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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (30 March) . . Page.. 1165 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

The most important aspect of this plan is not so much the proposed programs but the fact that it is being generated and supported by the ACT and region indigenous community. As Mr Wood has pointed out, many programs, resources and facilities have failed to fill the gap between the health status of black and white in the past. I believe that this is due to our failure truly to understand indigenous culture in the community. We now know that all the money, programs and words that governments have committed in good faith in the past mean nothing without the support and the input of the indigenous community. I believe that the ACT has come a long way towards understanding that the community is the key to delivering successful outcomes for indigenous people.

I welcome the Assembly's standing committee having input to the draft plan, but repeat that the document as it stands to date comes from the community. We do not want the handprint of white legislators to rub away what has been achieved to date in addressing an important and complex problem. Addressing the terms of reference of the inquiry into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in the ACT will inform and strengthen the plan and its strategies. The inquiry should, in investigating, for example, the appropriateness of mainstream health services and the delivery of health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT, provide further evidence that it is the need to understand the community that is crucial to achieving successful outcomes. That is why it is that I particularly welcome the statement of Mr Wood today.

MS TUCKER: I seek leave to make a brief statement on the same subject.

Leave granted.

MS TUCKER: I was pleased to some extent to hear Mr Moore's and Mr Wood's comments, although I find it a bit ironic that Mr Moore is asking that the hands of white legislators not rub out what came from the community. Of course, that would not be desirable at all, but the fear in many Aboriginal communities is that the hands of the white bureaucrats do that. I have spoken to Mr Wood about this inquiry. I understand that Mr Wood does not want to see duplication of the work that the department is doing at the moment. I hope that the community will have an opportunity to comment on any draft document referred to Mr Wood's committee. On several occasions recently people who have had input to documents being developed by government departments have been quite surprised at the result. It would be a good accountability check if it went to Mr Wood's committee for comment by members of the community, if necessary. I hope that that will not be necessary and that everyone will agree that the draft document does reflect the majority opinion of the indigenous community, as much as consensus can be reached.

I was really delighted to hear Mr Moore acknowledge the importance of their role in this matter. It is, after all, about their fate and they need to be involved. That links with the whole issue of the morale of the culture and the sense of pride or loss of self-esteem in the culture. If there is a respectful process, hopefully there will be positive outcomes. I noted the negative tone of the presentations in saying that it has been done before by people who have tried in good faith. I acknowledge that that is true, but there definitely are lessons to be learnt.

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