Every February, Ochre Ribbon Week aims to bring attention to family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and its resulting consequences. This week shines a light on the disproportionate rates of violence faced by Aboriginal women and the barriers that First Nations people face when trying to seek support. As a First Nations community-controlled organisation, we are working towards ending family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and we support the efforts of all organisations who tirelessly work towards this goal.
Tragically at the end of Ochre ribbon week this year, a Bribie Island First Nations women was murdered. This horrific event is a bleak reminder of what Ochre Ribbon week is trying to fight against, and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are ten times more likely to be murdered that other demographics. Despite efforts to address this issue, it is clear that much more needs to be done to protect First Nations women from gendered-based violence. Investigations into this tragedy are continuing. We remain committed to supporting efforts to address gender-based violence and promote greater understanding, compassion, and respect for all people. Please reach out to services available if you are worried about your or a loved one’s safety.
Using Ochre Ribbon as a spark, we want to highlight two initiatives that our teams have been working on which have the goal of reducing the levels of gendered-based violence towards First Nations women. The first highlight is a submission we have made to the Senate Committee Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Children, and the second initiative is a suite of resources and animations we have produced focused on First Nations eSafety.
QIFVLS is uniquely positioned to provide comment to the Senate Inquiry. It’s not overstating it to call this a crisis, which can be clearly seen when looking at the disparity between First Nations people and other demographics – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children face a murder rate that’s up to 12 times higher than non-Indigenous women. The lethargic pace that this issue is being addressed and reported on is a disgrace for the entire country, and is a stark example of institutionalised racism. Our submission to the Inquiry reflects our clients’ experiences and the observations of our staff.
In our submission, we have proposed a number of recommendations. Although presenting 17 recommendations in our submission, we would like to emphasise 4 of them here. To start with, we have advocated for the establishment of a Standing Taskforce/ Standing Investigations Unit.
This taskforce should consist of an impartial and specialised team of investigators which has the power to re-examine cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and children. This would work towards addressing the historic and entrenched issues which have developed between the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and First Nations communities that have hindered access to justice.
Another recommendation is a greater investment in specialised and culturally safe police. This could consist of increased cultural training for police via a framework of training that is delivered over several days. Regular cultural awareness training is vital to improve the cultural competency of police officers when dealing with members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. This would greatly assist in developing a greater level of cultural awareness and understanding of social and historical influences on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage.
At QIFVLS, we frequently encounter instances where female First Nations individuals are incorrectly labelled as perpetrators of violence due to inadequate police investigations. To address this issue, we strongly recommend giving priority to correcting the misidentification and providing police with guidelines for identifying domestic violence primary aggressors. On several occasions, our solicitors have had to step in and do the necessary investigation work, bringing the clients’ cases to the attention of the Magistrates Court and leading to a reassessment of their situation. This misidentification can have extremely damaging consequences – including possible child removal, perpetuating cycles of incarceration, metal illness, homelessness, and substance abuse. The solution to this lies in a cultural overhaul of policing strategies including training that embeds cultural competency and reviews investigative strategies.
Our final recommendation made to the Inquiry is to implement a multi-agency co-responder approach for responding to domestic violence incidents, particularly on country. This approach, which involves integrated responses from various agencies, has been trialed in a few locations in Queensland through the use of High Risk Teams (HRT) to some success. These teams consist of professionals from different agencies working together to provide comprehensive and culturally sensitive responses. While the trials have been somewhat successful, we suggest that the model can be improved by further building the cultural competency of the HRTs to increase their effectiveness. We feel this model should be expanded state-wide.
In today’s modern world, spending time online is becoming increasingly important, and having a level of digital literacy is essential for full participation. However, violence and inappropriate behaviour online is often much higher than in the physical world. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, having a some knowledge about online safety is crucial. eSafety starts with initiating conversations to help keep individuals and families safe and protected from the dangers of the digital world. First Nations people may face more significant risks due to cultural or language barriers that can make navigating online safely more challenging.
First Nations women and girls often experience online abuse and harassment, including threats, stalking, bullying, scamming, and the unauthorised sharing of intimate images. While the fault of abuse does not lie with those at the receiving end of this online violence, individuals can take steps to protect themselves. This is why Aunty Bino Toby, our Case Management Practice & Cultural Advice Manager, created the eSafety resources.
They’re a suite of tools which help educate and strengthen First Nations mob against risk online. As part of Ochre Ribbon Week, we launched our newly developed eSafety webpage where we have embedded the resources, animations, and other tools to help protect people from harm. These tools were developed with funding from the eSafety Commissioner. You’ll also find a set of posters which provide a QR code to link through to the webpage.
Follow the link to our page to see what’s available, and have a look at the eSafety Commissioner’s website also to see the great resources available there also.
Get up to speed with everything we’ve been up to in the past month. This page contains all the latest buzz about QIFVLS and our teams.
Mackay Office Opening
We’re thrilled to share photos of the opening last week of our new office in Mackay. We want to thank Aunty V and Uncle George for the Welcome to Country they gave – Yuwibara is beautiful country – and for smoking and blessing ceremonies. We had a big turnout of support from the local service providers and stakeholders who joined us in making it a welcoming occasion. Thanks to Sarah Jane Reid, our new Grad Solicitor based in Mackay, who helped pull the opening together. With our new team set to commence in the coming weeks, we’re excited to operate out of this new office and provide our services to the communities in the Mackay region.
2023 Calendar of Key Dates
Q2 Board Meeting
Recently for QIFVLS’s Q2 Board Meeting, our executive team and some of the Board directors gathered in Mackay to coincide with the opening of our new office, while our other directors participated virtually. We appreciate the Board’s strong vision and eagerly anticipate the upcoming quarterly meeting in Townsville.
Check out a few shots of things out teams have been up to around the state.
And finally, we have our monthly office dress ups – the past months theme was ‘Matching Outfits’.
We have a number of employment opportunities available in different locations around Queensland. If you or someone you know is looking for an exciting opportunity to work in a career where you are directly helping people in need, while experiencing travel through amazing country, then please hop over to our employment page.
Please consider making a personal or corporate donation to help our teams deliver the services that are so vital to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Watch the video below for one example of how we utilise donations to make the lives of people in crisis better.
