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The effects of the Howard Government’s disastrous 2007 Intervention continue to reverberate throughout the Northern Territory. It was a ‘solution’ imposed by a faltering government for its own political purposes on the Aboriginal people without their involvement and without consultation. As part of it the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) was suspended, in so far as it related to the Intervention and associated measures. The whole process was deeply insulting to the Aboriginal people and effectively marginalised them as second class citizens.

The tragedy was further compounded by the incoming Rudd Government’s adoption of most of the worst features of the Intervention. The Government thus lost a great opportunity to engage with the Aboriginal people in the planning of their future. It was an opportunity that was open to it on the wave of goodwill that followed the then Prime Minister’s apology to the Aboriginal people. What should have occurred was the dismantling of the Intervention and a new beginning.

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No substantial reform has been delivered in any target area of the Close the Gap goals and intervention itself scores only four out of 10 for human rights, the Castan Centre says.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/08/northern-territory-intervention-fails-on-human-rights-and-closing-the-gap

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The Intervention was directed at addressing the disproportionate levels of violence in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, as well as the endemic disadvantage suffered in terms of health, housing, employment and justice.

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The Intervention was directed at addressing the disproportionate levels of violence in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, as well as the endemic disadvantage suffered in terms of health, housing, employment and justice.

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The Intervention applied to 73 Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, and involved: 

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The Intervention applied to 73 Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, and involved: 

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withholding 50% of welfare payments from Indigenous welfare recipients
- bans on alcohol and pornography
- increased police presence in Aboriginal communities
- compulsory health checks for all Aboriginal children
- the power for government to take possession of Aboriginal land and property (1)

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Intervention changes

Legislation passed by both major parties (Labour and Liberal)

removed the permit system for access to Aboriginal land,

abolished government-funded Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP),

subjected Aboriginal children to teaching in a language they don’t speak for the first four hours at school,

quarantined 50% of welfare payments,

suspended the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA),

expected Aboriginal people to lease property to the government in return for basic services,

compulsorily acquired Aboriginal land and

subjected Aboriginal children to mandatory health checks without consulting their parents, and against the sacred oath of doctors [47].

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- Without consultation Aboriginal peoples’ lives were heavily regulated, and many felt ashamed and angry.

- Despite wide-spread protests the intervention was extended until 2022.

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Some Aboriginal commentators and activists, such as Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton and Bess Price, have offered support, criticising aspects of the response while believing it to be necessary and worthwhile. The Aboriginal leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu initially supported the response, but by 2010 had lost faith in it.

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- Exemption from the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the compulsory acquisition of an unspecified number of prescribed communities (Measure 5) and the partial abolition of the permit system (Measure 10). These have been interpreted as undermining important principles and parameters established as part of the legal recognition of indigenous land rights in Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stronger_Futures_policy#Northern_Territory_Emergency_Response_Act

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The $587 million package came into effect with the passage of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 by the Australian Parliament in August 2007. The nine measures contained therein were as follows:

Deployment of additional police to affected communities.

New restrictions on alcohol and kava

Pornography filters on publicly funded computers

Compulsory acquisition of townships currently held under the title provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 through five year leases with compensation on a basis other than just terms. (The number of settlements involved remains unclear.)

Commonwealth funding for provision of community services

Removal of customary law and cultural practice considerations from bail applications and sentencing within criminal proceedings

Suspension of the permit system controlling access to aboriginal communities

Quarantining of a proportion of welfare benefits to all recipients in the designated communities and of all benefits of those who are judged to have neglected their children

The abolition of the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory_National_Emergency_Response#cite_note-3

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- Little Children are Sacred  is the report of a Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory, Australia, was publicly released on 15 June 2007. The inquiry, chaired by Rex Wild and Patricia Anderson, was established in August 2006 and investigated ways to protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. This was one of the key influences behind the Northern Territory National Emergency Response, enforced by the Federal Government,
- Only two of the key recommendations (out of 97) in the report were implemented in the response
- The then Prime Minister Julia Gillard has and continues to support 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 Clare Martin government responded denying inaction and released its detailed response Closing the Gap of Indigenous Disadvantage: Generational Plan of Action in August 2007.

http://www.inquirysaac.nt.gov.au/