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Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER)
Monitoring Report

7. Coordination

The NTER is a whole-of-government initiative involving six Australian Government portfolios, working cooperatively with the Northern Territory Government.

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) is the lead coordination agency. An inter-agency Project Management Board, chaired by FaHCSIA, oversees implementation at the national level.

The primary objective of the Coordination measure is to provide administrative, logistical and other procedural support for implementation of the NTER measures.

7.1  Government Business Managers (GBMs)

The Government Business Managers (GBMs) work with the Operations Centre and FaHCSIA State Office to ensure that services are coordinated and tailored in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.  Staff in Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICCs) in the NT assist in the delivery of services and the GBMs are managed and supported by Regional Directors in Alice Springs and Darwin.

To provide support for the Emergency Response, staff from across government agencies in areas such as health, employment, education, social services and defence work in partnership with the GBMs. 

As at 31 December 2008, there were 53 GBMs in place servicing 73 communities and town camps in the Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek regions.  As of May 2009, there were 60 GBMs in place servicing 73 prescribed communities, Borroloola and town camps in Darwin, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Alice Springs.

The GBM’s role is to develop a detailed understanding of the community in which they work, the service delivery and funding arrangements, and ensure that Australian Government objectives are achieved.  The scope of GBM work varies depending on the level of response and range of services applied in individual communities.  They live in and work with communities, coordinate government programs and services and ensure that local issues and concerns inform government action.

7.2  Community Engagement

Background

The 2008-09 – NTER Community Engagement Budget measure provided funding for the employment of up to 20 Indigenous Engagement Officer (IEO) positions throughout the NT.  IEOs are now providing feedback about NTER measures to communities and government; promoting their community’s role in defining needs, setting goals, and formulating policies and plans; and working with community groups to bring about greater community input into Government decision-making.

IEOs are based in, and work within, one given community, although there may be instances where they contribute services in surrounding communities if they have the appropriate knowledge and support of those areas.  As at 31 December 2008 there were 19 IEOs in 19 communities. 

Timeframe

During the period 1 July 2008 to 31 December 2008 the following occurred as part of the implementation of the measure:

Community identification was a two-stage process.  Prospective communities were first identified based on consultation around a set of criteria, including the availability of a GBM to assist in the measure, existing infrastructure to support an IEO, and community interest in hosting an IEO position.  Out of this pool of possible locations, the list of successful communities was then determined by the availability of a suitable IEO applicant, with successful applicants being identified using a merit-based process.  The criteria by which IEO applicants were assessed were:

None of the IEOs were current or previous FaHCSIA staff, though a number did have previous experience in other government departments.  IEOs were recruited for the skills outlined above.

During the reporting period, three IEO Project Managers were recruited to oversee and coordinate the work of the IEOs and liaise with other stakeholders such as GBMs, ICCs, Territory and National office management and staff.  A three day joint APS Induction and FaHCSIA Indigenous leadership development training programs was run for the IEOs as a group in October 2008.  The few IEOs recruited after October 2008 have received individual induction training, though not leadership training.  A range of local inductions also occurred with a Regional Director in the NT State Office (Darwin), and with an ICC Manager in the Alice Springs ICC.  Topics covered included ‘Working in FaHCSIA’, basic computer use and report writing.

Charles Darwin University was contracted to design and deliver a targeted Indigenous community engagement training program for the IEOs.  The first workshop was scheduled for 3-5 March 2009, with two more workshops scheduled to follow in April.
NT Government and relevant Commonwealth agencies were consulted on the use of funds to improve access to interpreters.

Achievements, Lessons Learned and Challenges

The measure has successfully created local employment opportunities and is helping to forge better community-government relationships. The IEOs are providing weekly reports and other valuable information about their communities to Government, while the communities have in return gained a better understanding of Government initiatives.  The following feedback has been compiled from a basic survey tool that was provided to National Office Staff, NT Office Staff, GBMs and IEOs.

Program Design

The measure has increased the capacity of the community to engage with Commonwealth Government representatives.  According to GBMs, IEOs have been “fabulous [at] spreading the word to communities regarding meetings and policies”.
Some other positive quotes from GBMs and IEOs are:

IEOs

GBMs

The measure was initially set to terminate on 30 June 2009, but was continued and expanded for at least another three years under the 2009‑10 Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory – Community Engagement Budget measure and the COAG Remote Service Delivery National Partnership. While initial recruitment processes took longer than expected, the lessons learned and structures established during the 2008-09 period will help minimise recruitment delays in the future. 

Recruitment

As at 31 December 2008, 19 of the 20 IEOs initially employed are still in their positions, indicating a good rate of retention and job satisfaction in the position.

The time allowed for recruitment was sufficient.  If anything, too much time was allowed and this process may be streamlined in future 28

Some feedback has suggested more time would have allowed greater community awareness of the IEO role. This will be addressed by communities engaging with the IEOs throughout the duration of the measure.

Training & Development

A number of IEOs have received individual training in computer use and first aid.  There are plans to extend this training to additional IEOs, along with 4WD training. Options for conducting a ‘skills audit’ to identify individual training and developmental requirements for each IEO are being considered.

Opportunities for IEOs to visit Canberra and ICCs for training may also be beneficial.  Such trips would extend the IEOs’ understanding of Government processes, locate the IEOs’ position within the greater structure of Government engagement, and develop relationships across and within Government agencies.

Challenges

Due to their unique role of working within their communities, to represent their communities, as a Government employee, IEOs are subjected to a range of pressures not usually experienced by mainstream public servants.  A number of IEOs have reported some confusion within the community about the IEO role, and a degree of mistrust about the IEOs’ motives.  Ongoing training of IEOs in community engagement tools, technique and theory will aim to address this problem, while IEO Project Managers help IEOs to address other personal issues that impact on their work.


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7.3 Northern Territory Indigenous Interpreters

Background

The project is part of the NTER Community Engagement Budget measure.

This sub-measure provides funding of $917,000 to improve communication between Indigenous people in remote communities in the NT through access to appropriately trained Indigenous interpreters; promotion of the importance of using Indigenous interpreters by government and non-government agencies and Indigenous people; development of training modules for Indigenous interpreters about a number of government initiatives; creation of a number of new Indigenous interpreting positions and provision of professional support for interpreters.

Achievements

In September 2008, FaHCSIA prepared a discussion paper describing the current situation of interpreting services in the Northern Territory and identifying issues to be addressed. 

Next steps

The consultations and preparatory work will enable the following activities to be completed by 30 June 2009:

Challenges

Consultation with the NT Government and other Australian Government agencies took longer than anticipated. 

Linkages with other measures or data

The NT Indigenous Interpreters project is linked with the broader engagement strategy.  It will provide trained interpreters who will assist with communication and consultation with Indigenous communities on new and amended government measures, including welfare reform, housing reform, employment reform and other relevant initiatives.  This is also linked with additional funding for Indigenous interpreters administered through the Attorney-General’s Department. 

7.4  NTER Regional Workshops

Background

The NTER Regional Workshops brought together leaders and potential leaders from communities to provide them with information about the NTER and build capacity within communities to articulate their needs and response to the NTER. These Workshops were not continued beyond the 2007/08 financial year Informal contact in the NT and reported anecdotal evidence indicates that there is strong demand for more of the workshops to be undertaken.

While the 2008-09 – NTER Community Engagement Budget measure is not a continuation of the Workshops and does not serve the same purpose, the concept and basic outline for the initiative were born out of that process.

7.5  Commonwealth Ombudsman Support for the NTER

The Ombudsman’s Office was provided funding in 2007 29 to investigate complaints arising from the NTER and to provide an oversight role in relation to the implementation and administration of the NTER measures.

From June 2007 to 26 March 2009, the Ombudsman’s Office has received approximately 700 complaints relating to the NTER or other Indigenous programs. Of these, 103 complaints were received during the period 1 July 2008 to 31 December 2008. As a result of budget uncertainty surrounding the Ombudsman’s ongoing role in the NTER, outreach activities and complaint taking sessions were significantly reduced during 1 July – 31 December 2008. This led to a reduction in the number of complaints received by the office. With renewed outreach 30 the Ombudsman will see a significant increase in the number of complaints received.
The complaints received by the Ombudsman’s office highlight a range of themes or issues which the Ombudsman’s office conveys to agencies. These issues include:

BasicsCards

Income Management

Access to Centrelink and service delivery

Housing

School Nutrition Program

Key Themes

A common theme in the complaints received by the Ombudsman’s Office is the issue of communication, consultation and general provision of information. This is a matter that the office will consider further to explore avenues for improvement with the agencies.

During this reporting period, the Ombudsman’s Office has visited 19 communities and 24 town camps. The office has also reviewed its outreach model in order to take a more strategic and effective approach to outreach activities. The outreach model includes:

Outreach activities conducted by the Ombudsman’s Office are critical to ensuring that community residents understand the Ombudsman’s role and can more easily access Ombudsman staff to make complaints.  Community visits are also an important avenue for people to provide general feedback and information about issues. The Ombudsman’s Office will then convey this information to agencies and provide timely feedback on potential problem areas.

Agencies have been very responsive to the Ombudsman’s approaches and have worked hard to deal with the issues that the Ombudsman’s Office has raised. Many of those issues reflect concerns that the agencies are already aware of and are already addressing.  The Ombudsman’s input allows for improved communication and better targeting of responses, as well as raising issues in a collaborative and constructive environment, focussing on solutions.

  2. Initial funding was for 07-08 only. An additional 0.2million was provided in 08-09, however we had sought further funding for that financial year. A further 0.8 million was secured for 08-09 in March 09. 
  3. Additional funding for 08-09 was only secured in March 09.

 

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