Maybe it's just a matter of directing police resources more appropriately?

I live in sunny Newcastle-upon-Hunter, and although we have violent crime - including domestic violence - we don't have it anywhere near as bad as the NT. But I'm pretty sure we have a lot more police. Which to me seems to be getting things a bit arse-about-face. It's as if policemen are allocated on the basis of population levels rather than need. And I reckon we probably don't need quite so many in civilised suburbia, where a good number of them seem to be employed as glorified taxmen - distributing infringement notices to generate revenue. Is there anything that stops states like NSW and Victoria, who appear to have more police than they really need lending some of theirs to the NT, where they seem to need more boots on the ground in trouble spots? States lend each other firemen all the time, why not policemen?

Hi Toni, it's not police that are needed, it's a change of culture. Aboriginal people, in common with many people in entrenched intergenerational poverty, have a strong distrust of authority, especially police. Carting more of them off to jail after they've offended isn't the answer.

The real problem, from my own limited perspective, is that there isn't much to do on many communities and local social hierarchies have been badly damaged. Kids aren't getting properly educated because parents don't see any point if they're going to stay on country and so each new generation just goes on repeating the same problematic behaviours for lack of any other ideas.

We need to take this seriously as a community, not just because Aborigines are fellow people who are in trouble, but because the experience of having no meaningful work is going to be a common one for everyone within a generation. We need to understand the problems associated with that and work out how to fix them, purely out of self-interest.

"The twisted multiculturalism that minimises the crimes of indigenous offenders on cultural grounds and tradition, for example, the gang rape of an indigenous girl, is totally unacceptable."
Beach, as a left leaning progressive that is certainly nothing that I would accept. I don't know who does, but if they exists they are wrong.

Shadow, I only see perpetrators and victims. The perpetrator needs help to stop re-offending, or not offending in the first place,removing the perpetrator from the environment at times is most necessary, and sadly jail is what it has to be. The victims of course certainly need help.
In the past DV was somewhat socially acceptable, a mans right to exercise his dominance over women. Although not fully approved of by most, it was ignored in many instances. I do not accept that indigenous people are anymore violent by nature than the rest of us, its difficult to find any group that is not violent, either within their own environment, crime, or state sanctioned violence in the form of war. The European has a well established history of violence.
What concerns me is why is DV on the increase, and in some instances totally out of control, when much has been done to try and curb the problem. Have all our efforts been in vain, and the problem is just going to grow exponentially for infinitum, Craig is right to say " personal responsibility have formed the basis of the past 50 years of rhetoric around DV and it's getting more prevalent" As someone who does not want more people in bigger jails, I much prefer preventive programs than punitive action to deal with a problem. As I said before, I did like the 'Four Corners' program on the town of Bourke and the justice reinvestment program.

Paul1405,

Why the 'if'? I gave the link and those were just two cases out of a number that were reviewed after justifiable public outrage. The link again,

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/another-rape-to-be-investigated/2007/12/12/1197135545274.html

The elite's multicultural policy has a lot to answer for.

Craig,

It's not a political point, it's a point of law that has been in place for centuries. Also, things have changed in the last 50 years particularly because the law has been applied. Society and the law no longer considers a wife to be the property of the husband, and violent dv assaults are no longer tolerated either legally or by the community.

If one is changed with DV, I am happy for a lenient first sentence with counselling, but a second, third or fourth conviction needs a jail term, and perhaps permanent separation from the family.

Shadow Minister, I wasn't referring to the law of assault, there's nothing wrong with that and of course nobody is condoning marital violence. However, the policies around the topic have been failures, because if the experts are to be believed it doesn't seem to be reducing, but increasing in prevalence.

I don't claim any special expertise on the subject, but simply saying "men shouldn't hit women, no matter what women do to provoke them" is clearly ineffective. It gives women carte blanche to escalate situations until he snaps, at which time the cops are involved, she gets tea and sympathy (and the house to herself) and he gets carted off. It's got to the point that even if he responds by raising his voice and she complains he's likely to be in strife. It may make us feel good about our efforts to "protect women", but in fact it increases the risk that women face.

As a child I was a late bloomer physically, but "blessed" with a quick wit. I soon learnt not to use it when confronting a bigger bloke who was looking for an excuse. Explaining to a teacher how I got my bloody nose was not nearly as enjoyable not having one. We need to be educating women not to provoke physical responses, but to seek help when situations calm down, when cooler heads can prevail.

We hear a great deal about male anger, but women are just as capable of acting poorly when angry or under the influence. Giving them the idea that they can do so with impunity is a form of "perverse incentive" that can lead to bad consequences for all concerned.

The current models are driven by political motivations, helped along by police who want to have a simple way of dealing with violence when it occurs. They are not effective at stopping it from happening, as can be easily seen.