Page 3660 - Week 08 - Thursday, 19 August 2010
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I ask leave to make a statement in relation to the paper.
Leave granted.
MR STANHOPE: I am pleased to table the ACT government response to the report on the outcomes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Estimates Hearing. At my suggestion on 19 August 2009, the elected body, with the full support of the government, conducted a hearing process in a manner similar to budget estimates. Chief executives were called to present evidence supporting their agency’s spending and decision making.
On 25 February 2010 I tabled the elected body’s report on the outcomes of hearings. The elected body’s recommendations reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on access, quality and performance of the services delivered by the ACT government. These estimates hearings were an historic moment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in the ACT, if not Australia. For the first time, sanctioned by legislation, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander elected representatives had an opportunity to directly question those delivering services, holding the government and its agencies to account.
Since the inaugural election in 2008, elected body representatives have been called upon to provide advice on a range of existing and emerging policy issues. Beyond consultation alone, the elected body is mandated to drive reform. The estimates hearings were designed to bring to life the aspirations and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the ACT. The discussions, similar to any estimates committee, were robust and the questioning of senior officials direct.
The report contains recommendations for improvements to service provision for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and focuses on six key issues: improved collection and management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data; a whole-of-government Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruitment, retention and development strategy; better information about, and promotion of, ACT government services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders; improved support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students during their transition to high school and beyond to maintain literacy and numeracy achievements; an increased number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander liaison officers in the Canberra Hospital; and recurrent funding for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support worker at the Women’s Legal Service.
I am pleased to release the ACT government’s response, which honours this government’s commitment to fully engage in and respond to the circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The government is committed to ensuring that all agencies fully and effectively support the elected body and will instigate a new approach to build the work of the elected body into government processes, ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are involved in decision making at the highest level.
Senior officials will be identified within each department, to seek advice from, to inform and to work in partnership with elected body representatives with aligned
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