CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses child sexual abuse.
The leading body for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander children has slammed Peter Dutton‘s election promise to hold a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, calling it “reckless” and “beyond disappointing”.
Addressing the press on Wednesday, the opposition leader explained the royal commission would be a top priority for a future Liberal government, stressing that it was crucial to protect the sanctity of childhood.
“Children deserve the sanctity of their childhood and they deserve the protection of their government,” he said at a press conference in Alice Springs.
Dutton added that addressing child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities would be a key focus for a future Liberal government, and the royal commission would be launched within the first 100 days if they win the election.
“It will include whatever we need to include to make sure that we can stamp out the scourge of child sexual abuse because it should have no place in a civilised society,” he said.
“We shouldn’t treat children in Alice Springs any different to any other part of the country.”
If this sounds familiar, it’s because this isn’t the first time he’s pushed for the inquiry — he previously attempted to pass a similar motion in the Senate back in October 2023, but it was shot down by Parliament.
That motion, which Dutton put forward alongside Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, came in the wake of the “week of silence” following the rejection of the Voice to Parliament referendum, according to SBS News.
However, the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) has slammed this call for a royal commission, arguing the opposition leader has “made the demonisation of Aboriginal people a centrepiece of his election campaign”.
Such an inquiry is a “political ploy”, SNAICC chief executive Catherine Liddle remarked.
“[He] first made these claims in 2023, and hundreds of organisations and individuals rejected his stance, instead calling for action on solutions backed by evidence. It is beyond disappointing we have not been heard,” Liddle said in a statement on Thursday.
In 2023, the Australian Child Maltreatment Study revealed the majority of Australians (62 per cent) have experienced at least one type of child abuse or neglect. Among this, the most common were domestic violence, physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
“Child abuse is far too prevalent in Australia full stop. Singling out Aboriginal families and communities is harmful and puts ideology before evidence,” Liddle said.
She pointed out there had been over 33 reports into child protection since the Bringing Them Home report in 1997, however hundreds of recommendations from these remain unimplemented.
Rather than a royal commission, she suggested actions that would address the safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children would include: strengthening community-controlled organisations, supporting Aboriginal community-controlled early education, and bipartisan support for the National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
“These measures are what keep our children safe, and far less likely to become involved in child protection and youth justice systems,” Liddle said.
“Spending millions of dollars on a Royal Commission is the definition of ‘reckless government spending’ and will not improve the life of one child.”
In 2023, over 100 community Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations — including Reconciliation Australia, Coalition of Peaks on Closing the Gap, National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence, and SNAICC — had opposed such a royal commission.
Such calls “have been made without one shred of real evidence being presented,” they had argued in a joint statement.
“The safety of children should not be politicised or used as a platform to advance a political position.
These calls, they said, “play into the basest negative perceptions of some people about Aboriginal people and communities.”
Lead image: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images
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