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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (2 December) . . Page.. 4305 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

In implementing the recommendations, the Government has worked in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the ACT. I firmly believe that this approach is the key to effective implementation. The majority of the royal commission's recommendations have been, and are continuing to be, implemented in the spirit in which they were intended. Several recommendations have not been implemented because there was no context for the ACT. These are listed in the report.

This is the fourth implementation report by the ACT Government and the first in a thematic format. This format is consistent with the move towards thematic reporting by the Commonwealth and all State and Territory governments. Unlike the previous reporting format, which individually addressed each of the 339 recommendations, this report aims to be reader friendly and clearly show the across-government effort in implementing the recommendations. It provides an outline of the Government's policies and programs and the way they are having a real impact in addressing the problems experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It also provides a resource for people to assess the current situation in relation to various issues and see the direction of Government policies and programs.

The new format has also identified areas that need more work, such as the need for more comprehensive statistics on the usage of ACT government services by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The report outlines the Government's monitoring and reporting mechanisms, which include a range of ministerial councils and the Ministerial Summit on Indigenous Deaths in Custody in July 1997. It also includes population statistics from the ABS 1996 census. The 1996-97 report provides information on what the Government is doing in relation to five themes - consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; law and legislation; preventing deaths in custody and reducing the incarceration rate; addressing the underlying issues; and reconciliation.

At the Ministerial Summit on Indigenous Deaths in Custody on 4 July 1997 Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers with responsibility for justice, policing, correctional services and indigenous affairs, along with indigenous representatives, examined issues relating to the continuing over-representation of indigenous people in the criminal justice system. At the conclusion of the summit Ministers agreed, in partnership with indigenous peoples, to develop strategic plans for the coordination of Commonwealth, State and Territory funding and service delivery for indigenous programs and services. These include working towards the development of multilateral agreements between Commonwealth, State and Territory governments and indigenous peoples to further develop and deliver programs. It was agreed that the focus of the plans would address underlying social, economic and cultural issues; justice issues; customary law; law reform; and funding levels. Madam Deputy Speaker, the Government has started to develop strategic plans which it will take an across-government, an intergovernmental and a coordinated effort to achieve. I would like to outline some of these plans.

There is the justice strategic plan. The Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, the AJAC, will provide the indigenous partnership for the development of strategic plans and agreements in the justice area. Currently, the AJAC function is undertaken by a subcommittee of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Council.

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