Aboriginal Family Violence

My discussion will concentrate on the definition of Family Violence and how it affects Aboriginal children and the issues impacting upon family violence in Aboriginal communities. I will look at government policies affecting family violence in Aboriginal communities and possible suggestions for reducing the burden on Out of Home Care agencies and providers for Aboriginal children.
I have used the term Family Violence as opposed to domestic violence in Aboriginal communities because of the importance of kinship, family connections, interrelationships and cultural practices. (https://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/child-abuse-and-neglect-indigenous-australian-communities, Stanley, Tomison & Pocock 2003 p1).
Family violence is traditionally
Other issues include Aboriginal children growing into adulthood and perpetrating family violence themselves (predominately men), low self-esteem, unable to maintain imitate relationships, drug and alcohol abuse and anti-social behaviour.

“Children who are bashed by their parents will bash their own children,” says Germaine Greer (http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/people/domestic-and-family-violence)
In recent weeks in mainstream media there have been lots of commentary on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the appalling rate of Aboriginal men and women in incarceration as a direct result of family violence, drug and alcohol issues, Intergenerational trauma and other more serious offences.
A case in point was the racist implementation of The Northern Territory Intervention in 2007 as a result of rampant sexual abuse of Aboriginal children highlighted in the “Little Children are Sacred Report”. To further illustrate my point of a kneejerk reaction, in the 8 years since the implementation of the NT Emergency Response there has not been one prosecution for child abuse come from that exercise.