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

The latest substantial government reports on the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians have told us what we, or some of us, should already know. The quality of life is not improving for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, so much so across some social and economic indicators that the gap is growing to a gulf. Only five of 19 targets are on track. Four targets continue to get worse: children in contact with child protection systems, the proportion of children developmentally on track, the rate of people taking their own lives, and the number of adults imprisoned. The need for change for those impacted demands truth-telling and the facts being reported exactly as they occur, warts and all—no airbrushing, no absence of critical data, no shirking of truth or accountability.

The most recent Productivity Commission report blames the bureaucrats for being too focused on reporting. Come on, you know it's not that simple. As the shadow minister for the prevention of family violence, I find it appalling that on page 33 it says:

No data is available to track all forms of family violence and abuse against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females and children.

And that's been the case since 2018 and 2019. It should be there, given we're in the middle of an epidemic. Apparently, it's because data collection is too complex. There is concern over the potential for harm by previous data collection methods and yet no suggestion that it will be fixed. Domestic and family violence is a significant driver impacting the lives of people, and it's getting worse for those most impacted.

Is it the harm that's talked about in the pride and feelings of the decision-makers driven by ideology, not intelligence or evidence? Because it's not those depending on change, because they are hurting enough physically, emotionally and sexually from harm. Think about the lifting of the NT alcohol restrictions without a proper transition plan and the removal of cashless debit cards in the communities that wanted them—the harm that was already done to vulnerable people. It's now well documented.

You know what's interesting? It's what's not in the document. What's not in the document is the voice of children. What's not in that document is information about alcohol consumption levels. What's not in that document is the change in the number of children in out-of-home care. What's not in that document is the number of hospital admissions for family violence—not in South Australia, not in Queensland and not in other places. Western Australia provided some of the best data. That fits the definition of hypocrisy when the Albanese government continues to talk about the impact of voice, yet it's still not listening to Indigenous Australians or to those who want to speak up or should be heard.

Let me explain. Let's consider the draft report on the CDC cessation, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Well, when you look at the draft compared to the final, people's voices have changed. Where those participants talked about—well, they reported—alcohol increasing considerably, the final report says no, they only suggested it. In Ceduna, they said the number of visitors had increased considerably, but the final report says no, they only perceived that it had increased. They live there; they know. They live through the consequences every day. They talked of increased levels of alcohol misuse having flow-on effects for the incidence of assaults and family violence. In the final report, that was adjusted to say: 'No, they only perceived that. They don't know it. We know best in the cities and towns that aren't even near those communities that wanted the cashless debit card.'

It appears the report that was provided by the Australian government is a concerted effort to invalidate the voices of Indigenous Australians—to invalidate the participants who contributed, gave their time and honestly talked about the impact. This is from one of the participants: 'I think the impact is that the gambling, the alcohol and the violence on the street are all back. It happened immediately here, as soon as that card ceased. The impact was immediate. It's affected not only adults but the kids as well.' We don't hear from a single child—not a single child—and yet we know the indicators in the Close the gap report are ones that impact children the most. It's disgraceful—making decisions on ideology.