News And Media:

PM’s Closing the Gap speech (2012)

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: February 16, 2012

Read Prime Ministerial Statement- “Closing the Gap” | Prime Minister of Australia (2012) made by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in the Australian Parliament today when tabling the Closing the Gap Report 2012.

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‘Monster factories’ encouraging young crims

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: October 8, 2011

NATHAN DYER, The West Australian

October 8, 2011, 2:30 am

Perth’s child jails are known as “monster factories” where violence is rife and young offenders learn to become more efficient and violent criminals, a senior lawyer claims.

Aboriginal Legal Service East Kimberley managing lawyer Glen Dooley said Banksia Hill and Rangeview detention centres concentrated young offenders in an environment which fostered violence, crime and drug use.

The Weekend West is aware of one case in which a 13-year-old Kimberley boy who had a record of non-violent offending was sent to detention in Perth. While there he was bashed but a 17-year-old stepped in and protected him.

After returning to his home community, the 13-year-old was allegedly asked to repay the debt by assisting the 17-year-old.

Before they embarked on a robbery, the pair injected themselves with ice, a drug they had become aware of while in detention.

During the robbery a victim was allegedly stabbed and the boy now faces serious charges.

Mr Dooley said WA’s juvenile justice system should be radically overhauled and the two detention centres shut down.

“The contamination effect of Rangeview and Banksia Hill is extreme and I honestly think they should be shut down,” he said. “Effectively what they are, are hugely expensive too-hard baskets.

“Young Aboriginal kids come back from those places with heads full of serious crime, having been exposed to drugs they would never otherwise have been exposed to, stuff they would never have thought of themselves.”

Mr Dooley said the system was skewed towards punishment and funds needed to be redirected to communities where young Aboriginal offenders lived.

Corrective Services Minister Terry Redman said the call to shut juvenile detention centres was “nonsense in the extreme”.

Mr Redman said the centres were needed to ensure the safety of the general community by isolating violent offenders.

He rejected claims of excessive violence within the centres.

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Minister Butler Attends Mount Isa Community Forum

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: October 7, 2011

The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, joined the Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter at a community forum to discuss suicide prevention measures in Mount Isa on 6 October 2011.

The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler,  joined the Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter at a community forum to discuss suicide prevention measures in Mount Isa.

The forum was hosted by Mr Katter and also attended by the State Member for Mount Isa, Betty Kiernan.

Bereaved families, people affected by suicide, community organisations and service providers met over several hours to discuss the need to talk more openly about suicide and how to address the issue of suicide in the community.

“Any person taking their own life is a tragedy that deeply affects their family and community and the high rate of suicide in Mount Isa is something we are determined to tackle,” Mr Butler said.

“Suicide is not something easily spoken about by most people but it’s preventable. It’s absolutely essential that, as a community, we openly discuss suicide and how to reduce its tragic impact.

“Today’s community forum was an open, frank and emotional conversation and provided me with the opportunity to hear first hand from people affected by suicide, as well as community organisations and service providers who are delivering services on the ground.

“What I saw at today’s forum was the community’s strong resolve to tackle the issue of suicide together and address the recent spate of suicides. The Mount Isa community produced a list of actions that I will take away to consider and investigate.

“The Prime Minister shares my concerns about the high rate of suicide in Mount Isa and I will also report back to her the outcomes of today’s community forum.

“The issue of suicide needs to be tackled by all levels of Government and I welcome the commitment by the Commonwealth and State Governments, and community groups, to work together to address suicide in the community.”

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Police chief says face up to Aboriginal crime

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: October 3, 2011

Police chief says face up to Aboriginal crime

LUKE ELIOT, The West Australian

October 3, 2011, 2:45 am

Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan has singled out Aboriginal youths as among the primary culprits for property crime in WA, saying their offending was an “elephant in the room” that people were reluctant to talk about.

In an opinion piece in The West Australian , Mr O’Callaghan cites statistics that show more than half of burglaries are committed by juveniles and 61 per cent of those juveniles are male Aboriginals.

“Since no one else seems to want to say this I will – the conclusion we can draw from this is that we have an extremely serious problem with Aboriginal juvenile offending,” he wrote.

“Their representation in the justice system when compared with the portion of the population they represent is . . . staggering.”the population they represent is . . . staggering.”

Mr O’Callaghan described the problem of Aboriginal criminality as among several “very large elephants in the room about which nobody seems to want to talk about publicly”.

He conceded that blaming particular groups in society for crime had “sensitivities”.

However, he said it was “unlikely that we will make significant gains without me telling you exactly who is breaking into your homes and what they are stealing”.

WA Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Dennis Eggington said he had no reason to question Mr O’Callaghan’s figures.

He said the issue was complex and reflected a tragic breakdown in healthy and happy families.

He said it was a terrible indictment on the State that Aboriginal children fuelled the statistics.

“And that indicates to me a terrible failure on governments (and) a terrible failure on the wider community to care about what is going on,” he said.

“More importantly, I think it indicates what our Aboriginal communities have been saying in that they desperately need support, proper resources and control back of our communities to turn this terrible problem around.”

Mr Eggington conceded people were historically reluctant to raise the issue but said now was not the time to be sensitive.

WA Police Union president Russell Armstrong, who last year apologised for comments he made about Aboriginals after an assault on a Carnarvon policewoman, said he supported Mr O’Callaghan’s efforts to talk about the issue.

“We want these groups to be given every opportunity to succeed in life,” Mr Armstrong said. “We as police can’t do it all and everyone needs to pitch in and help.”

Mr O’Callaghan’s comments come amid crime statistics published in the WA Police annual report that show a rise in burglaries and car thefts during the 2010-11 financial year.

WA Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan

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WORLD SUICIDE DAY

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: September 12, 2011

On World Suicide Day the following appointments were announced by Ministers Macklin, Snowdon and Butler:

- Dr Siva Bala – Regional Psychiatrist, Kimberley Mental Health and Drug Service – to the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council (ASPAC)

- Mary Victor O’Reeri – Billard Learning Centre – to the new Indigenous Suicide Prevention Advisory Group

For more information, click here.

Mary was invited to speak at World Suicide Day in Broome on Friday 9th September 2011 after a community march through the streets organised by Broome’s Arafmi Mental Health Carers & Friends Association family support group. Big acknowledgement to Cecilia Dann (pictured below) and colleagues for creating such a powerful gathering. Thanks also to Helen Martin, St John of God Heritage Centre for the photo.

Sr Pat Rhatigan (St John of God Heritage Centre) and Cecilia Dann (Broome Arafmi Mental Health Carers & Friends Association family support group)

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THE POWER OF THE DOT

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: September 5, 2011

“Our future lies in the hands of the ‘dots’ ……”

Read here what Mary Victor O’Reeri meant when she spoke about the ‘dots’ in Mt Isa at the Strong Well Women Leaders Forum on 31st August 2011.

Read Mary’s Keynote Presentation on 30th August 2011 here.

Thank you to the wonderful women of the Gulf for their warm welcome and amazing enthusiasm!

Angeline Pascoe, Mary Victor O'Reeri, Leslyn Pascoe in Mt Isa (Angeline and Leslyn hail from Normanton, QLD)

Shirley Slann (Mt Isa), Mary Victor O'Reeri, Vicki Chong (Mt Isa) - Mt Isa, August 2010

Jackie Huggins (Brisbane), Mary Victor O'Reeri (Mt Isa - August 2010)

Kerrie Tim (FaHCSIA), Mary Victor O'Reeri - Mt Isa, August 2010

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Why do we hold the Blank Page Summit?

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: August 25, 2011

Billard Aboriginal Community holds the Blank Page Summit Hard Yarn because of what the Productivity Commission has today reported to the Australian Prime Minister – read about its latest report on Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage here.

The statistics remain stubbornly high across the board in relation to quality of life for Indigenous kids, young people, men, women particularly in the areas of child protection, imprisonment, health, housing, literacy.

In today’s Australian newspaper-

“The steering committee responsible for producing the report said overall progress to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians on six key indicators has been mixed.”

Read the full Report or the Overview.

This year’s Blank Page Summit Communique sets out a Call to Action which tackles some of the deeper blockages underpinning the OID’s findings:

CALL FOR ACTION – BILLARD ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY – BLANK PAGE SUMMIT HARD YARN YOUTH MOB 2011

1. A real community has a strong focus on bettering young people’s lives.

The young people at the Blank Page Summit Hard Yarn Youth Mob 2011 told us who they are prepared to be and who they expect adults to be. Their messages were straightforward – mutual accountability, and responsible and inclusive adults who lay a solid foundation for young people.

2. A livable community is where generations of people can be happy.

The young people at the Blank Page Summit Hard Yarn Youth Mob 2011 told us to forget about government, other services and agencies and think for a minute about the main issues that need to change in our communities that we can see for ourselves:

  • designing children-friendly communities shaped by the rights of children and the power of young people to drive change
  • stopping the segregation often created by funded Indigenous organisations which makes them inaccessible to community residents, particularly young people
  • opening up channels of communication and participation for young people which increase their sense of belonging and put a value on their decision-making
  • lessening the impact of peer pressure by developing a proper and consistent commitment to higher community standards and regulations including laws and by-laws

3. Who prevents suicide?

The ongoing suicides by young Indigenous people must make us stop and think deeply as individuals. To change this pattern of chronically high statistics, we need to fundamentally renovate:

  • ourselves
  • our attitude towards young people
  • our attitude towards our living and working environments
  • our approach to resource allocation at every stage of intervention from early intervention, prevention to postvention

4. Stopping the rot of unproductive service delivery where the focus is on building organisational power and unnecessary competitiveness rather than on collaboration in the interests of quality of life for Indigenous people as end-users.

The low level of health and wellbeing of Indigenous people in Australia today warrants real and honest assessment.

  • There is a direct link between chronic blockages to improvement and the ‘tick box’ mentality of service providers.
  • Organisations are being continually funded to deliver services that are not meeting the needs of individuals and communities.
  • Indigenous consumers struggle to penetrate the jungle of service delivery to create responses that more accurately meet their needs.
  • Vulnerable individuals and communities in particular, do not have an adequate say in the services that are delivered to them – things can be left to chance.
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BLANK PAGE SUMMIT HARD YARN 2011 COMMUNIQUE

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: August 14, 2011

The Blank Page Summit Hard Yarn 2011 Communique is available here.

Details of the Blank Page Summit Hard Yarn 2012 will be posted online on 1 September 2011.

The Blank Page Summit Hard Yarn will be held at Billard Aboriginal Community from 24-28 July 2012.

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$3.5bn a year failing to lift Aborigines out of the 1970s

By Billard Learning Centre | Published: August 8, 2011

  • Matthew Franklin, Chief political correspondent
  • The Australian
  • August 08, 2011

    • TAXPAYERS are getting “dismal” results from the $3.5 billion a year they spend on Aboriginal Australia, says a damning review of indigenous spending conducted for the federal Department of Finance.

    The report points to “a huge gap between policy intent and policy execution”, which means the situation of many indigenous Australians today is as bad now as it was in 1970.

    “This major investment, maintained over so many years, has yielded dismally poor returns to date,” the report says.

    The report was obtained by the Seven Network under Freedom of Information laws after a long legal battle in which the department said its release was against the public interest. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal rejected the argument in a landmark ruling that could provide the public with far greater future access to government documents.

    The report’s conclusions took into account the progress of the Gillard government’s Northern Territory emergency intervention program and its multi-billion-dollar Closing the Gap policies, aimed at alleviating indigenous disadvantage.

    Kevin Rudd ordered a strategic review of indigenous funding in June 2009, two years after the then prime minister’s apology to the Stolen Generations, the subsequent creation of his Closing the Gap policies, and as The Australian began to reveal claims of waste under the $672 million program to provide housing for remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.

    The Department of Finance engaged consultant and former Department of Veterans’ Affairs secretary Neil Johnston, who produced his 470-page report in February last year.

    In the findings, revealed by the Seven Network last night, Dr Johnston concluded that governments and bureaucracies had for years failed to turn their good intentions into results for indigenous people. “The history of commonwealth policy for indigenous Australians over the past 40 years is largely a story of good intentions, flawed policies, unrealistic assumptions, poor implementation, unintended consequences and dashed hopes,” he wrote. “Strong policy commitments and large investments of government funding have too often produced outcomes which have been disappointing at best and appalling at worst. Individual success stories notwithstanding, the circumstances and prospects of many individual Australians are little better in 2010, relative to other Australians, than those which faced their counterparts in 1970.”

    The report lauded Labor’s “coherent and ambitious agenda”, but found that difficulties had never been as much about policy development as the failure in policy delivery, caused by poor communication and, in the case of the commonwealth, inadequate on-the-ground presence.

    “In the indigenous area, more than any other, there has been a huge gap between policy intent and policy execution, with numerous examples of well-intentioned policies and programs which have failed to produce their intended results because of serious flaws in implementation and delivery,” it said.

    Laying significant blame at the feet of state governments, it warned that the problems continued with “real risks that the states and territories will not deliver on key aspects of the agreed Council of Australian Governments agenda”.

    “The capacity of the Northern Territory government is a particular concern, as evidenced by its performance to date in the housing (and) schooling domains.”

    It said similar concerns applied to other jurisdictions and recommended that the commonwealth develop “risk-management” strategies related to distributing funds to states and territories.

    Dr Johnston also questioned the approach of pumping money into small, outlying communities in remote areas — home to about a quarter of the indigenous population. Arguing it was in these remote communities that indigenous disadvantage was most starkly evident, it argued funding be meted out with regard to “long-term economic viability and sustainability” of communities.

    “Consistent with the principals used by COAG, priority for infrastructure support and service provision in the future should be directed to larger and more economically sustainable communities where secure land tenure exists with outreach services and other forms of access provided for the residents of smaller surrounding communities,” it said. “At the same time, there should be support for voluntary mobility by individuals and families to areas where better education and job opportunities exist or where there are higher standards of services.”

    The current set of government programs was “unduly complex and confusing” and the logic behind some programs was weak. In some cases the assumptions underlying programs were “flawed or unrealistic” especially in regard to the scale and timing of investment needed to drive real change.

    Last night Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the government commissioned the review because it wanted to improve the lives of indigenous Australians and was pleased that it had described its reform agenda as coherent and ambitious. “Before the significant reform and investment agenda put in place by the government, services and infrastructure for indigenous Australians had faced decades of under-investment and neglect,” she said.

    Link to article here.

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    Art initiates life in a remote town (Balgo)

    By Billard Learning Centre | Published: August 1, 2011

    “Art initiates life in a remote town” is an uplifting article in The Age newspaper out of Melbourne about art and life in Balgo.

    Thank you to the wonderful folks of Balgo who joined the Blank Page Summit Hard Yarn Youth Mob 2011 at Billard Aboriginal Community.

    Full report of the Summit in 2011 to follow in coming days ………..

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    Billard Learning Centre

    Billard Aboriginal Community

    Dampier Peninsula

    Kimberley WA