Promising Practice Programs

Detective Senior Sergeant Bernie Hett
OIC Kalgoorlie Detectives Office
c/- Police Station,
Brookman St,
Kalgoorlie
WA, 6430
Phone (08) 90219743
Mobile 0429001489
Fax (08) 90219781
Email bernie.hett@police.wa.gov.au

Amanda Whelan
Centrecare Goldfields,
Manager, (08) 90911833,
7 Dugan Street,
Kalgoorlie
Email AmandaW@goldfields.centrecare.com.au

The 'What the law says about sex' brochure is one important component to a proactive, whole of government strategy aimed at educating and preventing child abuse in the remote Aboriginal communities of Western Australia.
The project was initiated by Detective Senior Sergeant Bernie Hett in March 2003, in response to the findings of The Gordon Inquiry Report to Government on 31 July 2002 which made strong recommendations for

• 'strengthening responses to child abuse and family violence', and
• 'strengthening responses to vulnerable children and adults at risk'

From the report's findings, it was clear that there were endemic problems in the communities relating to sexual assaults, sexually transmitted diseases, lack of reporting and a lack of Police presence specifically focused on combating these problems and other associated issues. There appeared to be a need for raising awareness through sex education in these communities, not only with respect to the act itself, but in relation to the age of consent, safe sex and the current status of sexual offence laws in Western Australia. The Gordon Report recommendations also called for Police services to adopt a proactive approach to addressing issues in remote Aboriginal communities.

A meeting of the Health Department, Sexual Assault Resource Centre, Centrecare and Department of Community Development was initiated to facilitate cooperation in the development of an education package. One part of this package was the production of the brochure 'What the law says about sex', managed by DSS Bernie Hett, working closely with Dr Howard Sercombe, a consultant at Centrecare, to ensure that the brochure was presented in appropriate language for delivery to the remote communities in the district.
Input from Aboriginal agencies and Magistrate Sue Gordon was also sought to ensure the brochure was culturally appropriate for distribution within the communities.

The brochure was further enhanced using artwork by Aboriginal artist Joanne Honeysett, from Taungurung, Victoria (see the PDF example of the of the art work 'What the law says about sex' pamphlet (PDF 163KB) to appreciate its graphic impact). The result was a brochure that uses colloquial and straight forward language to communicate easily to a broad audience.

The brochure covers the legal considerations concerned with inappropriate sexual behaviour and encourages reporting of offences and awareness of the law without coming across as authoritarian in tone.
It is hoped that having this information readily available to the community will increase the confidence of communities in reporting sexual offences to the police as well as increasing the likelihood of offenders being apprehended and prosecuted.

To support this project, a detective 'presence' in the Lands has demonstrated that Police are willing to support the community in the long term. Where reports of sexual offences are made, detectives from Kalgoorlie provide support to victims, witnesses and the community. The Kalgoorlie detectives office also maintains a partnership with Ngaanyatjarra Health Services who provide counselling and education sessions at remote Aboriginal communities.

Since the project has been implemented, some women who were previously too frightened to speak out have already come forward and reported offences. As a result a serial sex offender was apprehended and charged with serious sexual offences.

The sex education project has been implemented across the Goldfields-Esperance District and disseminated to other Regions. The Health Department of WA has ordered and received a reprint of 20,000 copies for distribution across the State. To follow up on this initiative Magistrate Gordon was invited to Kalgoorlie and spoke to managers from a large number of government agencies about her expectations, to promote the pamphlet and to discuss other proactive measures such as balloons, T shirts and posters that have been employed by communities in the Pilbara.
Her presentation was well attended and very successful. A good working relationship was forged between Magistrate Gordon and DSS Bernie Hett who are now in regular contact with each other, trying to develop further proactive projects such as a package to combat drug and solvent use in the Lands. This latter project is currently being developed with Centrecare as part of Operation Midrealm, a tri-state initiative to combat drug use in the Lands.

• Takes account of contemporary research and practice developments in the field of sexual assault
• Positions diversity as key to the development, understanding and delivery of good practice models
• Contributes to improving systems' responses to sexual assault, and is directed at preventing sexual assault
• Demonstrates a sensitivity towards the barriers faced by victim/survivors in disclosing and reporting sexual assault
• Has a clearly defined conceptual framework
• Demonstrates a capacity for replication (i.e. other services/organisations could adapt/re-model the program for their use)

• That education and open communication amongst communities, encourages awareness, reporting and speaking out, and is critical to prevention and the apprehension of offenders.
• In reaching out and working along side remote Aboriginal communities, full involvement of the community and culturally appropriate and informed publications must be central to the project's implementation.
• Police involvement is an important component in prevention strategies for child sexual abuse and sexual assault.