A/HRC/15/37/Add.4 communities of the Northern Territory regarding the terms of the NTER and any similar programmes affecting these communities. This could lead to arrangements that, pursuant to such agreements, vary from one community to another for measures such as income management, alcohol regulation, and delivery of services. VI. Comments of the Government on the Special Rapporteur’s observations 42. The Special Rapporteur submitted the foregoing observations to the Government by a note of 2 December 2009, and on 16 February 2010, the Special Rapporteur received from the Government its comments on the observations. These comments are summarized here. 43. In its comments, the Government explains that the NTER should be considered within its larger policy on indigenous affairs, which includes a package of initiatives to “close the gap” between indigenous and non-indigenous living standards in Australia. The Government acknowledges that “the suspension of the [Racial Discrimination Act], combined with a lack of consultation at the outset of the NTER, left Aboriginal people feeling hurt, betrayed and less worthy than other Australians”. The Government states that its actions were not intended to promote a perception that Aboriginal people are to be blamed for the circumstances which they currently face, and that it recognizes the need for indigenous and non-indigenous Australians to work together in trust and good faith to advance human rights and close the gap in “real life outcomes”. The Government further affirms that in order for NTER measures to be effective it is essential that they be implemented in consultation with indigenous persons. 44. In this regard, the Government refers to its consultations with indigenous people about the future direction of the NTER, and it provides the Special Rapporteur with a summary of the consultation process and its proposed reforms of the NTER which it describes as resulting from the consultations. Overall, according to the Government, it has accepted and acted on the overarching recommendations of the independent NTER Review Board (see para. 30, supra), including introducing legislation to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in relation to the NTER and to make necessary changes to the NTER measures. The consultation process 45. The Government reports that the consultations between June and August 2009 involved all 73 communities in which the NTER is in place, as well as several other Northern Territory indigenous communities and town camps. The consultations are described as having been designed and delivered so as not only to engage with indigenous people through their own community and regional leadership structures, but also to access other groups that the Government considered more likely to provide feedback through smaller and more informal settings. The Government especially notes the role of interpreters in the consultations in order to reach indigenous individuals for whom English is not their first language, and also notes the efforts it made to reach as many people as possible and adapt the consultations to the particular conditions of the communities, including remote communities. The Government describes the four-tiered approach it developed and employed, which involved consultations with individuals and families (tier 1); whole-of-community meetings (tier 2); workshops in NTER communities (tier 3); and workshops with major stakeholder organizations (tier 4). 46. The Government’s Discussion Paper (referenced in para. 31, supra), it says, was a starting point for consultations, but other views, ideas and proposals were put forward and 36 GE.10-13887