By PETER ROWE

First Nations women have claimed they were not properly included in the domestic violence inquiry, with no Indigenous women on the six-person panel.

There was one Indigenous element, but it was a man, Dr Todd Fernando, who contributed to the process.

The process was led  by Australia’s National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, who delivered her first update to parliament on the progress of a national plan to end violence against women on Wednesday.

First Nations women are 33 times more likely to be severely injured from family violence and six times more likely to die in comparison to non-Indigenous women.

Aboriginal family violence expert Hannah McGlade, a Kurin Miang woman, told the ABC the commission into domestic violence against women must work closer with Indigenous women if positive outcomes are to be achieved.

“We have long been concerned now that the Aboriginal family violence commissioner position has not been fulfilled,” Dr McGlade said.

“And the engagement hasn’t been very good to date.”

Promises were made to consult Indigenous women, yet that has not happened.

WA Greens Senator Dorinda Cox clashed with new Aboriginal Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy in parliament this week, accusing the government of ignoring many aspects, including the refusal to hold a debate on the issue.

Successful graduates of the Change Em Ways program in Broome.

One program, in WA’s northwest, aims to break the cycle of violence.

The Change Em Ways program is designed for Aboriginal men who wish to stop using violence, by applying a holistic approach to increase the safety of families, reduce family violence, and strengthen the social and emotional well-being of all those involved.

It does this through group workshop sessions with participants as well as working individually with their partners.

Throughout the program there is acknowledgment of intergenerational trauma, post-colonial experiences of grief and loss, and the historical and socio-political context in which Indigenous family violence occurs, which empowers men to change their own behaviour.

The next Change Em Ways workshop in Broome starts on October 1. For more information contact Nic Glauser on 0429 484 859, or visit mensoutreach.org.au.