Louisa Rebgetz

ABC Online

Legislation to extend welfare quarantining across the Northern Territory is set to be debated in the Senate this afternoon. The Racial Discrimination Act has been suspended in the Territory since the federal Intervention enforced income management on Aboriginal people in prescribed communities in 2007.

The Federal Government is extending it beyond Aboriginal communities, enabling the act to be reinstated. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is urging the Senate to pass the legislation immediately.

"From 1 July this year depending on the deliberations of the Senate these welfare reforms will commence in the Northern Territory," he said. "They will extend the benefits of income management to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in need of financial structure and protection.

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