ADELAIDE, SA – A parliamentary inquiry has spent another sitting day gathering evidence that racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people exist, a finding many witnesses described as not entirely unfamiliar.
The Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs heard on Friday from the South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network, NPY Women’s Council, the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement and several state commissioners.
Government data showed Aboriginal children make up 5.5 per cent of young people in South Australia but 37.9 per cent of children in care – figures one witness noted had been “available since approximately Captain Cook”.
A senior advocacy spokesperson said the hearing was a valuable opportunity to present the same evidence the same agencies had received since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the 1997 Bringing Them Home Report, the 2008 Apology, the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart and last Tuesday.
“We are deeply grateful for this listening exercise” the spokesperson said. “We brought the data, the lived experience, the systemic analysis and a printout of the previous twelve inquiries in case anybody had misplaced theirs.”
A committee secretariat staffer described the process as “vital” and confirmed evidence collected would form part of a final report expected to recommend further consultation, ongoing dialogue and a longer report. The committee chair indicated further interstate hearings would continue, allowing the inquiry to gather similar evidence in different cities.
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