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First Nations coalition Change the Record condemns Budget as failing to deliver for First Nations peoples

First Nations coalition Change the Record condemns Budget as failing to deliver for First Nations peoples

Change the Record has condemned the Morrison Government’s pre-election Budget as failing to meet community needs or expectations. The First Nations-led Coalition was looking for investment in key social security supports, housing and family violence prevention services to meet critical justice and family violence Closing the Gap targets. Instead, it claims, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have once again been left behind. 


Cheryl Axleby, Co-Chair Change the Record: 


“It is only March and already five of our people have died behind bars. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the dangers of the overcrowded and substandard housing that too many of our people are forced to live in, and appallingly low social security payments drive our people into poverty. If a Budget is a reflection of a government’s priorities then this Government is sending a clear message that it does not care about FIrst Nations peoples.” 


Antoinette Braybrook, Co-Chair Change the Record and Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services Forum: 


“The calls for urgent, meaningful action to address family violence have been deafening - but again the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have been silenced in this Budget. For years, we have been calling for adequate funding so our services don’t have to turn women away, but again this Budget has not delivered. Our peak body was defunded under this government, and again not a single cent has been allocated to ensure we can continue to advocate for First Nations women and children on the national stage.”


Priscilla Atkins, Chair, NATSILS: 


“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services are suffering from a demand we cannot meet due to severe under-resourcing, understaffing and the flow-on effects from lack of pay parity across the sector. Given the crisis of Black deaths in custody and rates of over-incarceration of our mob, it is more important than ever to deliver more funding and job-creation for ATSILS across Australia, yet once again the Budget lets our people down. Adequate funding for ATSILS means that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can access culturally safe legal support when and where they need it, which supports our communities and reduces the over-incarceration of our people.” 


Damian Griffis, First Peoples Disability Network: 


“FPDN welcomes the commitment from the government to building a stronger First Peoples disability network through the Disability sector strengthening strategy and FPDNs National Disability Footprint.  


To continue this work, we encourage the the government to invest in the co-design of a First Peoples Disability plan that bridges the gap between Australia’s Disability Strategy and Closing the Gap, whilst ensuring the our communities are appropriately supported and resourced to respond to COVID-19, which is hitting us hardest right now.”


Maggie Munn, Amnesty International Australia: 


“If the government is serious about reaching Closing the Gap targets they'd show leadership on raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.

 

“The overrepresentation of First Nations People in prisons and in custody is a result of successive governments' failures to appropriately fund housing, justice, health and support services that work with mob to ensure we are safe, supported and can thrive. Governments must stop putting First Nations People at the end of their to-do lists.

 

“If the Federal Government committed to a National Justice Reinvestment Body, it would be a meaningful step in addressing overrepresentation of First Nations people in jail and give our kids a chance to live happy and healthy lives free of the criminal justice system.”


Paul Wright, Executive Director ANTaR: 


“The Coalition has had 9 years, nearly a decade, to address the rates of incarceration, the deaths in custody and the injustice of the system that discriminates against First Nations Peoples. Another decade of failure is unacceptable, it is time to start investing in the solutions that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and their communities have been calling for - because clearly their governments can’t get it done.”



You can read Change the Record’s key election demands here: https://www.changetherecord.org.au/electionplatform 

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