• Marise Payne, and others
• Senate Select Committee on Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities

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30 June 2009On 19 March 2008 the Senate resolved to appoint a Select Committee on Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities to inquire into and report on: a. the effectiveness of Australian Government policies following the
Northern Territory Emergency Response, specifically on the state of health, welfare, education and law and order in regional and remote Indigenous communities; 

b. the impact of state and territory government policies on the wellbeing of regional and remote Indigenous communities; 

c. the health, welfare, education and security of children in regional and remote Indigenous communities; and 

d. the employment and enterprise opportunities in regional and remote Indigenous communities.

1.2 As at 3 June 2009, the committee had received a total of 92 submissions. Fifty four of these were received since the committee last reported in 2008 and are listed at Appendix 1. The submissions are also available on the committee's website. 

This report contains five chapters, of which this is the first. The second chapter sets out the Commonwealth policy framework and overarching governance directing Indigenous Affairs policy in Australia. The third chapter contains a snapshot of the type of available data on the nature and status of regional and remote Indigenous
communities. 

Chapter 4 addresses the Northern Territory Emergency Response and details evidence presented to the committee and its findings at this stage of the inquiry. The fifth chapter case studies the impact of state and territory policies in relation to South Australia and the Northern Territory, the two jurisdictions in which the committee has had the chance to take evidence from the state government and from the
Commonwealth.

While the committee visited both Western Australia and New South Wales, it has not had a chance to take evidence in relation to issues raised in these states and will defer its substantive report on Western Australia and New South Wales government policy until its next report.