Achievements and challenges: Violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Annual Conference

Thankyou for the invitation to speak at your annual conference.

I am honoured. As a Greens MP I readily accept invitations such as yours - I see them as part of the job description.

The Greens have a policies on violence and on domestic violence - I was told recently that we are the only party that does. But still when I received the invitation I wondered if I should accept. Myself and my party do not have a track record of actively working on these issues so I did think do I have a right to speak.

But when I thought about your invitation and discussed it with colleagues the decision very quickly firmed up that I should be here and speak.

The Greens - and it is a very deep personal commitment for me - believe that no one - no child, no woman, no man should be physically abused or live in fear of that abuse. Our party is growing and we have a responsibility to pick up a greater range of complex social issues. So thanks for the invitation. This issue is a challenge we accept.

The position of no violence is a starting point that I believe by far the majority of people live by, but the challenge we all have is how do we achieve it.

I am not going to give you figures about violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

We know there is a cycle of violence. The key issue for us to focus on is that cycle can be broken. There are examples of aboriginal men who stop resorting to violence, there are examples of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women who have empowered their communities to rid violence from family life.

Authorities need to empower Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communitities so that violence in all forms is eliminated.

A big problem to me appears to be that violence in communities is still in the main addressed within the criminal justice system. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that people who perpetrate violence agains Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women should not be charged.

But we need involvement of more than just predominatly the criminal justice system.

What we are at looking here is more complex and we need to remember that when a black victim of domestic violence turns to the criminal justice system for support and action her life can get a whole lot more complicated.

I have spent some time recently in the NT. And talking to people who work in justice area I was so often told of horror stories where the victims become perpetrators. I was also told of some glimmers of hope for victims of domestic violence. But I also heard too many disturbing examples of how the system can work against victims of domestic violence.

When women suffer domestic violence, they are not just thinking about how do I stop the violence. They are thinking about how do I look after my kids, pay the rent, hold the family together. The emotional roller coaster is huge - do I still love and want to share my life with this person who is bashing me.

So with all this turmoil it is understandable that some women who might have their partners charged with assault then drop those charges. In the NT I was told of cases where the police have arrested the female who reported the attacks for not turning up in court to give evidence against the perpetrator. I understand warrants are issued for these women and they can be charged with perjury or contempt of court.

Under no circumstances should the victim of domestic violence be charged. The criminal justice system must not be used in that way.

Another big one is what happens to the kids. Victims of domestic violence quickly learn that once you start getting involved with the authorities, someone might just decide that the kids are at risk and take them away. If you are an Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander woman this fear would be compounded a thousand fold. When the recent history of your own people is one of children being stolen away you would naturally be very wary.

I have three children. They are all adults now and my family background has no history of stolen generations. But having seen the films, read the stories, just the thought of loosing my children turns me cold. That fear must be so huge if you are an Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander woman.

In NSW the Dept of Community Services have a brief to keep kids safe. So a mother's worse fear - loosing her kids - can become a reality if she reports her partner for assault. It is understandable that women will be reticient about seeking outside help while there is even a hint of such an outcome.

When you are being bashed your life is out of control. You have so much to work on - stopping the violence is only one thing to be dealt with. Anything that further complicates women's lives is going to be a deterrent from breaking the cycle of violence.

And then when Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women do turn to the police they need to be given full respect. And yes I want to acknowledge there are a number of individual police officers who do the right thing when they handle domestic violence cases. But Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women are up against a culture of racism within the judicial system that still to this day will not judge violence against Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women with the same seriousness as if the same crime was committed against a white woman. Again this is a turn off for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women who are victims of violence.

The media also have a role and responsibility here. So often they will give extensive coverage to violence against white women perpetrated by black men while that against black women hardly rates a mention.

When I was in the NT last year I saw a graphic example of this. It is the Munar case. A young white woman out jogging was sexually assaulted by a black man. The story attracted two or three front pages on the NT News - Darwin's only daily, and numerous other print stories, as well as many TV and radio news stories. This understandably whipped up considerable public sympathy. No one I spoke could remember when violence against a black woman or a black child or for that matter a black man had elicted the same coverage or the same wave of public sympathy.

The SA experience with the Nunga's courts appears to be very worthwhile. Now at the moment these courts don't have the jurisdiction to deal with rape but I would suggest that this model could be expanded to handle domestic violence assaults. These courts operate under Australian law with the additin of involving aboriginal elders. So aboriginal people who appear before this court are clearly accountable to their own community as well as to white law. I understand that these courts are achieving good results with persistent minor offenders.

Also more resources are needed. But resources delivered in ways that empower local Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities, that don't burden and divide them.

When I talk about resources I don't just mean programs to support women to get out of violent relationships. I am also talking about resources such as for a local swimming pool, a local basketball court, funding for job creation problems.

Pools and basketball courts - something many of us take for granted within our own localities - are a rare commodity in so many Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities. I see such resources that give teenagers something to do, somewhere to hang out with constructive ways to expend their energy, as being part of no to violence agenda.

So many perpetrators are victims themselves. Young boys living amongst violence, possibly experiencing violence will group up to be perpetrators. If that is what they are trained in - obviously not intentionally - but if that is what happens our whole society does need to take responsibility.

I congratulate the Women's Domestic violence Court assitat program for holding a conference on exploring the ways to break the cycle of violence in aobr and tsi communites.

We congratulate those aboriginal women and men who are bringing this problem into the wider public arena.

This is a world wide problem - violence between states and between peoples is on the increase. And tragically but not surprisingly it is the most disposed communities that suffer most.

A short story to illustrate how this point was brough home to me. In the 1980s I worked for women's groups and participated in some international women's conference as part of the the UN women's decade. At one conference in Moscow I went to a workshop with Kay Mundane, who some of you would know. It was about indigenous communities and the stories from the innuits in Alaska to the native Americans in Canada and the USA were so similar with what Kay spoke about. The room rippled with stories about deep alientation - self mutilation, domestic violence, incest, petrol sniffing, alchol and durg abuse. It was deeply disturbing and my memory of those women was very much with me as I prepared for today. To break the cycle of violence takes a lot more than just talking about violence itself.

And I would like to give the last word to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander men. As an MP I served on an investigation into the increase in the prison population in NSW. This meant I and other MPs visited gaols across NSW. I have to say it was one of the most shocking experiences of my life to go into these gaols. And at Grafton gaol I remember standing in this big cold sandstone prison block looking at dozens of young aboriginal men.

My guess is that a lot of them are there for violent crimes. Yes they should not have perpetrated that violence but eqaully I believe that the majority should not be there and that we could reduce violence by not so quickly locking people away.

This is a complex topic. Good luck with your conference. I apologise that I cannot stay. Parliament is sitting today and I need to get back for today's session.

I am honoured. As a Greens MP I readily accept invitations such as yours - I see them as part of the job description.

The Greens have a policies on violence and on domestic violence - I was told recently that we are the only party that does. But still when I received the invitation I wondered if I should accept. Myself and my party do not have a track record of actively working on these issues so I did think do I have a right to speak.

But when I thought about your invitation and discussed it with colleagues the decision very quickly firmed up that I should be here and speak.

The Greens - and it is a very deep personal commitment for me - believe that no one - no child, no woman, no man should be physically abused or live in fear of that abuse. Our party is growing and we have a responsibility to pick up a greater range of complex social issues. So thanks for the invitation. This issue is a challenge we accept.

The position of no violence is a starting point that I believe by far the majority of people live by, but the challenge we all have is how do we achieve it.

I am not going to give you figures about violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

We know there is a cycle of violence. The key issue for us to focus on is that cycle can be broken. There are examples of aboriginal men who stop resorting to violence, there are examples of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women who have empowered their communities to rid violence from family life.

Authorities need to empower Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communitities so that violence in all forms is eliminated.

A big problem to me appears to be that violence in communities is still in the main addressed within the criminal justice system. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that people who perpetrate violence agains Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women should not be charged.

But we need involvement of more than just predominatly the criminal justice system.

What we are at looking here is more complex and we need to remember that when a black victim of domestic violence turns to the criminal justice system for support and action her life can get a whole lot more complicated.

I have spent some time recently in the NT. And talking to people who work in justice area I was so often told of horror stories where the victims become perpetrators. I was also told of some glimmers of hope for victims of domestic violence. But I also heard too many disturbing examples of how the system can work against victims of domestic violence.

When women suffer domestic violence, they are not just thinking about how do I stop the violence. They are thinking about how do I look after my kids, pay the rent, hold the family together. The emotional roller coaster is huge - do I still love and want to share my life with this person who is bashing me.

So with all this turmoil it is understandable that some women who might have their partners charged with assault then drop those charges. In the NT I was told of cases where the police have arrested the female who reported the attacks for not turning up in court to give evidence against the perpetrator. I understand warrants are issued for these women and they can be charged with perjury or contempt of court.

Under no circumstances should the victim of domestic violence be charged. The criminal justice system must not be used in that way.

Another big one is what happens to the kids. Victims of domestic violence quickly learn that once you start getting involved with the authorities, someone might just decide that the kids are at risk and take them away. If you are an Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander woman this fear would be compounded a thousand fold. When the recent history of your own people is one of children being stolen away you would naturally be very wary.

I have three children. They are all adults now and my family background has no history of stolen generations. But having seen the films, read the stories, just the thought of loosing my children turns me cold. That fear must be so huge if you are an Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander woman.

In NSW the Dept of Community Services have a brief to keep kids safe. So a mother's worse fear - loosing her kids - can become a reality if she reports her partner for assault. It is understandable that women will be reticient about seeking outside help while there is even a hint of such an outcome.

When you are being bashed your life is out of control. You have so much to work on - stopping the violence is only one thing to be dealt with. Anything that further complicates women's lives is going to be a deterrent from breaking the cycle of violence.

And then when Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women do turn to the police they need to be given full respect. And yes I want to acknowledge there are a number of individual police officers who do the right thing when they handle domestic violence cases. But Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women are up against a culture of racism within the judicial system that still to this day will not judge violence against Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women with the same seriousness as if the same crime was committed against a white woman. Again this is a turn off for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women who are victims of violence.

The media also have a role and responsibility here. So often they will give extensive coverage to violence against white women perpetrated by black men while that against black women hardly rates a mention.

When I was in the NT last year I saw a graphic example of this. It is the Munar case. A young white woman out jogging was sexually assaulted by a black man. The story attracted two or three front pages on the NT News - Darwin's only daily, and numerous other print stories, as well as many TV and radio news stories. This understandably whipped up considerable public sympathy. No one I spoke could remember when violence against a black woman or a black child or for that matter a black man had elicted the same coverage or the same wave of public sympathy.

The SA experience with the Nunga's courts appears to be very worthwhile. Now at the moment these courts don't have the jurisdiction to deal with rape but I would suggest that this model could be expanded to handle domestic violence assaults. These courts operate under Australian law with the additin of involving aboriginal elders. So aboriginal people who appear before this court are clearly accountable to their own community as well as to white law. I understand that these courts are achieving good results with persistent minor offenders.

Also more resources are needed. But resources delivered in ways that empower local Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities, that don't burden and divide them.

When I talk about resources I don't just mean programs to support women to get out of violent relationships. I am also talking about resources such as for a local swimming pool, a local basketball court, funding for job creation problems.

Pools and basketball courts - something many of us take for granted within our own localities - are a rare commodity in so many Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities. I see such resources that give teenagers something to do, somewhere to hang out with constructive ways to expend their energy, as being part of no to violence agenda.

So many perpetrators are victims themselves. Young boys living amongst violence, possibly experiencing violence will group up to be perpetrators. If that is what they are trained in - obviously not intentionally - but if that is what happens our whole society does need to take responsibility.

I congratulate the Women's Domestic violence Court assitat program for holding a conference on exploring the ways to break the cycle of violence in aobr and tsi communites.

We congratulate those aboriginal women and men who are bringing this problem into the wider public arena.

This is a world wide problem - violence between states and between peoples is on the increase. And tragically but not surprisingly it is the most disposed communities that suffer most.

A short story to illustrate how this point was brough home to me. In the 1980s I worked for women's groups and participated in some international women's conference as part of the the UN women's decade. At one conference in Moscow I went to a workshop with Kay Mundane, who some of you would know. It was about indigenous communities and the stories from the innuits in Alaska to the native Americans in Canada and the USA were so similar with what Kay spoke about. The room rippled with stories about deep alientation - self mutilation, domestic violence, incest, petrol sniffing, alchol and durg abuse. It was deeply disturbing and my memory of those women was very much with me as I prepared for today. To break the cycle of violence takes a lot more than just talking about violence itself.

And I would like to give the last word to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander men. As an MP I served on an investigation into the increase in the prison population in NSW. This meant I and other MPs visited gaols across NSW. I have to say it was one of the most shocking experiences of my life to go into these gaols. And at Grafton gaol I remember standing in this big cold sandstone prison block looking at dozens of young aboriginal men.

My guess is that a lot of them are there for violent crimes. Yes they should not have perpetrated that violence but eqaully I believe that the majority should not be there and that we could reduce violence by not so quickly locking people away.

This is a complex topic. Good luck with your conference. I apologise that I cannot stay. Parliament is sitting today and I need to get back for today's session.