Social Justice Report 2003: SUMMARY SHEET SEVEN: ADDRESSING FAMILY VIOLENCE IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
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SUMMARY SHEET SEVEN: ADDRESSING FAMILY VIOLENCE IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
There is no issue currently causing more
destruction to the fabric of Indigenous communities than family violence.
This has been acknowledged by all levels of government in recent years,
with a number of significant inquiries and initiatives undertaken or commenced
at the federal, state and territory level to address its impact.
Recent initiatives such as the Prime Minister's family violence
roundtable in July 2003 and subsequent commitment of $20 million as a
'down payment' to address family violence issues, the response of the
Western Australian government to the Gordon Inquiry's findings, and the
focus on family violence issues in several of the COAG whole-of-government
community trials, demonstrate a genuine commitment from governments to
address family violence issues.
Indigenous concepts of violence are much broader than usual
mainstream definitions of domestic violence. Many current approaches to
family violence derive from a model of 'domestic violence' - violence
against women, underpinned by western models of female oppression. These
do not 'fit' Indigenous experience. The identity of many Indigenous women
is bound to their experience as Indigenous people. Rather than sharing
a common experience of sexism binding them with non-Indigenous women,
this may bind them more to their community, including the men of the community.
Indigenous people may also have a negative perception of police and welfare
authorities.
An emphasis on criminal justice responses to family violence
poses two main concerns for Indigenous women. The first is that the system
is generally ineffective in addressing the behaviour of the perpetrator
in the longer term. The effect of imprisonment is to remove them from
the community and then, without any focus on rehabilitation or addressing
the circumstances that led to the offending in the first place, to simply
return them to the same environment. The second is that there are a range
of barriers in the accessibility and cultural appropriateness of legal
processes which discourage Indigenous women from using the criminal justice
system in the first place.
There are significant deficiencies in the availability
of statistics and research on the extent and nature of family violence
in communities. An overview of recent statistics and research into the
extent and nature of Indigenous family violence is provided in the report (pp161-168). What data exists suggests that Indigenous
people suffer violence, including family violence, at significantly higher
rates than other Australians do. This situation has existed for at least
the past two decades with no identifiable improvement.
Addressing family violence is a shared responsibility between
all levels of government with prime responsibility resting with health
and community service agencies in federal, state and territory governments.
There are a patchwork of programs and approaches to addressing
family violence in Indigenous communities among federal, state and territory
governments, but there remains a lack of coordination and consistency
in approaches to addressing these issues between governments and among
different government agencies.
Three recurring strategic aspects need to be present to address
family violence in Indigenous communities, namely that programs be community-driven;
that community agencies establish partnerships with each other and with
relevant government agencies; and that composite violence programs are
able to provide a more holistic approach to community violence (pp
183 - 184). Review of existing approaches identifies a critical
need to adopt an holistic approach to the problem of family violence and
identifies the crucial importance of engagement with Commonwealth and
State government agencies and communities to work in partnership on family
violence strategies, as well as supporting and strengthening the capacity
of ATSIC Regional Councils to develop, implement and monitor family violence
action plans.
Overall, the report concludes: '[The] commitments and recent
initiatives by all governments ...are welcome and long overdue. As yet, they
are not sufficiently wide-ranging in their scope or effectively funded.
There are also significant gaps in service provision, including through
a general paucity of programs and lack of legal assistance to Indigenous
women in many areas. As a consequence, there remains a need for ongoing,
continuous support for innovative, community led solutions to address
family violence and the adoption of an holistic, coordinated approach
by governments. ATSIC's Family Violence Plan provides a platform for improving
this situation, with the development of regionally targeted programs and
action plans. The escalating and debilitating affects of family violence
on Indigenous people and communities requires urgent attention' (p191).