Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory

Stronger Futures - A positive way forward for NT Logo

The Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory initiative is a 10-year commitment with significant investment in families, education, health, housing, jobs and safety, building on extensive consultations undertaken with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.

Latest Announcements

The Australian Government, in partnership with the Northern Territory Government, will continue to work with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory to build stronger futures. Minister Jenny Macklin has made the following announcements on the Stronger Futures package:

Monday 2 April 2012

Joint media release: Educating children for a stronger future in the Northern Territory

Thursday 29 March 2012

Joint media release: Supporting children, youth and families in Northern Territory communities
Joint media release: Investing in the health of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Joint media release: Improving safety in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities
Joint media release: Municipal and essential services for outstations and homelands in the Northern Territory

About the legislation

The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Jenny Macklin MP, introduced legislation to Parliament on 23 November 2011 to tackle priority issues in the Northern Territory and released the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Policy Statement.Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Policy Statement
PDF Version [ 1.2 MB] | RTF Version [ 142kb] Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Policy information Leaflet
PDF Version [ 394 kb] | DOC Version [ 33.5kb]

To find out more about the legislation, access these documents:

Speech: Minister’s Second Reading speech
Media release: Community stores licensing strengthened to deliver more benefits
Media release: Further action to tackle alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory
Video: Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Next Steps. This audiovisual presentation explains the legislation for Indigenous community members in the Northern Territory, in English and 15 Indigenous languages.
Flyer: Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Next Steps
PDF Version [ 394kb] | RTF Version [ 23kb]

Access the draft legislation at these links:

Most of the new measures were announced by Minister Macklin on 14 November 2011, together with funding for a jobs package.

Media release: Education, jobs & tackling alcohol abuse the key to stronger futures in the Northern Territory
Media release: Building stronger futures for children in the Northern Territory
Media release: More jobs, better job opportunities for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory

The Stronger Futures legislation passed the House of Representatives with minor amendments on 27 February 2012 and is currently before the Senate.

Senate committee review

The Government asked for a review of the Stronger Futures legislation before it passes through the Parliament. The Senate Community Affairs Committee conducted an inquiry into the legislation and reported on 14 March 2012. The inquiry provided a further opportunity to contribute views on the specific initiatives proposed in the legislation. For more information, go to the Senate Community Affairs Committee inquiry website.

Background to the legislation

The measures in the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory legislation respond directly to priorities clearly identified by Indigenous people in the Stronger Futures consultations undertaken in the Northern Territory in mid-2011. Between late June and mid-August, more than 450 meetings were held with people in around 100 communities and town camps across the Northern Territory. The consultations included whole-of-community meetings, smaller meetings with individuals, families and other groups, public meetings in major towns, and meetings with key organisations.

On 18 October 2011, the Minister released a report summarising what people said.

O’BrienRich Research Group was engaged to analyse the consultation feedback to ensure the consultation report provides an accurate summary of what was said. The company’s data analysis is contained in the Stronger Futures Quantitative Analysis Report.

The Cultural and Indigenous Research Centre Australia (CIRCA) also provided an independent report on the conduct of the consultations.

The consultations followed the launch on 22 June 2011 of the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory discussion paper, which set out priorities for building on the work of the Northern Territory Emergency Response. The discussion paper was released jointly by the Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs.

Broadcast date: 28 June 2011

View Video Transcript

TRANSCRIPT: Launch of Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory discussion paper

Jenny Macklin: I’m very pleased to be launching this discussion paper today – Stronger Futures – which is all about starting the discussion with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and others who are interested in making sure we address the critical issues that still face the lives of people who live in Aboriginal communities across the Territory.

Julia Gillard: Progress has been made across the Northern Territory Emergency Response. We are seeing women and children feeling safer, having more money to spend on the basics of life, on food and clothing for kids. We’re seeing kids being fed through schools, 7000 meals a day being provided to children in schools. We’re seeing programs coming into effect to deal with alcohol and the pressures that that brings to Indigenous communities. We’re making progress on housing.

Jenny Macklin: This discussion paper will be the start of wide-ranging consultations that we will conduct with people in their communities, in their towns and cities across the Territory. We do recognise that the gaps are still far too wide in the Northern Territory – infant mortality; the attendance rates at school; the achievement rates at school; job opportunities; alcohol abuse. All of these issues we know continue to be critical for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. We want to talk with people about the best way that we can continue to work with local Aboriginal people to see improvement in their lives.

Julia Gillard: The consultation paper, that we are launching today, the discussion paper is called ‘Stronger futures in the Northern Territory’. Now we want to have a genuine dialogue, but I do want to give the following commitments as we have that dialogue. I want to make the following commitments about the next steps: first, the views of Aboriginal and non-Indigenous people will be at the centre of shaping what we do to deal with these levels of disadvantage – huge levels of disadvantage. We are committed to ensuring that all future initiatives comply with the Racial Discrimination Act and the Government will continue to support the Northern Territory government to strengthen the capacity to meet the high levels of need for vital services.

Consultation

The Australian Government identified three key areas for consultation:

School attendance and educational achievement — ensuring all children go to school and succeed

Economic development and employment — ensuring Indigenous people are part of the Territory’s economy and that people have jobs

Tackling alcohol abuse — ensuring people and communities do not go on suffering the devastation caused by too much alcohol.

The Government also consulted on these areas:

To see where the consultations occurred, download these schedules:

Schedule of community consultations by DATE
PDF Version [ 24kb] | RTF Version [ 444kb]

Schedule of community consultations by REGION
PDF Version [ 24kb] | RTF Version [ 447kb]

Northern Territory Emergency Response Evaluation

On 10 November 2011, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs released a major evaluation of the Northern Territory Emergency Response.

Further Information

The Australian Government is committed to continue talking and working with Aboriginal people, leaders and communities as directions and policies for future work are developed. Further information is available from Government Business Managers (GMBs) and Indigenous Engagement Officers (IEOs) in communities and from the Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICCs) in:

Darwin Ph: (08) 8928 6100

Alice Springs Ph: (08) 8958 4200

Tennant Creek Ph: (08) 7978 1900

Katherine Ph: (08) 7978 2000

Nhulunbuy Ph: (08) 8968 8400.

Published: 1 May 2012