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 )