ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body REPORT ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE ATSIEB HEARINGS 2016–17 SEVENTH REPORT TO THE ACT GOVERNMENT Elected Body membership Resolution of appointment Ms Katrina Fanning — Chair The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ATSIEB) is (8 August 2017 to present) constituted under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008. Elections for the ATSIEB are conducted according to the Act Mr Ross Fowler — Chair and the Electoral Act 1992 by the ACT Electoral Commission. (26 August 2016 – 21 July 2017) Ms Joanne Chivers — Terms of reference Deputy Chair The Elected Body’s Hearings process is held under powers provided by Section 26 of the Mr Maurice Walker Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008. In practice, the Terms of Reference for Hearing process include Ms Selina Walker generic questions provided by the Elected Body to Directorates, which are quoted in Chapter 1 of this report. Mrs Lynnice Church (attended Day One) Mr Dion Devow (attended Day One) Mr Tony McCulloch Secretariat Acknowledgement of traditional custodians Ms Margaret Beattie ATSIEB acknowledges that Canberra has been built on the lands Dr Brian Lloyd of the Ngunnawal peoples. We pay our respects to the Ngunnawal GPO Box 158 peoples and we acknowledge and celebrate their ongoing culture Canberra ACT 2601 and contribution to the ACT and region. t 02 6207 2551 ATSIEB also acknowledges and has respect for the many other e [email protected] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from across Australia w atsieb.com.au who now live in Canberra and we acknowledge and celebrate their cultures, diversity, and their contribution to the ACT and region. Acknowledgment The ATSIEB Members would like to thank Dr Brian Lloyd for all his efforts in compiling this report. ii Report on the outcomes of the ATSIEB Hearings December 2016 Contents CHAIR’S FORWARD 4 1 BACKGROUND 8 Introduction 8 Structure of the report 8 2 FRAMEWORK 11 Introduction 11 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 11 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008 12 Human Rights Act 2004 13 Heritage Act 2004 14 ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2015–2018 15 ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Partnership 2015–18 19 Other documents, agreements and reports 21 Elected Body comment 21 3 CHIEF MINISTER, TREASURY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORATE 22 Introduction 22 Responses to generic questions 22 Hearings 30 Matters considered — Chief Minister and Treasury 30 Key issues — Chief Minister and Treasury 30 Matters considered — Economic Development 35 Key issues — Economic Development 35 Elected Body comment 39 Elected Body views and recommendations 43 4 COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTORATE 45 Introduction 45 Responses to generic questions 45 Hearings 55 Matters considered 55 Key issues 55 Elected Body comment 66 Hearings 67 Elected Body views and recommendations 69 Report on the outcomes of the ATSIEB Hearings December 2016 1 5 ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING DIRECTORATE 71 Introduction 71 Responses to generic questions 71 Hearings 76 Matters considered 76 Key issues 77 Elected Body comment 79 Elected Body views and recommendations 80 6 EDUCATION AND TRAINING DIRECTORATE 81 Introduction 81 Responses to generic questions 81 Hearings 89 Matters considered 89 Key issues 89 Elected Body comment 94 Elected Body views and recommendations 96 7 CANBERRA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 97 Introduction 97 Responses to generic questions 97 Hearings 103 Elected Body comment 103 Responses in hearings 104 Elected Body views and recommendations 104 8 JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY SAFETY DIRECTORATE 105 Introduction 105 Responses to generic questions 105 Hearings 114 Matters considered 114 Key issues 115 Elected Body comment 123 Responses in hearings 125 Elected Body views and recommendations 127 2 Report on the outcomes of the ATSIEB Hearings December 2016 9 TRANSPORT CANBERRA AND CITY SERVICES 129 Introduction 129 Responses to generic questions 129 Hearings 136 Matters considered 136 Key issues 136 Elected Body comment 137 Responses in hearings 138 Elected Body views and recommendations 138 10 HEALTH DIRECTORATE 139 Introduction 139 Responses to generic questions 139 Hearings 150 Matters considered 150 Elected Body comment 158 Responses in hearings 160 Elected Body views and recommendations 161 APPENDIX A WITNESSES 163 APPENDIX B QUESTIONS TAKEN ON NOTICE AND QUESTIONS ON NOTICE 165 Report on the outcomes of the ATSIEB Hearings December 2016 3 CHAIR’S FORWARD Welcome to this, the report of the seventh Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Hearing process. You will see from the recommendations contained in the report that there is light and dark in the picture of what progress we may have made since the last report. On one hand we have to guard against the potential for talk to eat up the time we should be using to put tangible things in place that will make a difference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT. There is much work to be done, and no to time to be lost in doing it. We should also be careful about the capacity for ‘box-ticking’ to consume the focus and the energy that should, and must, go into addressing our most urgent concerns. Speaking of ‘urgent concerns’, there should be no doubt at the deep concern felt by the Elected Body at recent deaths in custody. Somehow all of the frustration we feel at challenges for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people — in relation to health, education, employment and justice — are embodied in such tragic events and could easily lead to despair. That should not happen if we are serious about doing better. And, looking at other things considered in this report, there is room for hope. There are programs and services by government and non-government providers that show real promise, and make a tangible difference to the everyday lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT. As noted in recommendations and supporting text, we hope that these will be supported, expanded, and develop into permanent fixtures in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT. There are also accountability mechanisms in place through which we can ensure that we are doing more than going through the motions: that we can work toward real progress under the whole-of-government agreement framework. The hearing process reported on in this volume is one of these mechanisms, as is the output reporting framework for the agreement which is referenced in recommendations by the Elected Body in this report. Government and other players appear genuinely to be grappling with the challenge of implementing the letter and spirit of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement. 4 Report on the outcomes of the ATSIEB Hearings December 2016 It is important that we, as the Elected Body, encourage them to pursue this in all honesty, and call them to account when they do not. Surely both will happen over the life of this present agreement (2015–18). More broadly, the Elected Body would like to note the conjunction of things which give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT some purchase on the current situation. We have the agreement, we have the Elected Body, and we have government and other players willing to engage with what can be said, without any risk of exaggeration, to be a complex set of problems. We in the Elected Body take the view that this represents an important opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT, and we plan to make the most of it. Katrina Fanning Chairperson Report on the outcomes of the ATSIEB Hearings December 2016 5 RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 1 3.122 The Elected Body recommends that the directorate works collaboratively with CSD and the Elected Body as soon as practical to formulate a business case to feed into the budget process to support Boomanulla Oval in its new form. Recommendation 2 3.123 The Elected Body recommends that the ACT Government put subsidiary timelines in place for consultation processes so that they do not extend to the point where they impinge on, or prevent, the delivery of tangible outcomes. Recommendation 3 3.129 The Elected Body recommends that, in light of realistic paths to job readiness, that the ACT Government seek to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander secondary students for work experience placements, and that students who meet criteria be considered for future positions in the ACT Public Service. Recommendation 4 4.153 The Elected Body recommends that given Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation and Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service are relied upon to provide a number of ACT Government programs and critical services for the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT and the directorate work with CMTEDD and other directorates to ensure that both organisations have premises that are fit for purpose to provide these programs and critical services. Recommendation 5 4.162 The Elected Body recommends that the ACT Government provides, as a high priority, support for the outcomes reporting framework developed and maintained by the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, and that it ensures that agencies and sub- agencies comply with reporting requirements and in taking practical actions to address shortfalls in programs and services monitored under the Framework. Recommendation 6 4.165 The Elected Body recommends that the ACT Government ensure that sufficient resources are available to the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs so that its outcomes framework can be adapted, refined, and kept up-to-date as a result of assessment of its effectiveness, and in response to changes in conditions relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT.