Northern Territory Intervention

The Northern Territory National Emergency Response (also referred to as "the intervention") was a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australian federal government under John Howard in 2007 to address allegations of rampant child sexual abuse and neglect in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities.Operation Outreach, the intervention's main logistical operation, conducted by a force of 600 soldiers and detachments from the ADF (including NORFORCE), concluded on 21 October 2008. In the seven years since the initiation of the Emergency Response there has not been one prosecution for child abuse come from the exercise.

The package was the Federal government's response to the Territory government's publication of Little Children are Sacred, but implemented only two out of ninety-seven of the report's recommendations. The response has been criticised, but also received bipartisan parliamentary support. The then Prime Minister Julia Gillard has supported the response, though her predecessor (and successor) Kevin Rudd did make some adjustments to its implementation. The Emergency Response has since been replaced by the very similar Stronger Futures Policy.

The response was introduced during the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, at which the incumbent Coalition government led by John Howard, in office since 1996, was defeated. Paul Toohey, writing for The Bulletin wrote that the policy was poll-driven, although it gained the broad support of the Rudd Labor opposition and some Aboriginal leaders.

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