Indigenous family violence: from emergency measures to committed long-term action

In June 2007 the Federal Government announced a range of ’emergency measures’ to combat sexual abuse against indigenous children in the Northern Territory. Indigenous community members experiencing violence know however, that commitment on this important issue must not wane. It is the responsibility of all levels of government, service providers and community members to work in partnership to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Indigenous children in the long term. This paper seeks to provide a context to the current debate by providing a critical analysis of the recommendations contained within previous state and federal government reports, and to reflect on their ongoing implementation. It then highlights some of the initiatives underway in Indigenous communities across the country to respond to violence – initiatives that are often absent from formal literature, and very rarely publicised. The paper then concludes with the presentation of a conceptual framework for engaging with communities to address the problem – a framework that may well prove to be a valuable source of information to government in the future as they move beyond emergency measures to long term action.