Prime Minister announces $840 million to reach Close the Gap targets in the Northern Territory

ABC NEWS (Australia)

As part of the funding injection for remote communities in the Northern Territory, the government will focus on family safety and child development.

Transcript

00:00I think there's no other way to describe it than a very, very welcome announcement.

00:06When you look at that package, everything that you need to ensure that children, families

00:11and communities are safe are embedded in it.

00:13That's talking about action right now.

00:16Obviously, we're still yet to see the detail.

00:19But what we do know in that commitment is a commitment to potentially 12 new child and

00:24family centres.

00:26That is incredible because what we know when we're talking about closing the gap is that

00:29closing the gap starts with our children.

00:32This is the best place to invest.

00:34And it's something we have been calling for for a long time.

00:37So well done to everyone that was involved in negotiating this one.

00:41It is delivering funding, extra funding for many community based organisations whose agreements

00:47were actually set to end.

00:50Was that the case for some of the services supporting First Nations children?

00:54Look, this is what we, I don't have the detail to be perfectly honest.

00:58And what we know is there hasn't been the scale and level of investment into early childhood

01:03education and care in remote communities to date.

01:07So that's why the investment in the child and family centres is so important, because

01:11we know that if you want to make a difference on the communities, the fastest way to do

01:15that is to ensure that children are able to access that vital start in life like children

01:20in any other centre can.

01:22So this is really fundamental.

01:24And again, it complements all those other pieces of expenditure that the federal government

01:29has committed to.

01:31So things like investments in jobs, there is no point in investing in the jobs if there

01:35is no access to early education and care.

01:39There's no point in investing in schools if children haven't had the opportunity to get

01:43the support that they need so that they're developmentally ready, so that the families

01:47know what they need, and so that you're actually able to walk into big school and thrive.

01:51So what we're looking at in that package is incredibly comprehensive.

01:54I guess the pieces of detail that someone like myself will be looking for will be, is

01:59it genuinely community controlled?

02:01And I suspect we saw APON sitting there.

02:03I suspect that it is.

02:04Why community controlled?

02:06Because community control talks to a thing called self determination.

02:09Now that word is a bit confusing sometimes.

02:12Basically what it means is that people are able to make choices for themselves and determine

02:16what their services look like so that they actually fit the environment they're in.

02:20And these are things, again, that we might take for granted in other areas like cities

02:26and towns.

02:27Yeah, and you've pointed to this funding for the 12 children and family centres, which

02:33will be Aboriginal community controlled, according to the government.

02:38We don't have the detail, as you say, but, you know, with a wish list, I mean, what are

02:41the big issues that you're hoping could be addressed through those kinds of services?

02:47Oh, goodness.

02:48So, child and family services, they are the ones that knit your communities together.

02:53And we've seen some incredible gains with some Commonwealth commitments over the past

02:58decade.

02:59So, Connected Beginnings is one of those.

03:00And Connected Beginnings essentially knits all the fabric together.

03:04But when you drill down into small communities, they often just have a child and family centre

03:09or an ECE service.

03:11And those services, again, knit the fabric of a community together because they look

03:15at what all the structures are that a family needs to be safe and a community needs to

03:20be safe.

03:21Where do you go if you need help?

03:22How do you bring that service in?

03:24How do you observe a child in its natural environment?

03:26Where do you go to feel safe and ask for additional support?

03:30But more importantly, when we're talking about children, what are the things children need

03:33between zero to five to ensure they are ready to go to big school?

03:38Because we know that children that can go to big school, children that have had access

03:41to this, they're the ones that don't need child protection.

03:44They're the ones that don't come into contact with the justice system.

03:48So, we know that when we're looking at numbers like this, while they might sound big, jeez,

03:52they are an efficient spend.

03:54And what do you think about the timing of this?

03:56I mean, we are in the lead up to a federal election now.

03:59We've got Closing the Gap stats being released on Monday.

04:03Are you worried that maybe those numbers won't be good?

04:06And that's why we're seeing this funding being splashed around now?

04:10Oh, look, what we know about early education and care and child protection, which are a

04:14largely the two pieces of work that Snake really speaks loudly to and says, put the

04:20funding in. I would have loved to have seen a commitment like this three years ago.

04:23I would have loved to have seen it six years ago.

04:25Imagine what the world would have looked like if we'd had it 10 years ago.

04:29The ability to respond to an entire ecosystem that children and families exist in.

04:36Do I hold out much hope about those stats?

04:38Look, we know that the investments have not come fast enough.

04:41We know that where they have, we're starting to see real traction.

04:45We know that where Aboriginal community controlled services have been at the forefront.

04:49We're starting to see the numbers shift.

04:51But what we know from the Productivity Commission review is the investment wasn't big

04:55enough. The change in government processes wasn't fast enough and efficient enough.

05:00So this is these are these are good things that we're seeing now, but we needed them a fair

05:05while ago. And but having said that, this is welcome and it needs to hit the ground and it

05:09needs to hit the ground fast.

05:11And I think that's what we need to do.

05:13And I think that's what we need to do.

05:14And I think that's what we need to do.

05:15And I think that's what we need to do.

05:17And I think that's what we need to do.

05:18And I think that's what we need to do.

05:19And I think that's what we need to do.

05:20And I think that's what we need to do.

05:22And I think that's what we need to do.

05:23And I think that's what we need to do.

05:24And I think that's what we need to do.

05:26And I think that's what we need to do.

05:27And I think that's what we need to do.

05:28And I think that's what we need to do.

05:29And I think that's what we need to do.

05:31And I think that's what we need to do.

05:32And I think that's what we need to do.

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