The Northern Territory has launched its first Aboriginal advisory board, tasked with addressing domestic, family and sexual violence.
In a statement, the NT government said the board is a "demonstration of the Territory Labor Government's priority to prevent and reduce domestic, family and sexual violence [DFSV]".
The board is expected to give "expert advice to [Minister Worden] on policies, funding and governance on DFSV matters," in the hopes of improving the prevention and response to domestic violence and its impacts on Aboriginal communities.
The latest crime statistics emphasise the issue.
In Alice Springs, domestic violence offences rose 65 per cent over the year to December 2022.
In Darwin, where domestic violence has decreased overall, police responded to 29 instances of domestic violence on Thursday night.
First Nations at the forefront
Violence continues to be a pressing issue in the territory, which disproportionately affects Aboriginal women.
First Nations women in the NT are 40 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of DVSV, and of all sexual assault victims, 91 per cent are Aboriginal women and girls.
It's something Minister for the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Kate Worden, said needs to change.
"The territory has got an issue with DFSV, we've always said that very clearly and plainly," she said.
"It's very sad, but it's a national problem as well.
"I think Australia collectively is slowly dawning on the fact that we need to do more in this space."
She said the board, made up entirely of Indigenous people from across the NT, will bring much-needed perspectives to the conversation.
Lauren Peric, chair of the Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter (DAIWS) has been appointed chair of the board.
"Aboriginal people are well and truly over-represented within this space, so we wanted to make sure we could hear their voices directly," Ms Worden said.
"We've also included the voices of men, because we understand that men need to be a part of the solution."
The minister acknowledged it's not an issue that can be fixed overnight, particularly without sufficient funding.
The territory government is still calling on the federal government for needs-based funding for domestic violence services.
"There's a lot of issues in government that don't take money to fix, you need systemic change and program change," Ms Worden said.
"But in this space, money is a big game changer, because we've got programs, we just need a lot more of them."
Is it 'too little, too late'?
The new advisory body, while the first of its kind in the Territory, is not the first attempt by the NT government to tackle the continuing issue of domestic violence.
Last year, the government created a new ministry to address the issue, and committed an additional $10 million in funding to violence prevention as part of its 2022 budget.
Bill Yan, Country Liberal Party member for Namatjira, in Alice Springs, said the announcement was "too little, too late".
"Domestic violence offences have been increasing year on year on year," he said.
"The government has made all sorts of announcements, created a new ministry to deal with domestic violence, and what has that done?"
But Ms Worden said Mr Yan's comments would be disappointing to workers in the domestic violence space.
"We are all working very very hard, and I have urged all members of the opposition to get on board with that," she said.
"It's not an issue… that anybody should be throwing stones about".
Police attend 29 domestic violence incidents in one night
In Alice Springs, alcohol-related assaults rose 68 per cent over the year to December 2022, according to the latest police crime statistics.
While in Darwin, domestic violence fell by 10 per cent and sexual assaults decreased by 16 per cent.
However, Police Commander Danny Bacon said domestic violence was still one of the top issues that police officers deal with on a daily basis.
"[Thursday night] we had 29 domestic violence instances that our offices had to respond to in the Darwin area. In comparison, we had two unlawful entries," he said.
He said the reduction of offences in the Darwin area could be explained by increased police coordination, including dealing with victims in a faster time frame, to prevent "repeat victimisation".
Commander Bacon said working with domestic violence support agencies has also resulted in positive outcomes.
But he said there was still a long way to go.
"[Domestic violence] is the primary crime type that's in our community today," he said.
