Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Western Australian policeman Sergeant Neil Gordon and colleague Tony Gaskell in the Balgo community, driving to a waterhole to swim with Indigenous Australian children. Over footage of the policemen, children and Indigenous adults swimming, Gordon explains that a range of such activities aims to foster mutual respect and trust between the police and the Indigenous community. The officer explains that a uniform does not command respect among the locals, but that it is earned through an individual’s merits and personal efforts.

Educational value points

• The documentary series from which this clip is taken presents a non-Indigenous Australian policeman’s personal account of his professional and social activities with the local Indigenous community. About half of the residents of this area of Western Australia are Indigenous and local police are particularly concerned to gain their respect. The policies and programs of the Halls Creek police responsible for the Balgo community focus on safety and tolerance.

• This clip demonstrates police outreach to local youth, a common activity of police forces throughout Australia, including in the Kimberley region. Besides swimming with young people in the river on hot days, regional police are involved in many community engagement and intervention programs, for example supporting youth hostels and ‘blue light’ dances or discos as part of a 'Safe Streets, Safe Homes, Safe People Safe Homes’ project.

• Sergeant Neil Gordon, the policeman being interviewed, expresses his belief that the Indigenous children of the region ‘are the future of Balgo and the relationship that we [the police] have with them can change what happens in the future’.

• The police officers in this clip work in the largest territory under one policing jurisdiction in the world. The Kimberley Police District covers 423,000 sq km, an area that is one-sixth of WA’s total area and approximately three times the size of England. Distance complicates policing activities; there are only 12 stations in the Kimberley district, with Halls Creek station covering the Balgo community.

• The policemen set out from Balgo, or Wirrimanu, a remote area in the south-western desert region of the Kimberley. Several Indigenous language groups coexist in this area but Kukatja is the main language group. Balgo was established as a Pallottine Catholic mission in 1939 and the community was transferred to Indigenous Australian management in 1984.