The inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, chaired by former Director of Public Prosecutions for the Northern Territory Rex Wild and human rights advocate Pat Anderson was established in August 2006 and investigated ways to protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse.
[1][3] The Little Children are Sacred report makes 97 recommendations regarding alcohol restrictions, the provision of healthcare and many other issues relating to child abuse and neglect in regional Aboriginal communities.
The first two recommendations are: The Australian Government was accused of misinterpreting the significance in the distinction between neglect and abuse, a misunderstanding which led to their Northern Territory National Emergency Response, also known as The Intervention, or NTER, on 21 June 2007 (which was in turn replaced by the Stronger Futures Policy of 2011).
[4] The Clare Martin Northern Territory government denied inaction on its part,[5] and released its detailed response, Closing the Gap of Indigenous Disadvantage: Generational Plan of Action in August 2007.
Quoting Fred Chaney, the report stipulates that: The government received much criticism for the reaction to this crisis, with many viewing the responses as a political manoeuvre.