Annual report 2009-2010, NT Child Deaths Review and Prevention Committee
NT Child Deaths Review and Prevention Committee annual report 2009-2010
Office of the Children's Commissioner Northern Territory
E-Publications; PublicationNT; E-Books; The Children's Commissioner Northern Territory annual report; Annual reports
2010
Date:2010; Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
English
Children, Aboriginal Australian; Northern Territory; Periodicals; Death; Causes; Statistics; Periodicals; Children and death; Periodicals
Northern Territory Government
Casuarina
The Children's Commissioner Northern Territory annual report; Annual reports
2009-2010
application/pdf
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Northern Territory Government
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/236802
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/640686
Page 17 complex issues faced by the Committee with respect to the ongoing development of the database. Internal Policies and Procedures Policies have been developed in relation to the practices and procedures to be adhered to when dealing with highly sensitive information, which the Committee regularly deals with as it performs its functions. The Committee is bound by the provisions of the Information Act and must ensure that the information that it handles, uses, and/or discloses is done so consistently with that Act so that an individuals privacy is not breached. The privacy policies developed by the Committee and the existing manual for NT Board Membership provides a guide and forms a consistent basis for the conduct of the Committee and reinforces and complements the Committees obligations under the Information Act. Building Relationships The Committee has continued its work in developing more robust working relationships with government agencies such as the NT Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM), registry, the Territory Coroners office, hospitals interstate and intrastate and health clinics within the NT, both public and private, who play integral parts in providing on-going data and information which maintains and improves the validity of the Child Deaths Register. The Committee recognises that without the support of these entities it would not be possible to carry out one of the core functions of the Committee. Research and Comparative Analysis The Committee has undertaken the task of co-sponsoring research into Aboriginal fetal and infant death rates in partnership with DHF. The aim of the research is to improve the long term trending of these death rates and also explore whether the reduction in Aboriginal fetal deaths has contributed to the lack of reduction in Aboriginal infant deaths. Along with this research the Committee has conducted a preliminary comparative analysis into child deaths with the cause of death being as a result of hanging. Statistics regarding this cause of death were taken from the Committees interim Child Deaths Register and compared to other jurisdictions that keep similar data. The results indicated a disproportionate number of NT child deaths as a result of hanging when compared to NSW and Qld. Both of these undertakings are covered more comprehensively in Chapter 6.