Church in the World

Child-abuse watch on Aborigines

Australia

Australian Catholics are divided over the Federal Government's decision to intervene in remote Aboriginal communities to stop abuse of children, with a bishop warning the Government against being "bully boys" while the leading church development agency acclaimed the move, writes Mark Brolly.

Bishop Ted Collins of Darwin said the Government had to work with indigenous communities if it wanted to stamp out child abuse, saying that if it failed to do so, many Aborigines would "end up feeling further disempowered".

The Government, in response to a report on long-standing child abuse in Aboriginal communities, announced last week that it would exercise dramatic new controls over Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (NT), including bans on alcohol and pornography, and making welfare payments conditional on children's school attendance. The NT is ultimately subject to the national Government in Canberra.

But Caritas Australia, the bishops' aid and development agency, applauded the intervention. "Caritas Australia supports the renewed vigour with which the Government is attempting to address the problems," the agency's chief executive, Jack de Groot, said.