Services Australia’s failure to act ‘inexcusable’ and urgent action needed to help people struggling to get by, senators say
The corporate regulator repeatedly warned Services Australia that it should review and consider removing more than 100 companies from a government-run debit scheme that allows early access to welfare payments.
But it said its attempts to sound the alarm about potential misuse of the scheme have had no impact.
Continue reading...Yoorook Justice commissioners disappointed ‘crucial’ recommendation to immediately raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 without exceptions was rebuffed
Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly and the head of the state’s Indigenous truth-telling commission have criticised the Allan Labor government for seeking more time to consider overhauling child protection and criminal justice systems.
The government on Wednesday handed down its response to a report by the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which called for it to tackle systemic injustices experienced by First Nations people in the child protection and criminal justice sectors.
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Aviation firefighters will walk off the job amid revelations many of the nation’s airports are ill-equipped to handle emergencies, AAP reports.
Leaked risk assessments carried out by Airservices Australia reveal travellers at 13 airports including Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide airports, were found to be at extreme risk if there was a fire or aircraft incident because of a lack of firefighting resources.
These leaked documents confirm that Australia’s air travellers face a dire risk every time they set foot on an aircraft in Australia.
Clearly, this significant and ongoing risk to all Australian air travellers is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.
Continue reading...Services Australia is working with Ergon to return overpayments, prompting fears the issue first identified at AGL could be widespread
A second Australian energy company wrongly received money from the welfare payments of former customers, prompting fears that the issue identified at AGL could be widespread.
Guardian Australia revealed last week that $700,000 had been diverted via the government-run Centrepay debit system from the pockets of more than 500 welfare recipients to the energy giant AGL.
Continue reading...Leaders with responsibilities for sea country on way to Canberra to lobby against legislation
The Albanese government is facing major blowback over changes to its offshore gas bill, which the crossbench and environment groups have labelled “window dressing” that fails to prevent new rules watering down First Nations consultation.
Seeking to clear the decks before Easter, the government is expected to reveal tweaks to its proposed vehicle efficiency standards this week. And on Monday Labor introduced amendments to add safeguards to the offshore gas bill after widespread concerns, including from within it own ranks.
Continue reading...LGBTQ groups welcome legislation passed after marathon overnight sitting, but critics line up to warn bail laws will put more children in jail
Gay conversion practices have been outlawed in New South Wales and it will be harder for teenage offenders to get bail after two laws passed the state’s parliament overnight.
The laws will, separately, ban conversion practices such as religious “straight camps” that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation and introduce an extra test for some young people seeking bail.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Victorian senator criticises lack of monitoring of royal commission recommendations and demands ‘tangible and achievable action’
An alliance of parliamentary crossbenchers has backed a call from senator Lidia Thorpe for the federal government to urgently address long called for reforms in landmark reports on Indigenous deaths in custody and child removals.
Thorpe, the Victorian independent, said the Australian Human Rights Commission should be empowered to oversee progress on the key Closing the Gap measures.
Continue reading...Government report says placing children in prison isolation can affect their health and wellbeing in ‘severe, long-term and irreversible ways’
A Queensland government report has raised concerns over the use of solitary confinement in youth detention, detailing the case of two First Nations children with disabilities who died after spending extensive time in isolation at overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres.
The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, details the anonymised cases of two boys, Harry* and Jack*. The report does not explicitly state their cause of death but Guardian Australia understands it to be suicide.
Continue reading...Road conditions are dangerous along the route the group is believed to have taken from Kalgoorlie to Tjuntjuntjara, police say
Severe weather is hampering search efforts for seven people who are missing amid ongoing flooding in remote Western Australia.
The group – which includes four children and two elderly drivers – left Kalgoorlie, about 600km east of Perth, on Sunday and were travelling in two vehicles north-east to the Tjuntjuntjara Aboriginal community.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Yingiya Mark Guyula says companies are ‘making big money’ off some of the poorest in the community
An Indigenous leader and independent MP has accused the Northern Territory government of having “a clear conflict of interest” with the $50bn online gambling industry and of ignoring First Nations health and advocacy groups.
Yingiya Mark Guyula, a Liya-dhälinymirr Djambarrpuyngu man, said online gambling was an increasing problem in remote areas. He accused some companies of “making big money off some of the poorest people in our communities”.
Continue reading...Family members pay emotional tribute to Ricky Hampson Jr, ‘Dougie’, who died less than 24 hours after leaving Dubbo Base hospital
Family members have described an Aboriginal man who died after an incorrect diagnosis at Dubbo hospital as the “favourite” child and the “light of every celebration”.
Ricky Hampson Jr, known and referred to as “Dougie” throughout the inquest, died on 16 August 2021, less than 24 hours after leaving Dubbo Base hospital, after being “erroneously” diagnosed with a drug-related illness.
Continue reading...Zachary Rolfe evidence calls into question the testimony of several senior officers to the court earlier this week
Award certificates allegedly given out to members of an elite Northern Territory police unit were “clearly racist”, calling into question the evidence of several senior officers, a court has heard.
Zachary Rolfe told an inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker earlier this week that he believed a racist mock award had been bestowed by the Tactical Response Group to the member who behaved most like an Aboriginal person.
Continue reading...Lawyer tells Kumanjayi Walker inquest current and former officers in tactical response group rejected claims and said they were hurtful
Senior police from the Northern Territory’s heavily armed tactical response unit have strongly denied claims by Zachary Rolfe that the unit bestowed a racist mock award on colleagues who displayed Aboriginal-like behaviour, a court has heard.
Rolfe made the claims earlier this week in Alice Springs during the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker.
Continue reading...Kristin Shorten from The Australian told former police officer to ‘ignore the leftist reporting’, inquest into Indigenous man’s death hears
A journalist at The Australian told Zachary Rolfe only two days after he shot and killed Kumanjayi Walker that she could “write an article in your defence” because “I know what you did was totally warranted”, a court has heard.
Journalist Kristin Shorten, who Rolfe said was a friend because her partner was a fellow police officer, texted Rolfe in November 2019 asking if he was OK after the incident and telling him to “ignore the leftist reporting”, the inquest into Walker’s death heard on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Inquest hears Rolfe told former soldier he wanted to leave police force to find ‘wild work’
Ben Roberts-Smith agreed to provide overseas private security contacts to Zachary Rolfe after the then Northern Territory police officer said he wanted to leave the force to find “wild work” and “dangerous shit”, a court has heard.
Rolfe shot Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker three times while trying to arrest him on 9 November 2019 in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs. Walker, 19, stabbed Rolfe with a pair of scissors shortly before he was shot by the then constable three times. Rolfe was found not guilty in March 2022 of charges of murder and manslaughter relating to Walker’s death.
Continue reading...Indigenous leader says yes campaign lacked necessary bipartisanship and federal reform for Aboriginal people has ‘come to a complete standstill’
Indigenous leader Mick Gooda will blame a flawed “crash through or crash” strategy for the failed voice to parliament referendum, arguing in a speech that the result has seen federal reforms for Aboriginal people “come to a complete standstill”.
In a speech to be delivered at the National Aboriginal Press Club in Brisbane on Friday, the co-chair of the Queensland Interim Truth and Treaty Body, planned to say the yes campaign’s strategy lacked necessary bipartisanship or detail, while criticising the negative tactics used by the no campaign, which he believed received funding from people or groups in the US.
Continue reading...Bill also criticised by Greens and Environmental Defenders Office who claim it will help fast-track offshore gas developments
An Indigenous activist who took on Woodside in the federal court has accused Labor of seeking to “silence Aboriginal voices” over changes that may water down consultation requirements for offshore gas development.
Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper, a founder of the organisation Save Our Songlines, has spoken out about a bill that aims to preserve approvals for offshore gas projects against reconsideration if rules are tightened in future.
Continue reading...Plan includes consultation with community-controlled organisations to reduce number of Indigenous children in out-of-home care
The New South Wales government has announced a new “restoration taskforce” to oversee efforts to return as many Aboriginal children to their families from the child protection system as is safe.
In a significant policy shift from previous governments, the minister for families and communities, Kate Washington, said the “shocking proportion” of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care can be reduced by working in partnership with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.
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Today is the 16th anniversary of Rudd’s national apology
It is National Apology Day, which marks the anniversary of the day the former prime minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to Indigenous people for the stolen generations.
Continue reading...Two of the biggest Aboriginal groups in NSW claim racism is ‘rife’ in the child protection system, which needs an overhaul
Pressure is growing for the New South Wales government to review its out-of-home care providers after it was revealed in court that a faith-based service refused to assess an Aboriginal kinship carer because of her sexual orientation.
The call comes as two of the biggest Aboriginal organisations in NSW claim racism in the child protection system is “rife” and closing the gap measures to reduce the number of Aboriginal children taken into care will fail unless the Minns government overhauls the sector.
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