A Brief Conversation
With Dr Holly DoelMackaway
Involving Aboriginal Children in Law and Policy-Making Bradley Cagauan
24 | The Brief
W
hen we decided this edition would explore questions relating to the law’s impact on children, we needed to explore ways we can remedy the disproportionate impact the law has on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Children are often used as political footballs thrown to force quick change. There is a reason why The Simpsons scene of Helen Lovejoy crying ‘Ohohoho, won’t somebody please think of the children?’ is a classic meme. In 2007 claims of endemic child abuse in the Northern Territory led to the Northern Territory Emergency Response (commonly known as ‘The Intervention’), a set of laws that quarantined welfare payments, banned alcohol, acquired native townships and increased police presence in ‘prescribed communities’. There was no attempt to consult with the communities or their children prior to this legislation coming into force. I discussed the Intervention with Dr Holly Doel-Mackaway, who conducted field research with Aboriginal children and young people to seek their views about the measures. She highlighted that the Intervention exacerbated violations of Aboriginal children’s human rights: ‘During the Intervention, Aboriginal children and young people were removed from their families and from Country through the child protection and juvenile justice systems at a far greater rate than during the period known as the Stolen Generations.’ A year after the Intervention’s implementation, the government apologised to the Stolen Generations; during the Intervention, disproportionate numbers of Aboriginal children were placed into juvenile detention or out-of-home care, often hundreds of kilometres away from their communities.
Ed.2 2023