Introduction

Since 2001
the New South Wales
(‘NSW’) Premier’s Department has been working in Redfern-Waterloo through the
Redfern-Waterloo Partnership Project (‘RWPP’) attempting to address the complex
issues confronting the area[1]. A
review of the area’s human services[2]
and the proposal for the Redfern-Waterloo Authority (‘RWA’) emerged from their
work.[3]
The RWPP was to continue alongside the new RWA to handle the reform of human
services but it was absorbed into the RWA[4] on
30 June 2005. The Minister for Redfern-Waterloo, Frank Sartor is responsible
for the combined operation.

The RWPP’s
activities were well documented in evidence to the NSW Legislative Council
Standing Committee on Social Issues Inquiry
into issues relating to Redfern/Waterloo
(‘Redfern-Waterloo Inquiry’) through both the NSW Government’s report to the
Inquiry[5]
and submissions from the community about the RWPP’s activities[6].

The
Redfern-Waterloo Inquiry was very critical of the way the RWPP had failed to
work with local people. Its second and third Interim Report recommendations were:[7]

Recommendation
2:

That the NSW Government, through the Redfern/Waterloo
Partnership Project, take all possible steps to achieve genuine partnership
between State and Commonwealth agencies, the City of Sydney
Council, the non-government sector and the local community in order
to address the issues facing Redfern and Waterloo.

Recommendation
3:

That the Redfern/Waterloo Partnership Project develops and
implements a comprehensive strategy to ensure there is effective consultation
and communication with the Redfern and Waterloo
communities. In addition, to improve its relationship with the local community,
particularly the Aboriginal community, the Redfern/Waterloo Partnership Project
should establish mechanisms to facilitate capacity building within the
Aboriginal community.

On 26
October 2004, before the Upper House Inquiry was completed, the government
announced it would establish the RWA.  In
the words of the Premier’s media statement:

Mr Carr said we need a coordinated government approach
to this area. ‘We will work with the local community to achieve this, and build
on the work already done.’[8]

On
29 October 2004 in a media statement entitled State Government Working with the Community to Deliver Redfern-Waterloo
Plan Minister Sartor said:

Essential
infrastructure is in need of upgrading and complex social problems are in need
of real solutions. ‘We are going to achieve this is by taking the community
with us’[9].

In this section of the REDWatch website we explore case
studies of the RWA ‘working with the community’ to see how the RWA and the
Minister for Redfern Waterloo are measuring up to early promises of working
co-operatively with the community and how the RWA has responded to findings of
the Redfern-Waterloo Inquiry in this regard.

(This introduction is adapted from Actions Speak Louder than Words: Redfern-Waterloo’s
Recent Experience of ‘Consultation’  by Geoffrey Turnbull )