Browsing Tag
social issue
6 posts
Spike in demand for DV services feared during summer
Women and children are being turned away from shelters with no funding committed to address a feared spike in domestic violence deaths over the summer. No More anti-domestic violence campaigner Charlie King said Christmas was a challenging time for the sector. "We worry every Christmas period …. this season is supposed to be joy and goodwill but if anything, we use this as a marker every year to see whether our prevention is working," she said. Northern Territory Minister for Prevention of Domestic Violence Robyn Cahill said everyone needed to "stand up" and "prevent" the scourge of domestic violence continuing,…
First Nations designs head to India in art exchange
Ancient practices from across the Indian Ocean could preserve stories decaying in a remote Northern Territory community on the Arafura coast. The Bábbarra Women's Centre sits amid bauxite boulders on a pandanus-lined shore next to turquoise waters. It is on Kunibídji country, 500km east of Darwin, where a small group of women create textiles that tell their stories of life, animals, flowers and the yawkyawk, the mermaid spirit. Since the centre opened in the late 1980s as a women's refuge, it has been a place for economic and cultural security for women and children in Maningrida. "It's beautiful there," said Bangardidjan Cindy…
NT’s youth crime crackdown ‘locking up a generation’
A planned crackdown on youth crime by the new Northern Territory government has stirred controversy but the voices at the centre of the debate are missing. Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, who led the Country Liberal Party back to power at last week's election, has vowed to reintroduce spit hoods on children and lower the age of criminal responsibility back to 10. But children affected by these policies can't tell their story - the law prohibits it. A series of archaic rules silence the young people whose stories are condensed into reports and hearings where the only prospects are criminalisation. These…
Raised hands in Red Centre as survivors call for change
With their raised hands covered in red paint, survivors of domestic violence sat on grassy hills in the Red Centre demanding change. Almost a year ago the Tangentyere Women's Family Safety Group gathered in Alice Springs to appeal for urgent funding for the domestic and family violence sector. For decades they have called for the same things, and this weekend they will do it again. Alongside sector advocates in the Central Australian town and in Darwin, survivors will come together as part of national rallies to stop gendered violence. What is happening in the NT is a national shame, says…
Indigenous language program for patients takes flight
Indigenous language-speakers in rural Northern Territory can expect better communication with air ambulance staff after a leading service introduced cutting-edge digital communication tools. Aeromedical service CareFlight has developed animated video content in Indigenous languages to foster better communication between First Nations patients and English-speaking staff. The videos explain patients' rights and expectations as well as detailing how to provide feedback and complaints. "We had a poster that was full of English language that, you know, was quite long," CareFlight nursing director Amanda Quinn said. "And we kind of looked at it going, how can we do this in a more…
Anger at rally after Darwin teen’s fatal stabbing
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the lawn outside the NT Parliament to call for tougher crime measures after a young man was recently fatally stabbed in the workplace. Responding to a Facebook page created earlier in the week, crowds gathered to express their anger at what they saw as the NT government's inaction on crime on Saturday. It follows the death of 20-year-old Darwin BWS worker Declan Laverty, who was stabbed multiple times the weekend before. Local retail worker Marites Grant said she was there because she felt unsafe going to work. "We just feel that the government has failed…