** This article has been updated since original publication with news on Queensland’s Path to Treaty Act. ***
Introduction by Croakey: New Queensland Premier David Crisafulli confirmed today the Liberal National Party would repeal the state’s Path to Treaty Act.
“We have made a decision, it is the right decision and we stand by it, but I don’t want to cause angst to people,” he said, adding he did not wish to make it a ‘divisive issue’, according to the ABC.
Following the announcement, Queensland’s Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry Chairperson Joshua Creamer said the inquiry will pause its current work plan until further information is available.
“This pause aligns with our trauma-aware and healing-informed approach and is to protect the wellbeing of participants and all Queenslanders currently engaged with the Inquiry,” he said. However, if the inquiry is formally stopped, it will be a lost opportunity for the state, he said.
Just last week, the first report of Queensland’s Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry was released, highlighting some key achievements in its first three months.
The inquiry has held its first truth-telling hearing in Meanjin/Brisbane, a truth-telling session with government representatives and invited community organisations to provide submissions in preparation for planned truth-telling sessions over the coming months.
In launching the report, Creamer, a Waanyi and Kalkadoon barrister, said the Inquiry has a role to strengthen the relationship between non-Indigenous people and Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to foster reconciliation and a deeper respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, history and experiences that transcend generations.
“The Inquiry is about unity and contributing to a reconciled Queensland, based upon a shared understanding of a full and complete history of Queensland,” he said.
Dr Andrew Smirnov and Lorelle Holland from the University of Queensland write below it will be a lost opportunity if the Inquiry is closed down by the LNP Government, saying “truth-telling and learning is essential for the process of reconciliation”.
They also warn that the LNP’s ‘tough on crime’ policies will have “terrible consequences” for the health and wellbeing of incarcerated children.
Andrew Smirnov and Lorelle Holland write:
Initiatives such as Closing the Gap articulate a shared vision of greater quality of life and life expectancy for younger generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Likewise, reconciliation efforts also look toward a healthier and more inclusive society in which the voices of young people are heard and respected.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has larger proportions of young people compared to the non-Indigenous Australian population. Around one-third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are aged under 15 years.
A more inclusive society will benefit all young Australians, and drawing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges will help us to address challenges such as climate change, which has profound implications for health and wellbeing.
Dangers of poor policy
There is a risk of this vision being jeopardised by poor government policy. The policy agenda of Queensland’s new Liberal National Party Government has the appearance of policy without a moral compass.
Two of the aspects of LNP policy that threaten to undermine community and individual wellbeing include the ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time‘ set of policies and the intention to close down the Pathway to Treaty process, including the Truth-Telling and Hearing Inquiry.
Health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is inseparable from the health of communities and is connected to culture and Country. The process of reconciliation in Australia is important for wellbeing in part because it promotes awareness and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
The five pillars of reconciliation, set out by Reconciliation Australia, are historical acceptance, race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity and unity.
The Queensland Path to Treaty and the Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry is connected with all these aspects of reconciliation.
The inquiry provides a unique opportunity for Queenslanders to understand more about the history of their state and to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experiences of colonisation.
This truth-telling and learning is essential for the process of reconciliation. It is vital that the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders are heard but the opportunity will be lost if the inquiry is closed down by the Queensland LNP government.
Closing down these processes is disrespectful of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and may deprive young people of an opportunity for a more inclusive, secure, and culturally vibrant future.
Losing moral compass
The new LNP Queensland Government is planning to deliver a ‘tough on crime’ policy that will have significant negative consequences for young children such as enmeshment with criminal justice systems and recidivism. It is further evidence of government losing its moral compass.
In addition, the overspending on costly prison infrastructure diminishes money that could be delivered towards prevention strategies, diversion programs and justice reinvestment.
There is already a crisis due to youth detention in Queensland with the excessive incarceration of children (children aged 10 to 17 years) and in particular the grossly disproportionate incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Queensland has the highest rate of youth detention in Australia and this rate has increased since 2019.
The incarceration of children contravenes fundamental human rights. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “prison should always be the last choice and only for the shortest possible time”.
It is important to recognise that crimes committed by children are not adult crimes.
There is clear scientific evidence that the capacity to understand what is morally right and the consequences of actions develops gradually through adolescence and early adulthood.
Children are also susceptible to social influence which may impact their decision-making. Children who engage in offending behaviour have typically had profound disruptions to their home environment and have often experienced traumatic events.
Further, many children who become ensnared in the criminal justice system have neurodevelopmental disorders or other conditions that contribute to developmental delay and have worse outcomes within the system due to a lack of assessment and support for these disorders.
Higher rates of youth incarceration and longer sentences under the LNP will have terrible consequences for health and wellbeing.
Youth detention has devastating impacts on children who are incarcerated and their communities, separating children from their families and leading to lifelong adversity including repeated imprisonment, and perpetuating a cycle of disadvantage.
Alternative approaches
Alternatives to child incarceration are urgently needed; however, the Queensland LNP Government’s policies risk making the situation far worse than it already is.
Alternative pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children should be Indigenous-led, holistic, culturally safe, family centred, and healing and trauma informed and delivered across the life-course.
They should also privilege the children’s voices.
The early intervention and rehabilitation programs proposed by the LNP will be ineffective and harmful if they do not genuinely include Indigenous leadership.
About the authors
Lorelle Holland, a proud Mandandanji woman, who grew up on Turrbal Country, is a Lecturer at School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, Affiliate Lecturer at Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, and PhD Candidate, Child Health Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland.
Dr Andrew Smirnov is Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Health, University of Queensland.
Further reading by the authors: Resisting the incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: A scoping review to determine the cultural responsiveness of diversion programs, in The Lowitja Journal, July 2024
See Croakey’s extensive archive of articles on cultural determinants