Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. I draw the minister’s attention to a report on ABC radio, which stated that Aboriginal domestic violence is ‘now widely acknowledged to be devastating Indigenous communities around Australia’. That statement was made on 23 July 2003. It was made following the Prime Minister’s summit on domestic violence in Indigenous communities, which was held in Canberra that day with 16 Indigenous leaders from around Australia. Minister, what has the government done over the three intervening years to assist Indigenous Australians at community level to deal with this very significant problem? Why does the upcoming summit on Indigenous violence, three years after the Prime Minister’s one, now have no Indigenous participation? Given that Australia seems to have discovered—or rediscovered—that domestic violence is still devastating Indigenous communities, can the minister indicate what will be different this time with this summit?