A briefing paper has exposed the extent of violence against women and children in remote Aboriginal communities. (ABC TV)
A leaked Northern Territory police briefing paper has revealed disturbing cases of sexual abuse and violence against women and children in remote Aboriginal communities.
The Crown prosecutor for central Australia, Dr Nannette Rogers, has collected the details over a 15-year period and revealed some of them on last night's Lateline program.
Dr Rogers details cases of utter depravity and the contents spell out a level of human degradation and suffering that she believes can no longer be tolerated.
They include the rape of a seven month old baby as well as the sexual assault and drowning of a girl by an 18-year-old man.
Her paper exposes the extent of the problem and how Indigenous male culture and the web of kinship have helped create a conspiracy of silence.
"It doesn't augur well for Aboriginal people to be functional human beings with the attributes of turning around and caring for children themselves," she said.
Dr Rogers is concerned the problem is now intergenerational.
"The child grows up seeing violence done to him or her and having violence done to him or her," she said.
Dr Rogers says cultural practices mean few of the incidents come to trial.
Tangentyere Council chief executive William Tilmouth says it is appalling behaviour.
"It's a behaviour that's got to stop, it's behaviour that denigrates the family, as well as the women," he said.
Murder rate high
Central Australia has the highest murder rate in Australia. It is 10 times the national average.
At Hidden Valley camp, the atmosphere of violence and despair has lead to a very worrying development: teenagers who kill.
In the past three weeks, a young man died from severe stab wounds after a violent attack by four young men, one as young as 17.
Homicide is the leading cause of premature death for Indigenous women and they are 52 times more likely to be hospitalised for assault-related injuries than white women.
A senior elder Margaret Kemarre has been a key witness for one of Dr Rogers's prosecutions.
She had six children, but only three survive. One child died in extremely violent circumstances.
"I think it is really, really bad. There are more violence and there's no respect for people around here, no respect for elders and no respect for parents, as we see it now, and it's , you know, it's getting more and more," she said.
"I think the grog is really taking away all our families. It's really destroying us."
For Ms Kemarre the only answer to the problem apart from reducing the amount of alcohol in central Australia, is tougher sentencing by the white justice system.
Policing problems
The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, says there are problems with policing.
"You go into a community here in the Territory of over 2,500 people and there's not one policeman," he said.
"I challenge the Territory Government or anyone in the media to find another Australian community where ever it may be, with 2,500 inhabitants and not one policeman."
Only eight of the 40 central Australian indigenous communities have a police presence.
"Quite frankly, I don't think the Australian population is ready to hear that you have four-year-olds being raped, you have babies being raped," Mr Brough said.
Mr Brough says while the Federal Government has started working with the NT Government over housing and other matters, something needs to be done urgently about alcohol.
"Why the Territory Government hasn't done anything about the 96 licensed premises in Alice Springs; why they haven't done anything about having alcohol served from service stations, petrol stations is quite frankly beyond me," he said.
Progress
But the Northern Territory Government says it is working to solve alcohol abuse problems in central Australian communities.
Chief Minister Clare Martin says slow progress is being made.
"We are taking much stronger measures on alcohol," she said.
"Talking to the Aboriginal community over the last couple of months in Alice Springs, the community is very concerned about the impact of alcohol and have decided that enough is enough - that we have to stand up and take tough measures."
She also says her Government is working with police to decide how to spread staff throughout the communities.
"It is just not possible to have one police [officer] per community of say, 50, that's a fact of life," she said.
"We have vastly more police ... per capita than any other part of Australia.
"Police now have ways of having communities grouped and that you have a police presence perhaps across three communities."
Australian media reports that a recently leaked Northern Territory police briefing paper exposes "shocking" cases of sexual abuse and violence against women and children in remote Australian Aboriginal communities.

Northern Territory, Australia
Central Australian Crown prosecutor, Dr Nannette Rogers, alleged a range of "dreadful" cases she has heard of. Her paper claims details of abuse (over a 15-year period), including the rape of a seven-month-old baby, and the sexual assault and drowning of a girl by an 18-year-old man. The report refers to a disturbingly abusive and secretive Indigenous male culture. She says a "web of kinship" has helped to create a "conspiracy of silence" and that Aboriginal communities were suffering from "tragedy fatigue," allowing horrific crimes to appear unremarkable. 

"It doesn't augur well for Aboriginal people to be functional human beings with the attributes of turning around and caring for children themselves," she said. "The child grows up seeing violence done to him or her and having violence done to him or her." 

 Tangentyere Council chief executive William Tilmouth says it is appalling behaviour. "It's a behaviour that's got to stop, it's behaviour that denigrates the family, as well as the women," he said.