The main problem I have with the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) is it's failure to address that which it was implemented in response to. Namely, widespread sexual abuse of Aboriginal children and violence against Aboriginal women.
From Nicole Watson's account of the NTER, there has been a lack of research into any correlations between the NTER and improvement on safety for either children or women in Indigenous communities. This, combined with evidence of negative impacts caused by the NTER, show us that at the very least further research into its negative and positive effects should be done so that improvements can be made.
Rather than responding to problems of child abuse, child malnutrition and lack of safe water supplies, the NTER has resembled early colonial treatment of Aboriginal women including invisibility of rights and regulation of spending leading to loss of autonomy, loss of cultural authority and an increase in stigma towards those using BasicsCards as a part of the income management regime.
"In light of this history, it beggars belief that anyone would rationally argue that legislative interventions that regulate en masse are an answer to the multiple levels of disadvantage endured by Aboriginal women. Yet this is precisely what key NTER measures have delivered." (Watson, p. 158)
Perhaps the greatest thing that the NTER has achieved is recognition of the immense problem of the abuse of children and women within Indigenous communities, and the need for this to be addressed. However a different approach is needed. The NTER didn't include any prior consultation and has followed a top down approach. I agree with Watson and would like to suggest that success will be better reached through partnerships between the government and Indigenous communities, rather than through legislation for women and children's safety put in place by a society that is itself suffering from patriarchal violence.
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