Stronger Futures Policy

The Stronger Futures policy is a multifaceted social policy of the Australian government concerning the aboriginal population of the Northern Territory. On 23 November 2011, the Stronger Futures legislation was introduced in the Parliament of Australia by Jenny Macklin, the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, and was subsequently supported by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

The policy intends to address key issues that exist within Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory such as unemployment, school enrolment and attendance, alcohol abuse, community safety and child protection, food security, and housing and land reforms. Several years of similar initiatives preceded the policy, including the Building Stronger Regions, Stronger Futures policy, New Local Government policy, and the Northern Territory Emergency Response Act.

The Stronger Futures legislation maintains key components of the Northern Territory Emergency Response Act and includes bills such as the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Bill of 2011, Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011 and the Social Security Legislation Amendment Bill of 2011. The legislation proposed to extend both the time frame and the geographic scope of these measures.

The Stronger Futures legislation was passed in the House of Representatives with small changes on 27 February 2012 and was passed by the Senate on 29 June. The Australian Government claims that consultations with Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory helped construct the Stronger Futures.

The policy has been criticised by organisations such as Amnesty International, Concerned Citizens of Australia and most of the major Christian church denominations. The Stand for Freedom campaign leads the public movement against this legislation and criticises many measures of the legislation since they maintain "racially-discriminatory" elements of the Northern Territory Emergency Response Act and continue the control of the Australian Government over "Aboriginal people and their lands." In addition, the campaign advocates the inadequacy of the Aboriginal consultations and discusses how the decisions derived from these consultations rarely coincided with the actual desires of the affected communities. However, members of the Australian Government continue to voice support for the Stronger Futures policy.

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