As I sat with the latest Victorian State Budget announcement on May 20, two things became very clear to me.
The first is that Aboriginal people are largely ignored by government – our issues, our advocacy efforts and our solutions are not deemed worthy of investment.
The second is that the current Victorian government’s approach to implementing regressive laws and cutting funding to the supports and services that actually make a difference, will have very predictable and horrifying outcomes – not just in the here and now but also in the years and decades ahead of us.
The ignorance of this Government is all-pervasive. First Nation voices are missing from Budget figures, from media coverage and from government actions. The ‘winners’ of this year’s Budget were listed by mainstream media – among them home buyers, electricity bills and families. Considering Victoria has the highest number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home-care in the country, is continuing to incarcerate our communities relentlessly and does nothing to address the systemic and real disadvantage our most vulnerable face, I am not sure what Aboriginal families have really ‘won’ from this Budget.
What we are seeing from the Allan Labor Government here in Victoria is abysmal policy that fails to address broader social issues and improve the lives of all Victorians – the same ill-informed and harmful policy decisions that have been repeated for generations.
Earlier this year, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) warned the Allan Labor Government that tightening the bail laws would be a costly and dangerous mistake for Aboriginal people. But they went ahead and did it anyway, throwing a shocking $1.6 billion dollars of the state’s money into implementing these laws – laws that have repeatedly failed in the past.
If racist police practices and locking people up in prisons equated to community safety, wouldn’t we all be safe by now? These are the same practices that have been employed since invasion, 230 plus years of over-policing and zero accountability. Today, we remain the most incarcerated people on this planet – we cannot continue to believe this is a mere oversight or mistake.
All state governments in this country are signatories to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and yet, I feel that they are celebrating seeing the numbers of kids in prison as a measure of community safety. They are walking away from their commitments in raising the age of criminal responsibility, we have seen spit hoods reintroduced, kids held in watch towers, routine use of solitary confinement and isolation, and remand as a last resort being removed – all flying in the face of all government’s international human rights obligations.
This should be a national shame. I wonder how many years it will take before we are hearing a national apology for the ongoing and repeated breaches of children’s rights in state care?
In this year’s State Budget, the Victorian government invested $43.4 million dollars for youth custodial programs, in comparison to $1.9 million dollars for youth outreach. Their intent is clear – to keep our children locked up and cause irreversible harm. Although these figures speak volumes, they are continuing to blatantly cut funding to the very programs and supports that we know can help address offending behaviour.
Our dedicated Balit Ngulu youth legal practice is a clear example of what works. It is a service that I established back in 2017 after seeing the direct need for dedicated support for our young people. It has been successfully evaluated three times, showing positive outcomes through this holistic and trauma-informed approach – these are not just numbers on a report, they are tangible markers of success. Yet we are still seeking funding to expand it so all Aboriginal children, no matter where they live, can access this service. Balit Ngulu means ‘Strong Voice’ in Wurundjeri. This isn’t just a name, it’s a testament to the resilience and determination of our children and young people, giving them a platform where young voices are not only heard but amplified.
The Victorian government have boasted about their $727 million dollar investment into corrections facilities – prisons – places of undeniable, ongoing harm. Investment in police and prisons is a lost cause as they respond to offending behaviour after it has already occurred. There is no consideration to the “before”.
The concepts of ‘reducing crime’ and ‘community safety’ cannot be achieved without addressing the severe lack of supports our peoples have. Overwhelmingly our kids and adults are being locked up because they live in poverty – they are trying to survive. We are in a housing crisis, a cost-of-living crisis, mental health crisis and family violence crisis. Yet we are not seeing adequate investments, and instead governments pursue criminalising our people.
We cannot be expected to heal ourselves with the current oppressive systems at play. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples need to be connected to their family, communities, culture and Country. These are all protective factors, and we see the decline in our collective wellbeing and emotional distress when we continue to be largely ignored.
When Aboriginal-led organisations are in control, we can achieve better outcomes for our children, young people and adults, and our generations to come. We all want the same thing here. We want our children to remain with their families, we want our children to be safe and unharmed. We understand the need not to continue to make the mistakes of the past and instead prioritise the need to innovate and create transformative solutions that create a safer Victoria. This can be achieved when we work together on these outcomes.
The government has heard this time and time again. They have listened to our stories, heard the evidence of systemic discrimination, harm, suffering and trauma inflicted by the violent and ongoing colonial project.
Now is time for action, and action takes funding and resources.
Top photo: Pictured (Nerita Waight, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service), Source (Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service website)
