The Western Australia government announced that it would be closing the Swan Valley Nyoongah camp. This decision comes after five suspicious deaths and a number of allegations of abuse against women and children. Premier Geoff Gallop said the risk of keeping the camp open was unacceptable. The opposition is saying Gallop should go further and call for mandatory reporting of abuse cases, as other states in Australia do. Among the dead was 15-year-old Susan Taylor, who was found dead by hanging in 1999. She had previously filed a complaint against her uncle saying he had sexually assaulted her. A coroner investigated the death and reported that there was “widespread rape and sexual abuse generally committed against young Aboriginal persons like Susan throughout Western Australia.” The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission supports the closing.
See the "Interim Report, Inquiry into Response by Government Agencies to Complaints of Family Violence and Child Abuse in Aboriginal Communities".
