Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence) Share this | Hansard source

There are actions the Prime Minister can take today to reduce the rates of children entering the youth justice system and for adults entering the justice system. To make a difference, you have to deal with domestic and family violence, and you have to deal with the issue of child protection and recidivism. It's not just the police, the courts and the prisons; it's everyone who has to take action here. It is parents being responsible for getting children to school and ensuring home is a safe haven, not somewhere of chaos and trauma from which they escape and inevitably find trouble.

The reality is that youth incarceration is in large part caused by a failing child protection system. Around 58,000 Indigenous children come into contact with child protection in any given year, and that number is going up. Around 22,000 Indigenous children are subject to child protection orders in any given year, and that number is going up. The Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement states that, of the Aboriginal children involved in the youth justice system, 81 per cent were victims of abuse, trauma or neglect, and 78 per cent experienced domestic and family violence. The Productivity Commission report of March 2020 recognises that most children are raised in loving, positive environments and that the risk of harm to children is exacerbated by a higher prevalence of other risk factors, such as poverty, unemployment, overcrowding, mental health issues, substance misuse and, of course, family violence. The link is undeniable. For adults, family violence results in greater risk of exposure to police, courts and prisons, too.

Indigeneity of itself does not condemn Indigenous people to a life of harm, crime and trauma. But for too many, that is their reality. It's the focus on those who need it most that should get our attention, and we should act on everything. It might be uncomfortable to talk about sexual abuse, coercive control, and physical and mental abuse. But talking about the hard stuff is what truth-telling is really about. Until we reduce the number of young people in the child protection system we won't be able to reduce the number of children behind bars. Indigenous children are 10.5 times more likely to be living in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children, an overrepresentation of some 800 per cent. Most Indigenous children are taken into the system before they turn one year old, and the likelihood of their being returned home is bleak. In New South Wales, just 15.2 per cent return home.

Where it is safe to do so—and only where it is safe to do so, because the work has been done—children should be assisted to return to their families. This motion suggests redirecting money from police and prisons to an Indigenous corporation. I don't think that's the answer. Better-targeted funding, removal of duplication, accountability, and focus on outcomes not outputs are what's needed in greater measure. This also means an audit of services that deliver to the most vulnerable.

There is no doubt that irresponsible actions of ideologically driven politicians has also contributed to making an already bad situation worse. I'm referring to the removal of the cashless debit card in those communities that asked for a trial and the reckless lifting of alcohol bans in the Northern Territory. When spending on alcohol, drugs and gambling rather than on food, education and essentials occurs, the change for the most vulnerable is not for the better. In former trial site Bundaberg, the rate of domestic and family violence offences rose by 24 per cent. In former trial site Kalgoorlie-Boulder, breaches of violence restraint orders skyrocketed by 48 per cent. When I travelled to the region in January the shire councils, the shelters, the emergency frontline workers, the teachers and the locals told the same sad, sorry, shameful stories: more lives shattered, more demand for emergency services, more money needed to rebuild lives. The silent victims of this family and domestic violence epidemic are children and the most vulnerable. Sometimes those who were once innocent victims end up as perpetrators facing police, courts and our prisons.

Two years ago the Albanese government promised 500 new frontline community service workers to combat escalating family and domestic violence. To date they've delivered just two. I've yet to hear someone plausibly explain how an ice-skating rink in Alice Springs, painting roller shutters and supporting music festivals will change the lives of the most vulnerable. Senator Thorpe is right: all contributors to this issue need to be part of the solution. It's not one versus the other. There needs to be an improvement in the expectations of services delivered. (Time expired)