When I was a child growing up on the North Coast; down the street from our home was an aboriginal family we played with. At the local sports carnival Andy was the fastest runner of the day and was a champion. However sometime later I learned he drank himself to death at 26, always in trouble with the police. If he had been brought up in the right environment he'd been another kathy Freeman.

Foxy,
You would not believe how much of the funding to Indigenous communities does not actually end up beneficial for the people. A lot & I mean one hell of a lot goes to contractors & bureaucrats, consultants & all the hangers-on, none of which have the welfare of the indigenous in mind. Indigenous leaders or rather the new indigenous leaders are no more sincere than the school teacher who only goes to the community because "the money's good".
When the communities (Qld) had a Chairman who presided over a small Council none of the nonsense of today happened. It was only after the Goss Labor Govt dismantled the system that worked & replaced it with the system of ignorance run by just as ignorant & disinterested surplus bureaucrats & mates of mates contractors that things went from slow progress to sped-up regress.
All this happens under the pretence of "closing the Gap". The outcome is outrageous costs to the Taxpayer both social & financial & culturally & social to the indigenous !
The situation will not improve until the senior Public Service bureaucrats are made responsible for turning a blind eye to the damage they cause in favour of their careers.

Hi Foxy,

You said; "I can't even begin to imagine how my own grand-children would fare under similar circumstances." The answer is simple, they would most likely fare just as well as any other children in the same situation, black or white, they would find themselves in the Don Dale Detention Centre. Its not a racially motivated problem, unless of course you believe Aboriginal people are inherently bad, and are beyond redemption, as some on this forum would believe. this is a social problem. It so happens Aboriginal people in the NT make up about 25% of the population, but around 85% of the social disadvantage, therefore they account for about 85% of the prison population. A study of the reasons children in the NT are incarcerated, it shows a high number are being held on remand.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/why-are-so-many-indigenous-kids-in-detention-in-the-nt-in-the-first-place

Paul1405,
Yes, that's not on ! Deal with the morons on Social Media, give their details & I'll make a move on it !
At the same time I ask you to start portraying a true picture on the many other issues you like to pontificate !
Let's look at the reality of the situation. I have always done the right thing yet I copped grief from both sides by morons & thugs black & white !
Racism will be around for as long as education fails the young in every society & the young fail to accept discipline & respect for the efforts of those they steal from !
Older people perpetually excusing the culprits are even more guilty !

Hi Paul,

I doubt if my grand-children would ever end up in
any detention center. We raised our kids the way
my parents raised us. They came to Australia with
only the clothes on their backs. Yet they managed to
work hard and achieve a great deal. They worked at
whatever jobs they could get. They taught us the
importance of education because they'd lost everything
during the war. They taught us to be independent and
ask for nothing from anyone. We did the same for our
children - who taught the same to theirs.

Sporting activities were also a big part of our lives
as they are with our grand-children. They are also
involved in their communities as we were and so are
their parents. The circumstances were different for all
of us. Different cultures, different opportunities,
different values - different histories.

The young Aboriginal children need role models, they
need leaders who will take them in hand and point them
in the right direction. Which we were fortunate enough
to have. Apparently these kids don't seem to have that.
Perhaps I'm wrong. I don't know. I certainly don't think
these kids are bad - they just desperately need help.
Which they haven't been getting.

My wife worked as a Foster carer and often cared for aboriginal children on one occasion on returning the child to the home that had been provided by the Government she found the new carpets thrown outside and holes bored in the floor so that they could hose the floors and the children could pee down the hole.

That is why I believe they need to be raised in stable homes away from tribal youth, drugs and prostitution.