Weekly News In Review

Waiting for a student to be ready to learn is one of the approaches that has helped an Aboriginal school in Perth dramatically change educational outcomes.

Karen Auguston is the principal of Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School which started making changes to the way they engage with their students four years ago.

She spoke to NIRS about other changes they've implemented.

Also in the Weekly News in Review:

• WWF are calling for more In...

The irony of asserting her cultural rights during NAIDOC week isn't lost on Ruby Langford.

She's been in Hobart Magistrates Court fighting trespass charges.  Ms Langford was attending an anti-logging protest at Snow Hill, in Tasmania's northern midlands when she was arrested.

She talked about the case which has been adjourned to September.  

Mparntwe (Alice Springs) Town Camps are often the focus of mainstream media ...

New laws that have started this week give the National Indigenous Children's Commissioner the powers she needs to do her job.

The laws cement Commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter's role in advocating for Indigenous children and holding governments accountable.

Other Highlights:

• There are fears that proposed changes to the Crown Land Management Act in New South Wales will weaken Aboriginal land rights.
• Controversial police knife-wandin...

The family of 17-year-old Indigenous boy who died in 1988 is relieved following the outcome of an inquest into his death.

NSW Deputy Coroner, Harriet Grahame has found racist attitudes affected the police investigation into the death of Mark Haines.

She found the investigation was flawed and it's likely Mark's case would have been handled differently if he was white.

Other Highlights:

• There's been a 350 per cent increase in th...

There's been a trend across the Queensland Government which has seen Indigenous leadership roles removed. 

The most recent examples include two Indigenous roles in the state’s biggest health boards that are now vacant and there’s no plans to replace them.

The trend is known as project invisibility.

Other stories from this week include: 

•  The National Justice Project raises concerns over changes to th...

Two leading children and young people advocates have voiced their concerns about changes to child protection systems in the Northern Territory and Queensland.  

SNAICC and the National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Young People have both come out to respond to the final report and recommendations of Queensland's Commission of Inquiry into the child safety system.  

SNAICC CEO, ...

An Indigenous legal service has welcomed a proposed change to the way police officers use body worn cameras in New South Wales.

It comes off the back of a media report highlighting police brutality and misconduct.

Other Highlights:

• There's been a call for Brisbane's Lord Mayor to resign over the actions of council staff at the Goori Camp Embassy in Barrambin/Victoria Park.
• An open letter calls on the Prime Minister to commit m...

Only five of the Bringing them Home report’s 83 recommendations have been implemented – 29 years after it was written.

Now the Healing Foundation has released a new plan - 'From Sorry to Action - a Plan to Act on Bringing them Home'.

The plan outlines ways to implement the remaining recommendations.

Other Highlights:

• A 39 day walk has delivered a call for a national truth telling inquiry to the Prime Minister in Ca...

Australia is dealing with its worst Diphtheria outbreak on record. 

Over 130 people have been affected in the Northern Territory alone with Aboriginal people accounting for 95 per cent of recent cases. 

The federal government has set aside over $7 million to help the NT government and Aboriginal organisations address the outbreak. 

Other stories this week include: 

• The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre has writte...

Cost of living, energy, housing and healthcare were the main focus points of this week's federal budget. 

Some Indigenous leaders have highlighted the lack of funding to address key issues in communities across the country.

The Federal Government says over a billion dollars will be spent on Closing the Gap measures over the next five years.

But advocates say there's no money for Indigenous legal services and no support for Sto...

Vigils have been held across the country this week in memory of Kumanjayi Little Baby.

The five-year-old girl's body was found last week after an intensive five day search around Alice Springs.

Her death made waves across the nation and mourners turned out on Thursday to remember the Warlpiri girl.

Other Highlights:

• Governments have been called on focus on education instead of locking up children.
• A program helping Indigenous ...

Minimum standards for people being held in detention need to be adopted by the Northern Territory Government.

The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency is calling for the territory government to implement, OPCAT, an international human rights treaty designed to stop torture at detention facilities.

The legal service says some people are spending weeks in watch houses.

Other stories this week include:

• The Aboriginal Legal ...

The Federal government's announced 160-thousand people will be moved off the National Disability Insurance scheme to address the programs rising costs. 

The scheme providing support for Australians living with a disability was expected to cost 70 billion dollars a year by the end of decade. 

The First People's Disability Network is urging the Federal Government to listen to Indigenous people living with a disability to st...

35 years ago this week, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody report was handed down with 339 recomendations. 

It hoped to address the high rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders dying in police custody, but since 1991, 630 Indigenous people have died in custody. 

Amnesty International Australia's Indigenous Rights Advisor, Rodney Dillon, is asking how many people have to die before its decl...

More than 200 organisations and community leaders have signed an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister calling for him to address the youth justice crisis. 

The Federal Government has responded, saying only the states and territories can get justice policies.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services disagrees. 

Other stories include: 

• Residents in a Western Australian Indigenous co...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in New South Wales are less likely to enter drug diversion programs than non-Indigenous people.

New data released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows only nine per cent of eligible Indigenous people were referred to the state's Early Drug Diversion Initiative.

The figure for non-Indigenous people was much higher at 25 per cent.

Other Highlights:

• Widjabul Wia-bul Bundjalun...

Rising fuel prices are making it harder for Indigenous mothers and their babies to get food, medicine and health care in remote areas in the Northern Territory. 

Charles Darwin University Professor of Indigenous Health and Nyikena Yawuru woman, Yvette Roe says health outcomes will plummet unless a steady supply of fuel reaches communities.

Also in this week’s episode:

• The Senate has passed a bill supporting the Nati...

Progress on Closing the Gap has varied according to new data from the Productivity Commission.

Only four of the 19 targets are on track to meet the 20-31 deadline. 

Five others are improving but they won't Close to Gap within the timeline. 

There's no new data for some targets, others are worsening and some haven't moved from their baseline. 

Also in this Week’s Episode:

A national inquiry into Australia’...

Some communities in the Northern Territory were cut off by flood waters this week, prompting concerns around access to safe drinking water.

The communities of Barunga and Wugularr were considering using a helicopter to fly bottled water in.

Other Highlights:

• A Traditional Owner group in Queensland is taking the State Government to the Supreme Court, alleging they have failed to protect their human rights.
• Youth mental health o...