Little Children are Sacred

Little Children are Sacred is the report of a Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse. Commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory, Australia, the report was publicly released on 15 June 2007. The inquiry, chaired by Rex Wild and Patricia Anderson, was established in August 2006 and investigated ways to protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. The Wild/Anderson report is the latest commissioned by the Australian government to investigate this topic, the first report that raised public attention was written by Janet Stanley in 2003.

The report concluded that neglect of children in Aboriginal communities had reached crisis levels, demanding that it "be designated as an issue of urgent national significance by both the Australian and Northern Territory governments."

However, the Australian Government misinterpreted the significance in the distinction between neglect and abuse resulting in the Northern Territory National Emergency Response on 21 June 2007, which is in the process of being replaced by the Stronger Futures Policy of 2011.

The Clare Martin government responded denying inaction and released its detailed response Closing the Gap of Indigenous Disadvantage: Generational Plan of Action in August 2007

The 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 Howard government took few of the report's recommendations and particularly went against the advice given that action should not be 'centralised,' but 'local.' Quoting Fred Chaney, the report stipulates that:

The government received much criticism for the reaction to crisis, with many viewing the responses as a political maneuver. It has also been said that the government's intervention was no more than another attempt to control the Indigenous community.

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