Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Assistant Commissioner Michael White talks about the NT's domestic violence crisis, which are at their highest rates in years

Transcript

Assistant Commissioner Michael White talks about the NT's domestic violence crisis, which are at their highest rates in years · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio this morning is the
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  Speaker 1: Assistant Commissioner with the Northern Territory Police, Michael White. Good
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  Speaker 1: morning to you, Michael, Good morning Kate. Thanks so much
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  Speaker 1: for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 1: I know that there is not a huge amount that
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  Speaker 1: we can say about this helicopter crash at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: but I do understand that there is certainly a full
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  Speaker 1: investigation underway.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right.
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  Speaker 3: Look it certainly the crash happened in a very remote
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  Speaker 3: part of the Northern Territory, so access is really challenging
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  Speaker 3: for all people who've had to respond to it. Fortunately
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  Speaker 3: for US CareFlight, we're able to provide the assistance to
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  Speaker 3: extract the injured person and get him to hospital as
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  Speaker 3: soon as possible.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we're still investigating the matter.
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  Speaker 3: CASSA is certainly aware of it and we'll be following
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  Speaker 3: up and providing a report to the coroner and to
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  Speaker 3: CASSA about what's occurred.
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  Speaker 1: Was it quite difficult to be able to get officers
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  Speaker 1: there to that site.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, very challenging.
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  Speaker 3: So whilst it's closer to Manding Greeter, it was easy
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  Speaker 3: to access through war are Wee Plea station and they
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  Speaker 3: went in through vessel. But it is such a remote
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  Speaker 3: area amongst creeks and rivers and mangroves. It's a very
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  Speaker 3: challenging environment to be working in.
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, I guess even then once they were there,
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  Speaker 1: I am assuming that it was quite a difficult situation
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  Speaker 1: in terms of the rescue process.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct. Certainly.
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  Speaker 3: With luckily for us and the support that CareFlight have provided,
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  Speaker 3: we were able to obviously rescue the survivor and later
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  Speaker 3: recover the deceased. And obviously it's a very tragic time
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  Speaker 3: for the family and we certainly pass on our will
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  Speaker 3: wishes to the family.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, a really really sad time I think for the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory and certainly our prayers and love to that family.
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  Speaker 1: Now we do want to ask you, obviously, we had
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  Speaker 1: actually invited you on the show this morning to talk
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  Speaker 1: about some of the issues that we're seeing around the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory, not just now. I know it is something
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  Speaker 1: that we see quite a bit of, unfortunately, and that
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  Speaker 1: is domestic violence. Earlier in the week, there was that
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  Speaker 1: report that came out from the Northern Territory Police of
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  Speaker 1: a terrible incident that had occurred in Stuart Park. Has
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  Speaker 1: there been a bit of an update in this space.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, the investigation into that serious assault is ongoing. We're
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  Speaker 3: certainly calling out still for people to come forward if
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  Speaker 3: they have any information, may have seen something. And then,
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  Speaker 3: as we've also asked for, is any dash cam that
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  Speaker 3: people may have of going past that area and Ramiroz Road.
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  Speaker 3: It's really critical if you can come forward to assist
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  Speaker 3: the investigation.
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  Speaker 2: At this stage year there's.
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  Speaker 3: Been unfortunately no one has been able to come forward
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  Speaker 3: and providing information. So we're certainly encouraging people if they
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  Speaker 3: were in the area around the time of the assault
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  Speaker 3: to please come forward and assist us.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, just for a recap for our listeners, it
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  Speaker 1: happened in Stuart Park on Friday nights so at about
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  Speaker 1: twelve ten am. That was on the twenty sixth of February,
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  Speaker 1: and I know the police received that report of a
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  Speaker 1: man assaulting a woman on Ramire's Road. That mail was seen.
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  Speaker 1: This is terrible, dragging that victim along the road and
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  Speaker 1: the police are certainly calling for anyone with information to
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  Speaker 1: come forward at this point, aren't they.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, that's correct. It's a very nasty incident. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Assistant Commissioner I think that we all know in
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory. Domestic violence it is a real scourch
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  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory. Is it something that you are
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  Speaker 1: seeing more of at this point in time?
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  Speaker 3: It is the most we've had ever experience in the
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  Speaker 3: last ten years, going back even twenty years. It's certainly
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  Speaker 3: the highest rates of domestic and family violence assaults that
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  Speaker 3: have occurred across the non territory, not just in the
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  Speaker 3: top end. It is an absolute problem for us as
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  Speaker 3: a community. It's a problem for all of us and
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  Speaker 3: the responding agencies, whether it's US, the ambos, all the
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  Speaker 3: domestic of family violence workers, the courts, the victims, and
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  Speaker 3: you know obviously the offenders. It is a terrible and
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  Speaker 3: tragic situation that we're in and we need to do
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  Speaker 3: what we can and do more to prevent harm to
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  Speaker 3: the vulnerable people in our community.
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  Speaker 1: So right now those domestic violence rates are up the
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  Speaker 1: most they've been in ten to twenty years.
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  Speaker 2: It's correct.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, we had certainly last at the beginning of COVID,
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  Speaker 3: we saw a massive decrease in assaults and other offending
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  Speaker 3: more broadly, and that was partly because people were at
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  Speaker 3: home where people had went back to their home communities
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  Speaker 3: if they were from outside of a major center, and
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  Speaker 3: we saw a massive drop in those sorts of offending.
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  Speaker 3: But since that time, we've had an exponential growth domestic
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  Speaker 3: and family violence incidents.
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  Speaker 1: What is causing that?
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  Speaker 2: Look, there's a number of factors in that.
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  Speaker 3: Certainly from the evidence that we have is that when
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  Speaker 3: there's decisions made around government providing extra money to people
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  Speaker 3: to survive COVID, also the ability to access superannuation as
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  Speaker 3: part of a COVID fund us opposed to help people
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  Speaker 3: survive that period of time, and also to keep businesses running,
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  Speaker 3: people were allowed to access their superannuation.
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  Speaker 2: So we saw a massive increase in sales of alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: Alcohol, whilst it's not the cause of domestic violence, it's
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  Speaker 3: certainly a major enabler that we know that is the case.
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  Speaker 1: So realistically, it is people getting their hands on alcohol
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  Speaker 1: more so than what they've been able to before, and
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  Speaker 1: then we see those rates of domestic violence skyrocket.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right.
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  Speaker 1: When you look I don't know whether you've got the
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  Speaker 1: figures on you, but when you look at those numbers
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  Speaker 1: from the latest crime statistics, you know what kind of
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  Speaker 1: rates are we talking about here?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly, in the most recent crime stats that were
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  Speaker 3: released there's a ten percent nearly eleven percent increase in
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  Speaker 3: domestic family violence assaults across the Northern Territory. In Darwin
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  Speaker 3: itself it was twenty eight percent increase and in Palmerston
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  Speaker 3: thirty four percent.
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  Speaker 2: So a lot of that is we've seen.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously, the wet season also is a factor and people
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  Speaker 3: do move into major centers too because of wet season
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  Speaker 3: and access to services, so they do move into day
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  Speaker 3: On and other regional centers. So that's another causal factor.
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  Speaker 1: Now I know that yesterday, for example, we had the
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  Speaker 1: Senator and Rustin in the Northern Territory making and announcement
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  Speaker 1: around funding for crisis accommodation and some of those support services.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, I guess at the pointy end, how
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  Speaker 1: you know what is being done? I know that this
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  Speaker 1: is not it's certainly not wholly and solely at the
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  Speaker 1: police hands to respond to these incidents. In fact, we
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  Speaker 1: need to be making headway way earlier than that. But
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  Speaker 1: what work is happening from the police perspective in this space.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, we're continuing to work with all the agencies.
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  Speaker 3: We have the Family Safety Framework where we work with
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  Speaker 3: government and non government partners to across the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 3: to identify and work with the highest risk families and victims.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, we certainly know that when we can
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  Speaker 3: respond collectively to any whether it's that or youth crime,
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  Speaker 3: that we make it a significant impact in that Look,
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  Speaker 3: the bottom line around you know, certainly domestic family violence
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  Speaker 3: is that the perpetrator, whether it's a male or a female,
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  Speaker 3: it is abhorrent and we need to do what we
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  Speaker 3: can collectively as a community to make a difference in
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  Speaker 3: this space.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that sometimes we become a little bit
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  Speaker 1: desensitized to some of the things that we do see
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  Speaker 1: on the street, because unfortunately, we do see people drinking,
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  Speaker 1: we do see that public intoxication. And do you think
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  Speaker 1: that sometimes people are seeing domestic violence and seeing certain
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  Speaker 1: things happen and really don't know how to respond in
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  Speaker 1: some cases.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I think in some respects that's correct.
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  Speaker 3: I think we are as a community immune to social
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  Speaker 3: issues that we see by some different demographics of the
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  Speaker 3: Northern Territory. But I have to say I'm also really
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  Speaker 3: concerned about the unreported domestic and family violence. I know
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  Speaker 3: anecdotally that there's certainly other cultural groups who are suffering
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  Speaker 3: from domestic and family violence and aren't reporting it. And
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  Speaker 3: you know, it's really important that if anyone out there
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  Speaker 3: thinks or believes that they're friends or partners.
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  Speaker 2: Or colleagues at work are suffering.
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  Speaker 3: And it might not be a physical abuse, it could
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  Speaker 3: be coercive control, it could be financial, it could be
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  Speaker 3: emotional abuse. And you can tell that someone's not themselves,
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  Speaker 3: it's quite possible that they're suffering domestic and family violence.
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  Speaker 3: You know. The difference is that a lot of those circumstances,
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  Speaker 3: it's happening behind closed doors, where a lot of the
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  Speaker 3: time we see what we're responding to is in public places.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's got to be called out. We've
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  Speaker 1: got to make sure that we make some change in
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  Speaker 1: this space, particularly when you talk about the fact that
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  Speaker 1: you know, as you said right at the start of
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  Speaker 1: this interview, that it's the most we've seen in the
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  Speaker 1: last ten to twenty years. That's a terrible thing to hear.
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  Speaker 2: It is.
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  Speaker 3: Look and the bottom line is that you know a
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  Speaker 3: majority of times it's a man assaulting a woman. So
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  Speaker 3: men need to stand up, Men need to own this,
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  Speaker 3: and men need to change their behavior, to stop hurting
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  Speaker 3: and killing women of the Northern Territory. I mean, we've
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  Speaker 3: had some tragic and terrible events in the last six
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  Speaker 3: months and twelve months that have been totally avoidable if
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  Speaker 3: a man had not done what he'd done. You know,
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  Speaker 3: there's certainly the one in Alice Springs. There's the fire
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  Speaker 3: in the town camp in Alice Springs, which is horrendous.
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  Speaker 2: Again, it was a man cause that, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: You know, so it's from a response perspective, the impact
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  Speaker 3: on all of the people involved in responding to these
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  Speaker 3: things is really critical and for the families that are impacted.
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  Speaker 1: And I know this, you know you touched on those
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  Speaker 1: additional payments as well that we've seen into the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory people being able to access alcohol or more alcohol
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  Speaker 1: maybe than what they ordinarily would. It is something that
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  Speaker 1: we've spoken about over recent weeks. We had we also
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  Speaker 1: had Michael Murphy on the show just a couple of
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  Speaker 1: weeks ago talking to us about the number of people
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  Speaker 1: that are sleeping rough on the streets. I know, ordinarily
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  Speaker 1: around seven hundred people I think in from various communities
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  Speaker 1: at the moment, he'd said more than two and a
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  Speaker 1: half thousand. That was about two weeks ago. Has there
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  Speaker 1: been much movement in that space.
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  Speaker 3: No, At this stage it appears that the numbers are
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  Speaker 3: about the same. Certainly that my observation and what I
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  Speaker 3: see in reporting is that you know, the people who
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  Speaker 3: are living here, either sleeping raf or visiting with family
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  Speaker 3: do impact and that's you know, we certainly know that
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  Speaker 3: overcrowding and visitors that come to people's houses often are
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  Speaker 3: the problem. But that's again one of those factors is
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  Speaker 3: because they have greater access to alcohol. And the other
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  Speaker 3: thing we need to reckon more is that a lot
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  Speaker 3: of our young people who are in the judicial system
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  Speaker 3: because of youth crime are victims of domestic and family
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  Speaker 3: violence themselves. They've witnessed it, they've grown up with it
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  Speaker 3: their whole life, and they don't know any different, and
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  Speaker 3: sometimes they're escaping that behavior and unfortunately get hooked up
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  Speaker 3: in criminal behavior themselves. So a recent thing I did
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  Speaker 3: in particularly in our Springs, looking at the top of
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  Speaker 3: youth offenders, the youngest that any of those people had
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  Speaker 3: first involvement with police for three years and one month
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  Speaker 3: as a victim or as as present during a domestic
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  Speaker 3: violence incident. So that was the average age of the
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  Speaker 3: top twenty youth offenders as being involved with police for
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  Speaker 3: the first time. So that's a really horrendous statistic to
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  Speaker 3: think about, and what damage that's caused to that young person.
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  Speaker 1: How do we make some change in this space? I
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  Speaker 1: know that if anybody had a really simple answer, you know,
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  Speaker 1: we'd be doing it immediately. But hearing that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: like a a child that's just over three years old,
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  Speaker 1: that first sort of you know that you guys first
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  Speaker 1: come into contact with as a victim of domestic violence,
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  Speaker 1: that then is on a really difficult life path which
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  Speaker 1: then can eventually, and I don't know the circumstances of
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  Speaker 1: that person, but then can eventually wind up you know,
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  Speaker 1: offending and engaged in behavior that none of us want
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  Speaker 1: to see. How like, how do we get to the
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  Speaker 1: point where we are really trying to break this cycle.
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  Speaker 3: Look, I think it's incumbent on all of us. It's
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  Speaker 3: incombent on everyone who works in the sector. It's incumbent
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  Speaker 3: on you know, service providers and people who see or
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  Speaker 3: witness it to report it, you know. And the bottom
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  Speaker 3: line is it's about changing behavior. It's about the you know,
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  Speaker 3: making sure that there's the availability for anyone who wants
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  Speaker 3: to either you know, reduce the impact of substance abuse
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  Speaker 3: that they're going through. If they've got anger issues, seek help,
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  Speaker 3: go and see them. Be proactive to prevent injury to
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  Speaker 3: your family and loved ones, and prevent yourself getting unfortunately
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  Speaker 3: in trouble and going to jail potentially for assaulting your partner.
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  Speaker 1: Well Assistant Commissioner Michael White, I really appreciate your time
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  Speaker 1: this morning. A very extensive discussion there. I really appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks very much for coming in today.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, and thank you listener