International Instruments for the Protection of Indigenous Rights

1. Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people

• Gather information and communications regarding violations of indigenous peoples’ human rights;
• Formulate recommendations on measures to prevent and remedy these violations; and;
• Work in close relation with other special procedures and other human rights bodies.

• to review developments pertaining to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples
• to give attention to the evolution of international standards concerning indigenous rights

Australian Law to protect Indigenous Rights

1. Current bills, Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs portfolio
2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005
3. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984
4. Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976
5. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies Act 1989
6. Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006
7. Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Act 2007
8. Native Title Act 1993
9. Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007
10. Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (gives effect to Australia's obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Human Rights Issues in Indigenous communities

• Indigenous peoples have 15 - 20 years lower life expectancy than non Indigenous Australians, and suffer higher rates of infant mortality. Life expectancy for Indigenous women is 63 years compared with the average of 82 years for all Australian women.

• Indigenous peoples have higher unemployment rates.

• Indigenous peoples are over-represented in custody and arrest figures and still experience much higher than average incarceration rates.

• Around 2,000 children, or 20 per cent of indigenous school age students, were not enrolled. Rex Wild, who co-authored the ‘Little Children Are Sacred’ report, says one of his most important recommendations was to get children into preschool by the age of three and into school by five.

• Following the abolition of their representative body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), Indigenous Australians now lack proper representation; can no longer elect their own representatives in this way; and will not have the same mechanisms for participation in governance and decision-making. ATSIC has been replaced by a national Indigenous Advisory Council appointed by the government, and lacking a legislative mandate.

• Indigenous children and young people are over represented within the care and protection system. In Victoria it was found that Indigenous children are six times more likely to be removed from their family by Child Protection Services.

‘Little Children Are Sacred’ Report

1. Child sexual abuse is serious, widespread and often unreported.
2. Most Aboriginal people are willing and committed to solving problems and helping their children. They are also eager to better educate themselves.
3. Aboriginal people are not the only victims and not the only perpetrators of sexual abuse.
4. Much of the violence and sexual abuse occurring in Territory communities is a reflection of past, current and continuing social problems which have developed over many decades.
5. The combined effects of poor health, alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment, gambling, pornography, poor education and housing, and a general loss of identity and control have contributed to violence and to sexual abuse in many forms.
6. Existing government programs to help Aboriginal people break the cycle of poverty and violence need to work better. There is not enough coordination and communication between government departments and agencies, and this is causing a breakdown in services and poor crisis intervention. Improvements in health and social services are desperately needed.
7. Programs need to have enough funds and resources and be a long-term commitment.
8. It is impossible to set communities on the path to recovery from the sexual abuse of children without dealing with the basic services and social ills. It is our hope that no Aboriginal child born from this year on will ever suffer sexual abuse. Rex Wild QC and Pat Anderson, Inquiry Co-Chairs.

1. The Inquiry urged the government to improve Aboriginal education systems, including local language development, to make education more effective for Aboriginal children.
2. A range of education campaigns to inform people about; child sexual abuse and what to do about it, mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, the impact of alcohol, pornography and gambling on communities, families and children and the value of education, and encouraging a culture of parental and community commitment to sending children to school.
3. The Inquiry recommended urgent action be taken to reduce alcohol consumption in Aboriginal communities.
4. Family and Community Services (FACS) and the Police should work more closely with each other and with communities.
5. Family support services need to be improved, particularly in Aboriginal communities.
6. Empowerment of Aboriginal communities.
7. The Inquiry recommends that the government appoint a senior, independent person who can focus on the interests and wellbeing of children and young people, review issues and report to Parliament.

Legislation to Address Northern Territory Emergency Intervention

• Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act, 2007
• Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007
• Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Act 2007
• Appropriation (Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Act (No. 1) 2007-2008
• Appropriation (Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Act (No. 2) 2007-2008 

The Northern Territory Emergency Intervention

• introducing widespread alcohol restrictions on NT Aboriginal land.

• introducing welfare reforms to direct income support and family assistance payments to basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter.

• enforcing school attendance by linking income support and family assistance payments to school attendance for all people living on Aboriginal land and providing meals for children at school.

• introducing comprehensive health checks for all Indigenous children to identify and treat health problems, including any effects of identified abuse.

• providing additional doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and specialist services.

• acquiring townships prescribed by the Australian Government through five-year leases including payment of just terms compensation.

• increasing policing levels in prescribed communities.

• requiring intensified on-ground clean up and repair of communities by marshalling local workforces through Work for the Dole programmes.

• improving housing and reforming community living arrangements in prescribed communities including repairing existing houses, building new houses, and the introduction of market based rents and normal tenancy arrangements.

• banning the possession of X-rated pornography and introducing audits of all publicly-funded computers to identify illegal material.

• improving governance by appointing managers for all government business in prescribed communities.

• creating jobs in the delivery of Australian Government services, and

• offering matched funding to create jobs delivering NT Government services.

The Northern Territory Emergency Response Taskforce (NTERT)

• Dr Sue Gordon AM (Chair)
• Major General Dave Chalmers AO, CSC (Operational Commander)
• Dr William Glasson AO
• Mr Roger Corbett AO
• Ms Miriam Rose Baumann AM
• Mr Mike Burgess
• Mr Terry Moran AO

Reactions to the Intervention

• Aboriginal commentator Noel Pearson offered qualified support, criticising aspects of the Response while nevertheless believing it to be necessary and worthwhile.

• The Aboriginal leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu initially opposed the Response, but eventually changed his position to one of support.

• Former federal Indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough believes the intervention should be extended beyond the territory's borders.

• Northern Territory's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Tony Fitzgerald claims the intervention should be abandoned and the legislation underpinning it should be repealed. The intervention, he believes, has caused confusion, unfairness and inconvenience in remote Northern Territory communities.

UNIFEM’s Concerns

• that Australia has not yet ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention.

• that not all of the ‘Children are Sacred’ report’s recommendations have been considered or implemented under the NT emergency intervention.

• about elements of the intervention that seem unconnected to child health, such as:

- compulsory land acquisition by the federal government

• that the legislation covering the NT intervention places unparalleled control of Indigenous affairs in the hands of the Minister (or his designated delegate), and is largely discretionary and, in critical elements, poorly defined.

• about the sustainability of these measures: whether the interventions will empower communities and support them appropriately, in a spirit of collaboration and respect, to adequately deal with the causes, triggers and consequences of abuse.

• in implementing the intervention and its associated special measures the Government has had to suspend the Racial Discrimination Act (1975).

• the Australian Medical Association has pulled out of the Commonwealth's intervention in the Northern Territory (June 2008), accusing the Federal Government of relying on the altruism of doctors to prop up the scheme.

Recommendations

• Australia should ratify the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention.

• The Government should work with Aboriginal political leaders and lay down strategies and programs which will alleviate problems.

• The Government should continue to fund programs such as the Safe Families program, run by Tangentyere Council, focuses on reducing family violence and preventing children from becoming part of the child protection system.

• Their status and rights should be defined and recognised in a lasting way. Two possible ways of doing this are:

- amendment of the 1901 Australian Constitution