How NSW town labelled 'most dangerous in world' changed its destiny
From a town that defined Australia in the estimation of poet Henry Lawson, to a town that shamed it, the north-western NSW town of Bourke is on a path to redemption.
Six years ago Bourke topped the state in six out of eight major crime categories, and the Herald reported that it was more dangerous than any country on earth when its per capita crime rate was compared with United Nations data.
These days towns from all over Australia are asking its leaders for advice on how to reduce incarceration rates and improve the prospects of their Aboriginal inhabitants.
It has been an interesting journey from the lowpoint of 2013.
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"That was a stark reality check, finding out how we're being perceived by the broader community in Australia," Indigenous leader Alistair Ferguson said.
"It was a case of just, something was way overdue. We had to take drastic measures."
Mr Ferguson knew instinctively that those drastic measures would have to come from the community itself.
It was not due to lack of funding that the Darling River town found itself in the situation it was in. Hundreds of millions of dollars had been poured into addressing social disadvantage in the Aboriginal population.
But relationships with the service providers, individuals and the police force were marked by mutual mistrust and cynicism. Bourke needed a new approach.
So in 2013 Aboriginal leaders including Mr Ferguson partnered with Just Reinvest NSW, an independent group that advocates for the reallocation of public funds from prisons to early intervention programs, and started at the bottom.
From that time, the Aboriginal community devised its own programs and all 27 tribal groups in the area had input through representation on a new Aboriginal Tribal Council.
Their relationship with the police and other agencies was reset, and began again in a spirit of goodwill.
Instead of focusing on law and order, efforts were concentrated on addressing the underlying causes of crime.
"It’s the opposite of a top down approach," Just Reinvest NSW chairwoman Sarah Hopkins said.
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"We’re not coming in with a magic bullet. It’s the community looking at a whole-of-life course approach to addressing juvenile and adult offending."
An impact assessment by KPMG last year found the new approach had saved $3.1 million in 2017 alone, mostly in relation to the justice system but also costs such as crisis payments and health care.
There was a 23 per cent reduction in domestic violence incidents reported to police, a 42 per cent reduction in the number of days spent in custody for adults and an 84 per cent increase in the completion rate of VET courses.
NSW Health Minister and designated "champion" for Bourke Brad Hazzard said community-led models always had the best chance of success.
"There are already successes including massive reductions in domestic violence, but it's also provided the glue for the community to come together," Mr Hazzard said.
Some of the initiatives were very simple. The number of people arrested for driving offences decreased sharply following the introduction of a learner driver program.
NSW Police Commander Greg Moore said although crime rates were still high there had been significant reductions in offences such as domestic violence and homicide.
Instead of waiting for a crisis, officers visited known perpetrators of domestic violence and talked to them about triggers, which might prompt the men to stick to mid-strength beer or spend the night away from their partner on nights they drank.
"What’s uncle doing here?" the men asked in the early days. "Uncle is here because we’re worried about you because every Thursday night you have a skinful and put your partner in hospital," Superintendent Moore replied.
Police also became involved in employment strategies for young people to prevent the idleness that sometimes led to crime. An abattoir that opened in January provided 82 jobs to the region, some of them going to young men whose parents and grandparents had never worked.
"A lot of kids are coming from families where there’s been no history of employment for generations. That’s a cycle we wanted to break," Superintendent Moore said.
Nobody pretends that all problems are solved. The number of drug and alcohol-related hospital admissions has increased. High school attendance remains low. Support within the community is not unanimous.
But Mr Ferguson said it feels for the first time like cultural change is afoot.
"We’ve gone from being the most dangerous town, which didn’t go down too well, and managed to turn that into a positive and make our town one of the safest in the world."