Final Report May 2012 Presented and ordered to be printed by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory May 2012 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY COUNCIL OF TERRITORY CO-OPERATION FINAL REPORT May 2012 Presented and ordered to be printed by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory May 2012 ii Final Report CONTENTS CHAIR’S FOREWORD......................................................................................................... iv CTC MEMBERS.................................................................................................................... v CTC SECRETARIAT ............................................................................................................. v ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................ vi 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 Functions of the CTC.............................................................................................. 1 Self-references.............................................................................................................. 2 Additional references .................................................................................................... 2 Members ................................................................................................................ 2 Public Hearings ...................................................................................................... 2 Reporting ............................................................................................................... 3 Structure of the Report ........................................................................................... 4 2. CHILD PROTECTION REFORM ................................................................................... 5 Issues raised .......................................................................................................... 6 Monitoring and reporting ............................................................................................... 7 Backlog ......................................................................................................................... 8 Involvement of NGOs .................................................................................................. 10 Aboriginal child placement principle ............................................................................. 12 Growth towns and outstations/homelands ................................................................... 13 Staff recruitment, retention and support, housing ......................................................... 16 Parenting and preventative measures ......................................................................... 20 Residential care services ............................................................................................ 21 Carers ......................................................................................................................... 22 Legislative changes..................................................................................................... 24 Complaints handling process ...................................................................................... 24 Findings................................................................................................................ 25 Staffing ....................................................................................................................... 25 Housing ...................................................................................................................... 26 Monitoring and Reporting ............................................................................................ 26 Parenting programs..................................................................................................... 27 3. SIHIP .......................................................................................................................... 28 Issues raised ......................................................................................................... 29 Refurbishments ........................................................................................................... 30 New houses ................................................................................................................ 33 SIHIP infrastructure ..................................................................................................... 36 Land tenure................................................................................................................. 37 Indigenous employment and training ........................................................................... 39 Remote housing reform ............................................................................................... 41 Monitoring and reporting ............................................................................................. 43 Alliance model ............................................................................................................ 44 Addressing housing need backlog ............................................................................... 45 Findings................................................................................................................ 47 Refurbishments ........................................................................................................... 47 SIHIP infrastructure ..................................................................................................... 47 Employment and training ............................................................................................. 47 Reporting .................................................................................................................... 48 Addressing housing need ............................................................................................ 48 iii Final Report 4. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ............................................................................................. 49 Issues raised ......................................................................................................... 49 Reform implementation ............................................................................................... 50 Funding ...................................................................................................................... 52 Services ...................................................................................................................... 57 Employment ................................................................................................................ 59 Coordination ............................................................................................................... 62 Findings................................................................................................................ 63 Reform implementation ............................................................................................... 63 Funding and services .................................................................................................. 64 Employment ................................................................................................................ 65 5. WORKING FUTURE ................................................................................................... 66 Issues raised ......................................................................................................... 67 Territory growth towns ................................................................................................. 67 Outstations/homelands................................................................................................ 72 Remote Service Delivery ............................................................................................. 76 Employment and Economic Delivery ........................................................................... 78 Findings................................................................................................................ 79 Territory growth towns ................................................................................................. 80 Outstations/homelands................................................................................................ 80 Employment and economic delivery ............................................................................ 81 6. OTHER REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 82 Animal Welfare Governance .................................................................................. 82 Power supply ........................................................................................................ 83 Domestic violence statistics .................................................................................. 84 7. GOVERNMENT RESPONSES .................................................................................... 85 Recommendations and responses ......................................................................... 85 SIHIP..................................................................................................................... 86 APPENDIX A – Terms of Reference .................................................................................