1.

Extract from VATE about context in which Charlie’s Country is set: Northern Territory National
Emergency Response (‘The Intervention’).

Charlie’s Country is set against the Northern Territory National Emergency Response (‘the Intervention’).
Many sections of the Act which fostered this Intervention provide
relevant context to the film. For instance, the Act (2007) ‘enable[s] special measures to be taken to reduce
alcohol related harm in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory’ and stipulates that there should
be a ‘range of safe and good quality food, drink and grocery items to meet the
nutritional and related household needs of each Indigenous community’. But despite the stated intentions
of those sections, the Intervention ultimately ‘seize[d] control of many aspects of the daily lives of
residents in 73 targeted remote communities [and] implemented coercive measures
that would have been unthinkable in non-Indigenous communities’ (Perche 2017). It furthered what
Australian anthropologist W.E.H. Stanner once dubbed the ‘torment of powerlessness’ (Pearson 2009), and
this pain is evident throughout Charlie’s Country.

2. Extract from the TSSM Study Guide ‘Northern Territory National Emergency Response (‘The
Intervention’).

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Racial Discrimination Act

The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 is a statute passed by the Australian Parliament during
the Prime Ministership of Gough Whitlam. The RDA makes racial discrimination in certain
contexts unlawful in Australia, and overrides States and Territory legislation to the extent of
any inconsistency. Racial discrimination occurs under the RDA when someone is treated less
fairly than someone else in a similar situation because of their race, colour, descent or
national or ethnic origin. Racial discrimination can also occur when a policy or rule appears
to treat everyone in the same way but actually has an unfair effect on more people of a
particular race, colour, descent or national or
ethnic origin than others.

The Intervention
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response (also referred to as „The
Intervention‟) was a set of policies introduced by the Howard government in 2007 in
response to the „The Little Children are Sacred‟ Report, which claimed that neglect and
sexual abuse of children in Indigenous communities had reached crisis levels.

The Intervention applied to 73 Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, and

involved:

 withholding 50% of welfare payments from Indigenous welfare recipients;

 bans on alcohol and pornography;
 increased police presence in Aboriginal communities;
 compulsory health checks for all Aboriginal children;
 and power was given to the government to take possession of Aboriginal land and property.

The Intervention received limited support from Indigenous people with many expressing
concern that it didn‟t address the real reasons for disadvantage. They also believed that the
intervention violated human rights; ignored local knowledge; and disempowered Indigenous
people.
In 2010, the United Nations appointed an independent expert to investigate the Intervention.
The final report concluded that several aspects of the Intervention racially discriminated
against Indigenous Australians and violated their basic human rights. Objections to the
Intervention were strengthened when it was revealed that in the two years following the
Intervention, Indigenous children’s health and school attendance declined and malnutrition,
violent offences, substance abuse and suicide had actually increased in Indigenous
communities. Although the Intervention formally ended in August 2012, many key
components have continued under a policy package known as Building Stronger Futures. The
Stronger Futures legislation was introduced in 2012 and is predicted to remain effective until
2022.

Stronger Futures Policy

The Stronger Futures policy is a social policy of the Australian government concerning the
Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory. It was introduced in Parliament on 23
November 2011. The Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory legislation seeks to address
the disadvantaged position of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and create a
collaboration between government and Aboriginal people to construct a strong future
together. It includes many issues, which the Australian Government identified as imperative
within the Northern Territory, such as appropriate education, rampant alcohol abuse, housing
availability and the deficient supply of economic and employment opportunities.

3. Information from the Insight Study Guide about The Northern Territory National Emergency
Response (‘the Intervention’).
4. ABC video about (BTN) The Northern Territory National Emergency Response (‘the
Intervention’).