Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Reid for her question but, more importantly, for the wise counsel and advice that she gives on the work that I'm doing on youth suicide and mental health. I acknowledge that the level of child abuse in Indigenous communities is far too high. It is two to four times greater than in the broader population, and it is a tragedy when you meet those young people later in life and they break down in front of you and share their experience of how that has impacted on them. That's why yesterday's announcement by the Special Minister of State on the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse is welcomed, because we will focus on place based approaches to address the levels of child abuse.

I've asked two incredible Indigenous women—the Healing Foundation CEO, Fiona Cornforth, and the SNAICC CEO, Catherine Liddle—to co-chair the Indigenous expert group and guide the implementation of this initiative. What they will do is look for local solutions that empower people at the local level. Our women have been raising this issue, as the member for Barton knows, over our years of experience within our communities. It is the women who raise the issue and want the matter addressed. I know that members on both sides of this chamber have been committed to addressing the levels of child sexual abuse within Indigenous communities. As a teacher, I saw the profound impact it had on children in their behaviour within a classroom, let alone the indelible imprint that sits within their memory banks and lasts a lifetime. By doing it in conjunction with our women and with our communities, we will seek and obtain the solutions that we need for the future. That generation that has been affected and the victims of sexual abuse will also provide input into lived experience so that we're able to better address the issues.

When the Minister for Defence was the Minister for Home Affairs, I approached him on a matter to do with a number of communities, and we were working together to address that challenge in those communities, because there are people who are incarcerated and released back into communities and have unfettered access to young people. That's what we as a government, and all of us in this House, are focused on addressing so that we ensure that future generations are safe, they are protected and they have the levels of support that are absolutely critical.

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