A year of NT Intervention

  • Published on 20/06/2008
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One year on from the implementation of the Northern Territory (NT) intervention we are urging the Government to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) and consult Indigenous Australians to ensure past mistakes are not repeated.

The NT intervention was developed by the Howard government in June 2007 in response to the Little Children Are Sacred report. Amnesty International welcomes the current government’s intentions to close the life expectancy gap and ensure adequate health and housing services in Indigenous communities, and believes the protection of the human rights of women and children should be central to any response on these issues.

We believe this is possible without overriding the Racial Discrimination Act, and we are calling for this act to be reinstated with respect to the Northern Territory intervention.

Significant reforms were implemented contrary to the Racial Discrimination Act, including in particular welfare quarantining on the basis of whether a person lives in a prescribed community regardless of other factors, for example whether they are responsible for the care of children or whether they abuse alcohol.

Amnesty International Australia would support the introduction of ‘special measures’ for a limited time if they met the standards required by the Racial Discrimination Act. This would include demonstrating that the measures will actually benefit the people they seek to help, and that they are taken after consultation and with the consent of the affected communities. This is in line with international human rights standards, and history has repeatedly shown it is essential that services in Indigenous communities are culturally appropriate, if they are to be effective.

The NT intervention is currently being reviewed by the Federal Government and we will be contributing to this process. We look forward to the Review Board’s report in September.

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