The
community’s experience to date gives no confidence that the government is
serious about working co-operatively with the community for the ten years
duration of the RWA. Almost nine months after the RWA was established there has
not yet been one of the promised Community Forums, the RWA web site is not functioning and the meetings that have been called
for human services and public tenants were announced with such short notice
that many people could not attend.
These three case studies illustrate the
Redfern-Waterloo community’s early experience of the RWA and its Minister who,
under the RWA legislation, has the final say in what will and what will not
happen in our area.
These case studies also show that the consultation,
partnership and community engagement which were called for by the Legislative
Council’s Redfern-Waterloo Inquiry have not been put into practice by the NSW
Government.
These case studies underline why the community wanted
their right to have input into the decisions made about them by the RWA
protected in the legislation rather than left to the discretion of an all
powerful Minister for Redfern-Waterloo.
While the community was not successful in gaining
legislative rights both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in
Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo continue to agitate for the NSW
government 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’ as recommended by the Redfern-Waterloo
Inquiry.[1]
(This is adapted from Actions Speak Louder than Words: Redfern-Waterloo’s
Recent Experience of ‘Consultation’ by Geoffrey Turnbull which appeared in Indigenous Law Bulletin August September 2005 Volume 6 / Issue 13)