Posts tagged Stolen Generation

Employ more Aboriginal people in the disability service sector, says June Riemer

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 20.12.2021 (Hireup): June Riemer, a proud Gumbaynggirr Dunghutti woman and Deputy CEO of First Peoples Disability Network has led national campaigns for better, more inclusive and culturally appropriate access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for her people. She speaks to me about why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a disability face numerous barriers in accessing and navigating the NDIS and what measures can be taken to ensure they receive culturally appropriate supports.

“The NDIS wasn’t designed culturally, whether that’s for the First Nations people or the culturally and linguistically diverse community,” says Riemer, who won the 2021 NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year award in recognition of her four decades of advocacy for Indigenous people with a disability.

“Culturally, given Australia’s history and the fact that we weren’t even citizens till 1967, having a disability within our communities is not any different because everyone’s at a disadvantage. This is a good thing because disability is not seen as a deficit, but it’s about caring and supporting someone, who might need more help, for example, with walking or communicating,” she adds.

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Indigenous Tiwi women strive to improve their lot

By Neena Bhandari

Tiwi Islands (Australia), 03.11.2009 (Women’s Feature Service): Lynette De Santis, 45, was surprised when in October last year, she became the first elected Mayor of the Tiwi Islands Shire Council comprising Bathurst and Melville Islands with a largely indigenous Aboriginal population of 1,495 and 434. She had conquered what had thus far been a male bastion.

“It had become the norm that men would be chairperson, mayor or president so I was amazed when I was elected the first female Mayor. I have always stood up for the interests of my people and I suppose this resulted in my victory”, says De Santis, who was born and bred in Northern Territory’s capital Darwin and returned home to the islands in 1985.

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Australia’s `Stifling blanket of silence’

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 15.09.2003 (Panos Features UK): Elaine Shaw was repeatedly raped and sexually abused from the age of four by her father and uncles. Her partner physically assaulted and psychologically tormented her, locking her in a room for three years to separate her from the children.

Aboriginal women like Shaw – her name is changed to protect her identity – are 45 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than other Australians. And such violence is common in Australia: research shows 23% of all Australian women have been attacked by a partner or family member.

Says New South Wales magistrate Pat O’Shane, who is Aboriginal, “Women are subjected to violence daily, if not hourly, if not by the minute.”

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