Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, I'm talking about our First Nations forum, Senator McCarthy. They want to see a treaty front and centre of what should happen across this nation. They talked about the issue of a treaty and of the fact that cultural healing is really important and of the establishment of a makarrata commission. And their voices joined other voices that we've heard on the need for a treaty across this country.

On social and emotional wellbeing, they identified gaps in services for First Nations people and the necessity of ongoing dialogue between community and all levels of government. Funding for culturally appropriate health centres and refugees were among the topics of discussion as to social and emotional wellbeing. They wanted to see a First-Nations-led review of services to be conducted to identify funding, geographical or sectoral gaps in services. They acknowledge that social support workers, who have knowledge of but are independent of the system, are needed to provide advice for First Nations people to navigate services. They talked about cultural competency—the need for organisations to be aware of issues and of how to engage with First Nations people, but they certainly wanted to see First Nations people front and centre of service delivery.

As I said, it was an amazing day. We are at the point of producing our final document. I'd like to thank the wonderful women in my own office and, in particular, Clare Davidson, who led this whole engagement and has taken responsibility—along with our steering committee—for putting this report together. We do need to listen to First Nations voices—particularly the voices of women. As I said, this report will be concluded shortly. It will be available publicly, and I would urge anyone who would like a copy to talk to my office.