Aboriginal Night Patrols in rural New South Wales: How are they travelling?

Abstract

This paper draws on data from a recent evaluation of Aboriginal night patrols in New South Wales conducted for the Commonwealth Attorney General's department. While night patrols are universally endorsed by communities, some night patrol services are functioning at a high level while others have experienced periods of dysfunction and inactivity. We highlight the different capacity of communities to operate night patrols noting that communities are not a natural set of relations, but constructed on a broad terrain of history and politics as well as the social and spiritual realms of Aboriginal community cultures.