NT Intervention Forum In early June 2009, NATSIEC hosted a forum of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Church leaders to discuss the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) also known as the Intervention. The aim of the Forum was to develop a common voice from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Church bodies and to develop a common platform for action.The Forum released a Statement regarding the NT Intervention and called on Governments and Churches to address the issues. Download the Forum Statement here. NATSIEC_FORUM_NTER_Statement.pdf

United Nation's Special Rapporteur Professor James Anaya visits Australia February 2010 - Professor Anaya's report is released NTER_Observations_FINAL_by_SR_Anaya_.pdf August 2009 - Statement by UN's Special Rapporteur Professor James Anaya August 2009 - Submission to the UN's Special Rapporteur Professor James Anaya NATSIEC_submission_Prof_Anaya.pdf ....................................................................................................

NATSIEC statements on the Intervention Media statements on the NT Intervention.

Download the Forum Statement here. NATSIEC_FORUM_NTER_Statement.pdf

In early June 2009, NATSIEC hosted a forum of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Church leaders to discuss the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) also known as the Intervention. The aim of the Forum was to develop a common voice from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Church bodies and to develop a common platform for action.The Forum released a Statement regarding the NT Intervention and called on Governments and Churches to address the issues.

The meeting was attended by NATSIEC members and included representatives from the Salvation Army, the Churches of Christ, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC), and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC). Also attending the meeting were representatives of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Alliance (NATSICA) and the Evangelical Alliance (EA). NATSIEC also invited people from the Northern Territory to help inform our discussions and were pleased that Bishop Greg Thompson, the Anglican Bishop of the Northern Territory, Mrs Didamain Uibo, an Aboriginal educator as well as Dr L. Lee Levett-Olsen, the Principal of Nungalinya College in Darwin were able to attend.

We met over four days and focused our attention particularly on the Northern Territory Intervention. The key areas of concern were the lack of proper negotiation with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and the lack of voice given to many community people. An additional area of concern was the discriminatory nature of the Intervention.

The forum participants also discussed the role that Churches can play in the Northern Territory and more generally on issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples around Australia. There was agreement about the importance of Churches actively engaging in these issues and being a prophetic voice for justice for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. There was also strong support to encourage Governments to learn from Churches, as the common experience is that Churches and their agencies have largely been ignored in the roll out of the Intervention. This is despite the fact that they are present in communities across the Northern Territory and have a long history of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This tradition continues today where Churches and their agencies are major providers of many community services in education, health, welfare and other areas.

While there were many examples spoken about where Churches have taken a lead and provide models for successfully working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, there are still areas where Churches too can increase their effort. These areas are reflected in the Forum statement.

NATSIEC is committed to working on the outcomes of this forum and, together with NATSICA, have committed to organise a Church Forum later in 2009, in the Northern Territory. This will be part of our ongoing commitment to ensure that the issues facing those impacted by the Intervention are understood amongst our members and the wider Church community and to highlight areas were the greatest advocacy is required.

Read the statement on the next page or download above.

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