On 15 August 2024 the national report of the Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations
Women and Children was tabled in the Australian Parliament.
This Inquiry was an important first step in bringing the devastating realities of the epidemic of
violence facing First Nations women and children to national attention.
Djirra was particularly pleased the Inquiry extended its hearings into Victoria based on our strong
advocacy for the voices and experiences of Victorian First Nations women to be heard.
But this Inquiry was only a very first step.
If the recommendations had been bolder and centred more on urgent, practical action Governments
must take for First Nations women’s and children’s safety – it could have been an even bigger step.
One message has always been clear – our women and children are not safe.
For over 2 years, First Nations people and family violence experts from across this country made 87
written submissions and shared many hours of testimony to this Inquiry.
Many First Nations people trusted and bravely opened their hearts to re-tell stories of heartache,
loss, and of being failed by the systems that are supposed to keep them and their loved ones safe.
Our people told our truths.
“Truth is uncomfortable. It can be painful. But it must be spoken, written down, and heard. And
governments must act upon it,” says Djirra CEO and Change the Record Co-Chair Antoinette
Braybrook AM.
“You cannot un-hear us now. We are watching, and we will continue to demand change.”
“This must not be yet another report that sits on a shelf gathering dust.”
Djirra is looking to our national, state and territory leaders to invest in bipartisan solutions and real
change that puts our women’s and children’s safety first.
DATA
The recommendations do not compel action to address the massive gaps in data that policy and law
makers use to make decisions that directly affect our women’s and children’s safety.
There is no accurate data on the actual number of Aboriginal women and children who have been
murdered or brutally disappeared across this country.
Closing the Gap data, which is intended to show progress in reducing violence against our women
and children, is now over 6 years out of date – this is unacceptable. You cannot manage what you
don’t measure.
When our experiences are “counted”, they are almost always tallied through a deficit lens. This data
does not tell our story. It does not capture our strength, resilience and courage as Aboriginal women.
Djirra and other First Nations led organisations must be resourced to collect, analyse and evaluate
our own data to inform government policies so that what we know works, our self-determined
solutions, are invested in.
FRONTLINE SERVICES AND SUPPORTS
We are pleased to see a specific recommendation calling for the Federal Government to urgently act
on many recommendations of the Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership
and to allocate more funding for frontline Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services.
“Federal, state, and territory governments must work together, commit to change, and urgently
invest in Djirra and other specialist, frontline Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services that put
our women’s and children’s lives first,” says Antoinette.
We are also pleased to see a recommendation for more investment – crucially sustainable, ongoing
investment – in frontline Aboriginal-led support services for our women and children that experience
domestic, family and sexual violence.
The lack of services especially in regional and remote areas is also highlighted. For Aboriginal women
and children in Victoria where Djirra works, this is hugely important. No Aboriginal woman should
need to travel more than 1 hour or 100km to access the legal and non-legal supports she and her
children need for their safety.
“Investing even more public money into policing is not the answer,” says Antoinette. The only
solution is investing in specialist, Aboriginal-led services like Djirra that our women trust to put their
safety first.”
POLICING
In every jurisdiction in this country, police are turning our women away. Djirra does not support any
recommendation that sees Governments invest even more public money into policing. This WILL
NOT keep us safe.
“When our families report that an Aboriginal woman has died or is missing, police responses are
often inadequate,” says Antoinette. “Essentially our lives are not valued, and we are not believed.”
Djirra is calling on State, Territory, and Federal Governments to establish an independent mechanism,
led by First Nations women, to hold police accountable.
“Police culture must change,” says Antoinette. “They must treat every report of violence against a
First Nations woman or child seriously, and properly investigate.”
“This must include apparent suicides, accidents and deaths by overdose where there is a history of
family violence.”
“Pouring more and more public resources into policing and unfair, punitive and racist systems is not
the answer. It does not improve the safety of our women and children. Independent oversight
mechanisms – led by Aboriginal women –can help improve police accountability.”
Changes to police practice must be delivered within existing policing budgets, so more public funds
are not directed away from frontline services.
Governments must invest in Djirra and other specialist Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services – women trust us to put their safety first.
Read the full report here: Missing and murdered First Nations women and children.
Media contact
Kate Bowman – 0456 960 011 or [email protected]
