A University of Queensland public law expert has released a new collection of articles on the Commonwealth’s controversial 2007 Intervention in parts of the Northern Territory and Labor’s legislative redesign of the Intervention in 2010.
In a special edition of the Law in Context journal entitled Indigenous Australians and the Commonwealth Intervention, Dr Peter Billings presents a broad and timely critique of the social and legal effects of the Intervention.
The paper also offers an insight into the issues behind recent media headlines and draws on the experience of leading Intervention commentators and academics.
Dr Billings said the collection was a multi-disciplinary and evidence-based analysis of the Intervention.
“All the contributors are united in their conviction that there must be shared responsibility for the resolution of the complex and pressing issues affecting Indigenous communities across the NT,” he said.
“The purported ‘success’ of current strategies appears overstated and the on-going departure from basic human rights standards serves to undermine the opportunity that increased funding and services brings.”
The collection revealed that the Intervention ignored the aspects of child abuse and neglect, and that welfare laws remain discriminatory against Indigenous people.
Dr Billings also found that additional policing under the Intervention has led to increased convictions of Indigenous people for minor traffic offences, instead of the more serious offences that were outlined in the Intervention.
Contributors to the collection include UQ’s T.C. Beirne School of Law academics, Dr Anthony E Cassimatis and Dr Jonathan Crowe, along with child protection experts based in the UQ Menzies School of Health Research, NT, criminologist Dr Thalia Anthony and former Social Justice Commissioner, Dr Tom Calma.
The publication can be purchased from Federation Press www.federationpress.com.au
Media: Dr Peter Billings (07 3365 7176, p.billings@law.uq.edu.au)
Melissa Reynolds (07 3365 2523, m.reynolds@law.uq.edu.au)
Caroline Bird (UQ Communications; 07 3365 1931 or c.bird1@uq.edu.au).
