Antinuclear

The Federal Government has introduced legislation to extend ‘welfare quarantining’ – a system introduced under the Howard Government’s highly controversial Northern Territory intervention – but peak welfare Not for Profits want the legislation withdrawn.

Some 26 Aboriginal peak bodies, community welfare and public health groups are calling on the Government to withdraw the income-management legislation and opt for a new direction in policies affecting Australian Aborigines based on cooperation, not ‘intervention’.

The groups say the Government’s own evaluation of the NT Intervention shows that welfare quarantining doesn’t work and has created a feeling of dis-empowerment and loss of community control among aboriginal communities.

The Stronger Futures Bill, introduced into Parliament by Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, would see parents forced to attend family conferences and welfare payments suspended if children are regularly absent from school. It would also link alcohol-related criminal offences with income management…..

A joint statement from the groups says the strong message from recent consultations with Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory “is that people want reliable services, schools and jobs in their own communities, not that they think simplistic ‘get tough’ policies are the answer.”

The groups point to the government’s own evaluation of the Intervention, the “Northern Territory Emergency Response Evaluation Report 2011”, which was released this month [November 2011]. The conclusion of the review includes the statement:

“The compulsory nature of income management and its blanket imposition (in combination with other changes, such as local government reform, shire amalgamations and losses of local councils; changes to CDEP; the loss of the permit system; and changes in land tenure) are likely to have contributed to people’s feeling of a loss of freedom, empowerment and community control.”….  http://www.unpo.org/article/13517