ATNS - Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project

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Martu Elders Patrol Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA)
Date:	1 February 2007
Sub Category:	Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA)
Place:	Pilbara
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State/Country:	Western Australia, Australia
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Payments:	Proposed contribution - Attorney General's Department ($30,000) Proposed contribution - Department of Education, Science and Training ($5,000) Proposed contribution - Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts ($35,000) Proposed contribution - Department of Families, Community Services and the Arts ($35,000) Proposed contribution - Western Australia Police Service ($133,984) Proposed contribution - BHP Billiton ($2,000) Proposed contribution - Newcrest Mining Limited ($5,000) Proposed contribution - MacMahon Contracting Pty Ltd ($2,000)
Subject Matter:	Health and Community Services \| Youth
URL:	https://apps.indigenous.gov.au/sra/search/DisplayDocuments.aspx?id=624&name=(Martu%20Elders&title=Respect%20Project:%20%20Elders%20Patrol&signDate=01-Feb-2007
Summary Information:
The Martu Elders Patrol Shared Responsibility Agreement is an agreement between the Attorney General's Department, the Department of Education, Science and Training, the Department of Communications and Information Technology, the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Western Australian Police Service, BHP Billiton, Newcrest Mining and Macmahaon Contracting Pty Ltd. The SRA consists of five different actions. The first is the elders patrol, which will patrol local drinking areas throughout the day to identify those people at risk of causing harm to themselves or others as a result of their excessive drinking. The patrol will then provide support to these people, recommend they get support at drug and alcohol agencies and promote the idea of a 'bush trip' to aid the person in avoiding excessive alcohol consumption. The second aspect is the location of children by the patrol, and instigating work with them to identify the issues that are precluding the children from attending school. They would then work towards addressing these issue with the families. As a part of this aspect of the project a reference guide will be developed by the community. The third aspect relates to littering, street drinking and public drunkenness, which will be addressed by patrolling the local area. Also as part of the SRA is the provision of bush trips for young people deemed at risk. The bush trips will take young people onto traditional land, where they will be shown how to find and carry water and hunt for food, and will educate them in the use of medicines and pass on knowledge relating to areas of cultural significance. Finally, the SRA will work towards developing the capacity of parents to address the needs of young members of the community, by instigating a weekly meeting between staff and parents to discuss the importance of quality education.
Detailed Information:
Purpose The SRA aims to address three significant concerns of the community - substance use and misuse, positive transitions to adulthood and the development of functional and resilient families and communities. Shared Responsibilities The terms of the SRA provide that the community will: Develop a services referral guide to use when referring 'at risk' youth to appropriate services; Continue to explore opportunities for recurrent funding; and Ensure that the cultural bush camps are organised for school holiday periods only. Parents and families will endeavour to: Ensure that all children of mandatory school age are enrolled at, and attend school; Ensure that children of mandatory school age are not on the streets after dark; Join a volunteer pool to assist the Elders to manage the bush camps; Abide by the community by-laws; and Participate in community clean-ups. In addition to this, Elders will: Nominate two representatives for election to the Parnpajinya Council; Hold weekly meetings with the police and pass on information relating to their patrol activities; and Join a volunteer poll for the elders's patrols. For their part, the Attorney General's Department has proposed a contribution of $30,000 towards the purchase of a motor vehicle; the Department of Education, Science and Training has proposed a contribution of $5,000 for a coordinator to run the capacity building for parents project and for breakfast and morning teas; the Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts has proposed a $10,000 contribution to facilitate cultural activities associated with the bush trips (including fuel, food and camping equipment); the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has proposed a contribution of $435,000 towards the purchase of a motor vehicle and associated accessories; the Western Australia Police Service has proposed a contribution of $133,984 for the management and coordination of the vehicle. From the private sector, BHP Billiton has proposed a contribution of $2,000 for the purchase and supply of uniforms; Newcrest Mining has proposed a contribution of $5,000 for the purchase of a trailer to store camp equipment; and MacMahon Contracting Pty Ltd has proposed a contribution of $2,000 for the purchase of a satellite. This funding is dependent upon the parties entering into a binding funding agreement. Performance Indicators and Feedback Mechanisms The SRA provides for quarterly reporting by the Newman police on the decrease in the number of aboriginal people being arrested for antisocial behaviour and the number of cultural bush trips undertaken. In addition a quarterly report is required by the Department of Education, Science and Training relating to the increase in the number of mandatory school age children enrolled in school, and the numbers of absent students per term. It also provides for monitoring reports to be given to the ICC by the Newman police on a quarterly basis.