Northern Territory national emergency reponse revisited

Abstract

The Northern Territory of Australia National Emergency Response ('NTER' and sometimes referred to as 'the Intervention') was introduced by the Howard government in 2007. The present Commonwealth government led by Mr Rudd continues to support the response, albeit with some adjustments. The reaction to the response has been mixed. The most prevalent criticisms centre on the partial suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) and that the intervention has been ineffective. This article expresses the view that the former is of marginal significance while the latter is plainly wrong. The situation has been thrown into sharper focus by the release of the Productivity Commission's 'Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage' report in July 2009 showing that substantiated notifications of abuse inflicted on indigenous children nationwide more than doubled. In line with the trend, Northern Territory figures show notifications of abuse inflicted on indigenous children increased by more than expected (actual 4,415, as opposed to predicted 3,950). The article examines the situation as at November 2009 and suggests a way forward to address a problem that the Prime Minister described as 'devastating' when responding to the findings in the Productivity Commission report.