwi survivors have already registered for private sessions.” The location of the private sessions will be set closer to the date and after the local community has been consulted, a spokesman for the commission said. The commission has employed six Indigenous staff and provided regular cultural awareness training for royal commission staff. |