Abuse reports up during NT intervention

More cases of child abuse and substance abuse are being reported in remote Northern
Territory communities because of a stronger police presence, the federal government
says.
A six-month progress report on the federal intervention into remote indigenous
communities, posted on the internet, shows only a handful of the measures included
in the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) have so far produced positive
outcomes.
Despite the introduction of several measures to combat child abuse, the report -
Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory - shows confirmed instances of child abuse
rose from 66 cases in 2006/07 to 227 in the last financial year.
According to the report, the mobile child protection team investigated 236 cases of
abuse across 40 indigenous communities in the first six months of 2009, resulting in
28 children being taken into care.
Convictions for the sexual assault of a child rose from 15 prior to the NTER, to 22
since the intervention began under the Howard government in 2007.
The intervention was continued by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, amid criticism it did
not meet Racial Discrimination Act standards, which were suspended to enable the
NTER.
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, who says entrenched disadvantage
in the Territory will take some time to turn around, has vowed to reinstate the
Racial Discrimination Act when parliament sits in November.
"There is a lot more to do and we are determined to continue to deliver the
structures and support that are essential for indigenous Australians to live safe,
healthy and productive lives," a spokeswoman for Ms Macklin said.
The diets of Aboriginal Territorians from 73 communities have reportedly improved
significantly under forced income management measures.
The report showed shopping habits had changed after the "initial mistrust and
confusion about income management abated".
More than 68 per cent of all store operators reported an increase in the amount of
healthy food, such as fruit and vegetables, being purchased.
However, the sale of some goods such as cigarettes remained unchanged.
While the report found substance abuse-related incidents had increased by 77 per
cent since the intervention began, figures such as these are understood to have
increased due to the criminalisation of alcohol possession.
Ms Macklin's spokeswoman attributes the increase in substance abuse to higher police
numbers.
"(It) has resulted in more reporting in a number of offences including violence,
alcohol and child abuse," she said in a statement.
The spokeswoman said Ms Macklin's office was focused on increasing housing in remote
areas, where 73 per cent of children under the age of one are at risk of sudden
infant death syndrome due to bed overcrowding.
Improving school attendance rates would also be targeted.
From 2007 to 2009 the number of primary and secondary school students enrolled in
remote NT communities increased by 610 but the average attendance rate of 63 per
cent remained much the same, the report said.
"We recognise that increasing school attendance is essential to closing the gap,"
the spokeswoman said.
"And there are ... more health services to reduce chronic disease and treat eye and
ear complaints in children."
The number of preventable diseases in children under the age of five, such as
malnutrition, ear infection and skin bacteria, dropped significantly in the first
year of the intervention, although it's believed the number of reported cases will
not drop again this year.