Media release – Our Watch, 16 August 2024
Report into missing and murdered First Nations women and children
National violence prevention organisation Our Watch has welcomed the report into Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and Children, released yesterday.
The Senate Committee made 10 recommendations including: co-design with First Nations families and communities, review of police practices, sustainable funding mechanisms, a senior First Nations appointment to the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission, work by media to consider portrayal of missing and murdered First Nations women and children, improved data, and an audit of the Attorney-General’s Department.
Acting Chief Executive Officer Jilly Charlwood said the inquiry and report have laid bare the need to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s voices and to respond.
“The inquiry heard evidence of what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have long known: that this is an immense crisis made up of countless tragedies affecting people right across the country. It is heightened by systematic racism, discrimination, poverty and trauma,” Ms Charlwood said.
“We acknowledge the leadership and strength of countless Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who contributed to this inquiry being established.
“We also acknowledge both the deep sadness and the courage of the witnesses who have shared the details of their loved ones’ murders and disappearances, and who have highlighted the systemic failings that provide the foundation for the report’s recommendations.
“We know First Nations women experience disproportionately high rates of violence, and violence that is often more severe and more complex in its impacts. This violence is perpetrated by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous men.
“Preventing this violence must be a national priority. It requires hearing, valuing and believing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, along with dedicated attention and investment”.
The report contains clear recommendations which, if implemented, could contribute to overdue systemic reform, including ensuring police interactions are culturally safe, appropriate, consistent and of a high standard. It also paves the way for the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to shape solutions, stronger governance, greater investment in services, better data and more appropriate media reporting.
Our Watch Head of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy, Wiradjuri-Ngunnawal woman Regan Mitchell said the number of First Nation women missing and murdered is not only devastating, but unacceptable.
“For anything to change we first need to be honest about why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience violence at the rates we do,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Ongoing impacts of colonisation and deeply embedded racism, discrimination and bias in our society, systems and structures create a breeding ground where violence against our women is more likely to occur and be accepted. Our lives do not hold the same value as the lives of our white counterparts and this is a national shame.
“This violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is not a blackfella problem. It’s an Australia problem. And it’s way past time for it to stop”.
Our Watch gave evidence to the inquiry, based on its national framework to prevent violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women, Changing the picture. The framework was developed with extensive consultations and evidence about the intersecting underlying drivers of violence against First Nations women.
“The report of the Senate Committee provides an important blueprint for reform,” Ms Charlwood said.
“We stand alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, organisations and communities across Australia in calling for long overdue change, and commit to our part in preventing violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children”.
1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family, and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via www.1800RESPECT.org.au, or text 0458 737 732. Men’s Referral Service: 1300 766 491.
Read the full report here: Missing and murdered First Nations women and children – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)
Recommendations
7.17 The committee recommends that federal, state and territory governments codesign with First Nations families and communities, and on behalf of all Australians, aculturally appropriate and nationally significant way in which to recognise and remember the First Nations women and children who have been murdered or disappeared.
7.34 The committee recommends that the Attorney-General tasks the Police Ministers Council to review existing police practices in each jurisdiction, consider the learnings from each jurisdiction and aim to implement and harmonise best police practices across Australia by no later than 31 December 2025, with the goal of ensuring all interactions with First Nations people are consistent and of a high standard, including standards of cultural awareness and safety. In performing this role, the committee recommends that the following practices and procedures be considered:
ongoing and mandatory cultural awareness training for all employees (that is, both sworn and civilian members);
training courses developed and led by First Nations people, including components on lived experience, trauma-informed practice and effective communication;
recruitment, support and promotion of First Nations people, including to senior management positions; and
appropriate guidelines for the review of past cases involving disappeared and murdered First Nations women and children where families are seeking review. These should be replicated through the justice system as recommended by the NSW State Coroner in the inquest into the death of Mona Lisa Smith and Jacinta Rose Smith (referred to in this report).
7.35 The committee recommends that the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee or the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, or such other appropriate body, monitors progress in meeting Recommendation 2 and the progress of measures to address the issues relating to discernible data gaps (paragraph 7.11).
7.38 The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government appoints a First Nations person with specific responsibility for advocating on behalf of and addressing violence against First Nations women and children within the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission. Detailed consideration should be given to the way in which the position is created within the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission (for example, should it be Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner level), the powers of such position and the necessary funding for such position to maximise effectiveness.
7.43 The committee recommends that the Australian government urgently gives effect to the relevant recommendations in the Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020–2025, in particular Recommendations 2–3, 9 and 11–12, and specifically addresses the need to increase the geographic spread and capacity of Family Violence Prevention Legal Services.
7.54 The committee recommends that the Department of Social Services, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Attorney-General’s Department and the National Indigenous Australians Agency develop, for implementation, a sustainable funding mechanism to provide ongoing support services for First Nations people, including women and children, experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. This funding must prioritise service and program delivery by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations who demonstrate evidence-based primary prevention initiatives that are independently evaluated for efficacy, including for delivery in regional and remote areas.
7.61 The committee recommends that the Australian government empowers First Nations women to lead the design and implementation of services and supports that address violence in their communities, as consistently advocated by the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) project, and reflecting the principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
7.66 The committee recommends that:
the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) gives serious consideration to auditing the Attorney-General’s Department (noting the independence of the ANAO), as part of its Annual Audit Work Program 2025–2026, to assess whether the department is effectively delivering on the commitments agreed by the Australian government under the:
– National Agreement on Closing the Gap (in particular, Target 13);
– National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032;
– Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan 2023–25;
– the First Nations National Plan, once in effect; and
not later than six months after the conclusion of any ANAO audit, the Senate directs the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee or the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs to consider the ANAO’s findings and assess the Attorney‑General’s Department’s response to the audit. In the event that the ANAO declines to undertake the audit, then another independent body should be tasked with conducting the audit on the basis referred to above.
7.71The committee recommends that the Australian Press Council considers and reflects on the evidence given in this inquiry, with regard to how the media portrays cases of murdered and disappeared First Nations women and children, and considers how the concerns of First Nations communities and families can be positively addressed, including through the introduction of additional Standards or Advisory Guidelines or amendment of the existing Standards and Advisory Guidelines.
7.73 The committee recommends that the Australian government systematically considers the many recommendations and suggestions made to this inquiry.This includes recommendations relating to:
trauma informed healing, including the recommendations made by the Healing Foundation and White Ribbon Australia;
implementation of a violence prevention framework for men and boys;
development of Aboriginal community-based support programs for men; and
initiatives which promote a sense of individual and community responsibility for the issue of male violence against Aboriginal women.
Read the full report here: Missing and murdered First Nations women and children – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)
