Editors --- "NSW Government Failure to Extend Funding to Protect Child Abuse in Indigenous Communities - Digest" [2007] AUIndigLawRw 26; (2007) 11(1) Australian Indigenous Law Review 135

• NSW Government Refusal to Extend Funding to Protect Child Abuse in Indigenous Communities

NSW Government Refusal to Extend Funding to Protect Child Abuse in Indigenous Communities

‘Breaking the Silence’ Report released May 2006

NSW Government response to the report, ‘The NSW plan to tackle child sexual assault in Aboriginal Communities 2006–2011’ released December 2006

In May 2006 the 300 page report ‘Breaking the Silence’, headed by Indigenous leader Marcia Ella Duncan, was released, detailing an investigation of child sex abuse in NSW Aboriginal communities. The report shows that child abuse has reached epidemic proportions in NSW Aboriginal communities, with the rate of child sexual assault being up to four times the rate of the general population. The report found that major changes are required to the criminal justice system to encourage victims to come forward to name their perpetrators.

In response to the report, the New South Wales Government released ‘The NSW Interagency plan to tackle child sexual assault in Aboriginal Communities 2006–2011’, but have so far refused to commit any funding to implement its 88 recommendations.

Nor has any funding been committed for the implementation of the recommendations of the ‘Breaking the Silence’ report. The recommendations are designed to reform the entire criminal process, from the time a person goes to police with an allegation to when an offender is released. The task force found the current system actually deters Aboriginal victims of sexual assault from coming forward about their experiences.

New South Wales Attorney General Bob Debus has commented that while he understands the gravity of the situation, a significant amount of time will be needed to make sure that any government formulated response will actually work.

The full text of the ‘Breaking the Silence’ report and ‘The NSW Interagency plan to tackle child sexual assault in Aboriginal Communities 2006–2011’ are available at the Lawlink NSW website: <http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/acsat>