Federal parliament returns with a supersized Labor backbench
Published 22 July 2025, 8:48 am
The federal government tomorrow will introduce legislation to overhaul childcare safety following a string of scandals in recent weeks. Student debt too, also on the agenda as the 48th parliament was today sworn in.
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16 minutes ago
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NT government responds to landmark domestic violence inquest into killings of four Indigenous women
The Northern Territory government says more than two-thirds of recommendations from a landmark domestic violence inquest "are already in place" in the territory, with a minister saying the report has failed "dismally to hit the mark". WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the names of Indigenous people who have died, used with the permission of their families. The Country Liberal Party handed down its response to NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage's report in NT parliament on Tuesday, more than eight months after it was handed down. Judge Armitage made 35 recommendations, after spending more than a year investigating the domestic violence killings of four Aboriginal women — Kumarn Rubuntja, Kumanjayi Haywood, Ngeygo Ragurrk and Miss Yunupiŋu. They were among more than 80 Indigenous women killed in domestic violence attacks in the NT since the year 2000. The coroner's recommendations included calls for increased funding for frontline emergency service responses, women's shelters and men's behavioural change programs. In NT parliament on Tuesday, Prevention of Domestic Violence Minister Robyn Cahill said the government would support 21 of the recommendations in full and accept 11 in principle. The government did not support three of the recommendations: In handing down the government's response, Ms Cahill said "overall" the recommendations from the coroner were "uninspiring" and the report "failed so dismally to hit the mark". She said only a "small proportion" of the recommendations made would lead to the "implementation of a new and innovative approach". She also criticised Judge Armitage's approach to the inquest, calling it "protracted" and resulting in "lengthy reports delivered in a manner seeming to lack the humility one might expect from an officer of the court". "More focused on the reveal rather than the result," she said of Judge Armitage. When handing down her recommendations, Judge Armitage said she did not believe the 35 recommendations were "radical", saying the DFSV sector had been calling for them for many years. In a statement, Ms Cahill said "extensive consultation with government, non-government agencies, advocacy groups and experts found that 24 of the 35 recommendations related to programs or processes already in place". "Some of these measures have been in place for years without delivering the results we need," she said. Ms Cahill said the government was developing a DFSV roadmap to address domestic violence in the territory, which would set "strategic priorities" for the government's $36 million a year funding for the sector. In response to Ms Cahill's comments, opposition MLA Chansey Paech said it was "absolutely appalling" for the minister to "take aim at the Northern Territory coroner". "It was a long inquest, absolutely," he said. "It was four families, four unique circumstances that absolutely deserved the right to be comprehensively reviewed." Mr Paech said all 35 recommendations could "absolutely be accepted", despite government concerns over funding limitations. "The coroner designed all of these in a way that they could absolutely be supported," he said. In a joint statement, a coalition of NT DSFV services said the government's response was "underwhelming in the face of the Northern Territory's biggest criminal issue". "This is about more than programs. It's about a system that is currently failing women and children, and the urgent need to redesign it alongside the people who know what works," the statement said. "The government's ongoing lack of genuine consultation with the specialist DFSV sector is creating missed opportunities, poor coordination and unsafe outcomes." The NT has the highest rates of family and domestic violence in Australia, with a rate of intimate partner homicide seven times the national average. Recommendation 3: Amend the DFSV workforce plan to better engage Aboriginal workers, communities and universities. Recommendation 5: Create and implement an evidence-based strategy to reduce alcohol availability. Recommendation 6: Increase investment in specialist alcohol and other drugs rehabilitation services. Recommendation 7: Implement the police and children and families department co-responder model — which has been trialled in Alice Springs — on a permanent basis NT-wide. Recommendation 8: NT police to review protocols and improve officer training on information sharing. Recommendation 9: Consider establishing a multi-agency protection service to formalise partnership between police and government departments. Recommendation 10: NT police to embed interpreters and/or Aboriginal liaison officers in the emergency call centre. Recommendation 11: Provide PARt training to all current police officers, auxiliaries and new recruits, including emergency call centre workers. Recommendation 12: NT police to expand the DFSV command in Alice Springs and Darwin. Recommendation 13: Expand NT police's family harm coordination daily auditing program. Recommendation 14: Children and families department to audit and continue its commitment to the Safe and Together framework. Recommendation 15: Fund and implement "timely and intensive" early interventions for young people engaged in violence. Recommendation 16: Extra funding for community-based approaches to child welfare. Recommendation 17: Replicate the specialist DFSV court in Alice Springs in other regions. Recommendation 23: Increase funding for men's prison-based behaviour programs and counselling. Recommendation 24: Improve access to men's prison programs. Recommendation 25: Develop and implement a prison program for men who are 'deniers' of their violence. Recommendation 26: Establish reintegration programs for men leaving prison and returning to community. Recommendation 29: Boost funding for community-based behavioural change and prevention programs. Recommendation 33: Full implementation of the DFSV Action Plan 2, which will require $180 million funding over five years. Recommendation 34: Increase baseline funding for frontline DFSV crisis services by about 10 per cent. Recommendation 1: Establish a permanent, whole-of-government unit to lead DFSV policy and practice. Recommendation 4: Boost funding for Aboriginal interpreter services. Recommendation 18: Fund culturally-appropriate, trauma-informed, mediation/peacekeeping for family and community violence. Recommendation 19: Regulate and fund mediation and peacemaker groups as recognised alternative dispute resolution providers. Recommendation 20: Develop and fund alternatives to custody for DFSV perpetrators. Recommendation 21: Make the NT victims register an opt-out system, and consider how victims can be notified of the release of inmates. Recommendation 22: Embed the charter of victims' rights in NT law. Recommendation 27: NT Health to improve its DFSV screening and assessment of patients. Recommendation 28: Better support for Aboriginal liaison officers in hospitals and clinics. Recommendation 30: Invest in culturally-appropriate prevention and education programs in schools and on social media. Recommendation 31: Fund DFSV awareness training for clubs and pubs. Recommendation 2: Establish an NT peak body to represent the sector on a national level. Recommendation 32: Mandatory 12-month trial of banned drinker register scanners in licensed venues. Recommendation 35: Ensure funding agreements for frontline DFSV services include indexation increases.
ABC News
16 minutes ago
- ABC News
Should the voting age be lowered to 16 in Australia?
There's a fresh campaign to lower the voting age in Australia from 18 to 16 on the back of a similar move by the UK government. Michael Rowland reports.
ABC News
16 minutes ago
- ABC News
Gold Coast councillor Brooke Patterson found to have breach code of conduct again
A Gold Coast councillor has been reprimanded and ordered to apologise after an investigation found she helped create a "volatile environment" for senior staff. An independent investigation into four allegations made against Cr Brooke Patterson, three of which were substantiated, was discussed at a council meeting on Tuesday. Cr Patterson already had two previous conduct breach allegations against her substantiated by the council, for which she later apologised. The latest investigation found that, on the balance of probabilities, Cr Patterson caused "distress" to city officers. At council chambers, Cr Patterson defended her conduct, stating her passion as a community advocate "caused communication challenges". "Since then I have grown and developed in my elected position," she said. A code of conduct requires councillors to treat staff with "courtesy, fairness, and respect". City councillors unanimously upheld the findings of the most recent investigation, ordering Cr Patterson to apologise and undertake communication training at her own expense. Mayor Tom Tate will also issue a written reprimand against Cr Patterson. The independent investigation found that Cr Patterson hosted a public town hall meeting in August 2024, where she "knowingly made statements, which were factually incorrect, misleading, and harmful to council officers" about a so-called "view tax". The view tax was a controversial budget measure introduced by council last year that increased rates for some high-rise residents by up to 50 per cent. "[Cr Patterson] made statements that contributed to distress among council officers, frustration among residents, and created an unsafe and volatile environment at the meeting," the investigation stated. The investigation found that city officers prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the meeting, but Cr Patterson deleted a slide and failed to provide "essential background information" about the view tax. "It was even mentioned, if only I had used more PowerPoint slides then people would be less upset — I would assert this indicates a most naive understanding of town hall environments" Cr Patterson told Tuesday's meeting. The investigation stated that city officers left the meeting early and "reported distress, reputational concern, and an inability to correct misinformation, having been directed not to speak". However, Cr Patterson told Tuesday's council meeting that she went to "great lengths to protect officers as much as possible". "We had originally intended for the relevant officers to be at the front of the room to answer technical questions," she said. "But within minutes of attendees entering that room, I realised this was a most agitated crowd and suggested to officers they sit at the back of the room." In a subsequent phone call, the investigation found that Cr Patterson was "accusatory, agitated, and dismissive" towards a city officer and "made disparaging remarks about the officer's salary and professionalism". "I understand they considered this comment to be discourteous and I apologise for the discourtesy caused." An allegation that Cr Patterson made misleading statements to the media was not substantiated by the investigation. Cr Patterson's conduct ahead of a council committee meeting last October was also investigated. It alleged Cr Patterson "snatched" papers from a council employee and "in a loud and aggressive manner" and told them not to distribute the document. The document related to a proposal that would end cash payments at council pools, which Cr Patterson said she was seeking to amend. Witnesses, whose names were redacted, reported that the "interaction had an emotional impact" on the city officer. At Tuesday's council meeting, Cr Patterson apologised to the officer "for disrespect she experienced". But Deputy Mayor Mark Hammel said the code of conduct breaches set "a pattern of behaviour" he did not believe was acceptable. "Everyday I see all the councillors in this chamber having strong debates, quite often arguments with city officers — it is our job," he told Tuesday's meeting. "If we are able to do it without it leading to a series of allegations and now substantiations of behaviour, then Councillor Patterson should be able to do it as well." Investigations into Cr Patterson's conduct cost the City of Gold Coast $142,000 in 2024-25. Cr Patterson said the process under the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) precluded "the opportunity for a standard mediation process", and instead placed "prolonged legal costs on our ratepayers". A spokesperson for the OIA said it applied "a robust assessment process" to complaints and examined "each complaint on its individual circumstances".
