Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I too would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Ngunawal people, and pay my respects to their elders, past and present. Can I specifically acknowledge Minister Wyatt, Senator Dodson, Mrs Burney, Senator McCarthy, Senator Lambie and Senator Thorpe and pay my respects to them and all Indigenous Australians on this very important anniversary.

Thirteen years ago the Australian government delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. The then Prime Minister, Prime Minister Rudd, acknowledged and reflected on this blemished chapter of Australia's history. Thirteen years on we must not forget that, because it is as important today as it was then and has always been. Today is an opportunity, as a government, to reflect on the national strategies to improve the outcomes for Indigenous Australians, through improved policy implementation informed by the voices of Indigenous Australians. It is an opportunity as a community and as community representatives to work hand in hand with local champions to promote the world's longest-living culture. Painfully and most importantly, it is a moment to acknowledge the tremendous loss and suffering of First Nations peoples and what they have experienced. As the Prime Minister said today, actions of brute force were carried out under claims of good intentions but, in truth, betrayed the ignorance of arrogance—knowing better than our Indigenous peoples.

Following the national apology came an effort to overcome inequality and shape an Australia where we close the gap between the life expectancy, educational achievements and economic opportunities of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. That challenge continues today. The Prime Minister has made it clear that Closing the Gap is a whole-of-government priority, and so it should be. We cannot look at these issues with a singular focus or with preconceived notions that fail to connect with realities on the ground. Major changes to systems, to policy and to practice will only be secured when Indigenous leaders and their communities are able to participate in and influence the decisions that affect their lives. This is central to some of the programs and initiatives that exist under my Social Services portfolio.

For the first time, the Closing the Gap agreement includes targets to reduce the rate of overrepresentation of Indigenous children in out-of-home care. Our goal is to make sure we reduce that rate by 45 per cent by 2031. Right now there are approximately 20,000 Indigenous children in out-of-home care. By any measure, that is a very distressing figure and we must address it. So too is the tragic rate of domestic violence in our remote communities. Evidence indicates that Indigenous women and children experience disproportionately high rates of domestic violence. Everybody has the right to be safe in their community and that's why it is so essential that we are able to provide specialised family violence services to deliver culturally and age-appropriate family and domestic violence services to children and young people as well as to women who are victims of domestic violence. In order to make a long-term difference in the rates of violence against women, we also must change attitudes to violence. That is why it is very important that we invest in initiatives that work with our First Australians to make sure that, working with community elders, we can promote healthy and respective relationships.

Equally important is to effect change in relation to the level of educational attainment. The government are committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to access the best education possible as we continue to work together to close the gap in education. Under the Social Services portfolio, we continue to fund support to Indigenous children to start their schooling with cognitive development and skills comparable to those of their peers, improving their chances of completing their education.

I look forward to continuing to work with all Indigenous leaders and peak organisations in the pursuit of developing outcome-focused policies that make a real difference to Indigenous people in Australia. These challenges remain. They are big and they are small, but we must continue to work side by side to overcome them.