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Human Rights and Indigenous Education: Tom Calma (2006)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Human Rights and Indigenous Education

‘Success, celebration and the way forward’

Speech by Tom Calma

National Race Discrimination Commissioner and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner

Making the Difference Conference

Indigenous students in education – Success and Celebration

16 November, 2006

Education Development Centre, Hindmarsh, Adelaide


Ladies and gentlemen.



I would like to begin by acknowledging and paying my respects to the Kuana people, the traditional owners of the land on which we stand today. I would also like to thank Andrea Harms for inviting me to speak at this very important event. I have followed the work of the Dare to Lead program for many years both as an officer with DEST and in my other roles in Indigenous affairs.



What are the challenges of protecting the human rights of Indigenous peoples and why is education important to meeting these challenges?



Social justice is about making sure that every Australian - Indigenous and non-Indigenous - has choices about how they live, and the means to make those choices.



Social justice is grounded in the practical, day-to-day realities of life. It’s about waking up in a house with running water and proper sanitation; offering our children an education that helps them develop to their potential and to respect their culture. It is the prospect of satisfying education, employment and good health.



Social justice also means recognising the distinctive rights that Indigenous Australians hold as the original peoples of this land, including:

  • The right to a distinct status and culture, which helps maintain and strengthen the identity and spiritual and cultural practices of Indigenous communities,
  • The right to self-determination, which is a process where Indigenous communities take control of their future and decide how they will address the issues facing them, and
  • The right to land, which provides the spiritual and cultural basis of Indigenous communities.

Social justice is also about recognising every person’s right to education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child places children's rights on the world's agenda. It is no surprise that it is the most widely ratified treaty in the world. Among the raft of important rights protected in that agreement, States (in international language State refers to a country) agreed that the education of children shall be directed to the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.



One of the statutory functions of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is to undertake educational programs for the purpose of promoting human rights. Human rights - contrary to what some would have us believe - are not in conflict with a strong, stable and prosperous society: they are an integral part of it. This is a message that needs to be discussed and dissected in the classroom with all the vigour one might analyse Shakespeare or ponder mathematical formulae. Human rights, like Shakespeare and Pythagoras, are often misunderstood.



Rights are not abstract concepts that float invisibly in the stifling atmosphere of the vast U.N. chambers: they are acutely personal and carve freedoms and protections for us in the daily enjoyment of our lives.



Human rights are about human potential. Rights themselves take place within the self, within the realm of human consciousness, ideology and philosophies. Rights are therefore not deduced from the nature or governance of the universe, but from a developing concept of what it is to be human, to lead a human life, to become a person.



Education prepares us to make decent and proper choices. It enables us to experiment, to innovate, to create and to change our lives and the lives of those who come within our sphere of responsibility. The end result and the chief goal of education is that we become more effective members of our community in whatever we are doing. It broadens our sensibilities and deepens our understanding of the privileges and responsibilities of being human and members of a community.



On another level - a pragmatic level - a good education is valuable because it opens opportunities and creates possibilities. Receiving a broad and balanced education sets a solid basis for personal achievement and individual success.



Why is education a right?



Education is fundamental to the development of human potential and to full participation in a democratic society. That’s why it’s recognised as a human right. Everyone has a right to education, regardless of where you live, what your race is or whether or not you have a disability.



Education is also fundamental to the full enjoyment of most other human rights: most clearly the right to work but also the right to health.



During 1999 and 2000 the Commission conducted a national inquiry into school education in rural and remote Australia. The rationale for selecting education as the subject of the inquiry was because it is so central to rural well being generally. It provides a way of understanding about what is happening in all sectors of rural and remote community life. The Commission identified that a good education is essential if small towns and remote communities are to have a future.



The inquiry assessed whether Australia was fully meeting its treaty obligations with regard to the rights of its children to education with reference to five criteria.

  • Education must be available for all without discrimination.
  • It must be accessible, either within safe physical distance or by correspondence or some other form of distance education.
  • It must be affordable; in fact primary education must be free and once a country has succeeded in providing a free secondary education, fees can only be reimposed for very compelling reasons.
  • Education must be acceptable, culturally and in other ways, to both students and their parents.
  • And it must be adaptable so that it meets the different circumstances and changing needs of each individual student.



The inquiry looked into the availability and accessibility of primary and secondary schooling, its quality and the extent to which it included Indigenous children, children with disabilities and children from minority language, religious and cultural backgrounds.



It found that some Australian children were failed on one or more of the five criteria. It found strong evidence that rural and remote children were generally disadvantaged in comparison with their urban counterparts. For example, rural and remote students were less likely to stay on at school after the compulsory years or to finish secondary school. The average Year 12 retention rate for boys was 63% in the capital cities, but only 54% in rural and remote areas. For girls it was 74% in the capital cities but only 66% in country towns. Year 12 retention was particularly low in the Northern Territory: only 23% of rural / remote boys and 25% of rural / remote girls stayed on to Year 12.



Remote Indigenous students had the lowest education outcomes of all students on all social indicators. The situation has changed little with the most recent statistics in 2004 (obtained through MCEETYA website) showing that rural and remote students are still less likely to stay on at school after the compulsory years or to finish secondary school. The average Year 12 retention rate for boys was 65% in the capital cities, but only 47% in remote areas. For girls it was 75% in the capital cities but only 63% in remote areas. Year 12 retention was the lowest in the Northern Territory: only 17% of remote boys and 22% of remote girls stayed on to Year 12.



For this reason, in 2007, I will convene a National Indigenous Education Think Tank. Its focus will be to set a long-term strategic agenda and direction for remote area education. The agenda will include identifying targets that can be measured against human rights standards.



Since the abolition of ATSIC, there has been no elected national body to represent Indigenous viewpoints on matters of national importance such as remote education and by default I have become the national watchdog on Indigenous affairs.



At the Garma festival this year; an Indigenous cultural festival held in North East Arnhem Land, the focus was Indigenous education. Many of the Indigenous education stakeholders at the forum agreed with my proposal that it is necessary to set up a remote education think tank that represents the views and experiences of Indigenous people. They also agreed that in order for a strategy to be successful, it needs to be developed by Indigenous stakeholders and supported by national and international education experts.



The think tank will address current developments and discussions about Indigenous education that is not necessarily be evidence based, but politically popular. For example, in 2006 the Menzies Institute and the Centre for Independent Studies argued against the maintenance of Indigenous language and culture in school education despite vast bodies of research and evidence that speak to the value of reinforcing the home culture in the school culture.



It concerns me that there is no national Indigenous body to provide the existing authoritative evidence to refute these claims.



International human rights standards protect our right to our culture and language. Article 27 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights provides that: minorities shall not be denied the right... to enjoy their own culture...or to use their own language. This is vital when talking about Indigenous education.



Recently I was in New Zealand where they celebrated Maori language week and it involved all Kiwis, not just Maori. I asked myself, why don’t we have the same level of celebration of Indigenous language and culture in Australia? Why is this not an integral part of school education? The celebration of Indigenous languages (and culture and history) could and should occur in Australia, especially at a school level. It is important to celebrate, acknowledge and promote the richness of our languages, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. It is through raising the profile of our languages that we take steps to ensure that our languages and our cultures are valued, resourced and strengthened over time. While many schools celebrate NAIDOC week and this is appreciated, some do not or they pay only cursor attention to the celebration.



In terms of school education, Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child sets the human rights standard, specifying that education be directed to: the development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values...



I know that bilingual schools continue to operate in the Northern Territory.



As mentioned there is emerging evidence that in some learning contexts, Indigenous language and culture strengthen learning outcomes in other areas of the curriculum. This has been the case in the Pitjantjatjara, Yankunyitjatjara lands where a policy decision in the 1990s to ban Indigenous languages from schools has been overturned because English literacy results declined.



We need to look closely at the evidence and ensure that any strategies that are employed in schools are best suited to the environments where they are applied. Increasingly we have evidence to support tried and tested approaches. Part of the strategy now is to bring the players on board, to mobilise the stakeholders, and to ensure that there is action towards improving Indigenous education outcomes.



To this end, I think it is important to capitalise on every opportunity to develop the Indigenous teacher workforce. It is through this workforce that Indigenous culture and literacy are preserved. We must keep the passion and energy for education alive across Indigenous Australia.



In remote Australia, and in many rural schools with significant Indigenous student populations, Indigenous teachers and teacher aides are the people who maintain the corporate knowledge of the school and have the long term connection with Indigenous students.

  • They are the cornerstone of many remote, rural and regional schools, the link to the past and to the future.
  • They are the people who welcome the new teachers year after year and impart their local wisdom and pedagogical approaches.
  • They are the people who have a positive impact on Indigenous student attendance and retention.
  • They are the people who make the school a welcoming environment for Indigenous students and their families.
  • They also speak to the relevance of education, demonstrating a career path for our young people.



Recently the federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs spoke about the necessity to improve Indigenous school attendance. Maintaining a high functioning, well-resourced Indigenous teacher workforce is an essential element to connect Indigenous students to the school. We must invest in the skills of this workforce.



To this end, all Indigenous teachers and teacher aides should have ongoing access to first class professional learning and development opportunities. Their worth to the school is immeasurable and every effort should be made to value that worth. I’d like to see an increase in Indigenous personnel across all positions in schools, especially in principal and leadership positions.



Education departments will need to invest heavily in Indigenous recruitment and retention programs to make this a reality. The Indigenous teacher labour market needs to be increasing not decreasing every year. If programs to support recruitment and retention need additional resources or reinvigoration, then this should be an urgent priority. As we know, the real service delivery of education happens in the schools. This is where the majority of resources, funding and our best and brightest people should be concentrated. An investment today will reap rewards tomorrow.



Let’s see strategies and resources commensurate with the challenge - and this challenge is long-term. We need to be focussed on supporting existing Indigenous staff as well as mentoring new recruits to the workforce. Every school community needs a quantum of Indigenous teachers so that liaison between the Indigenous home and school environments is managed by a large, enabled Indigenous workforce.



Having been an educator and school board member myself, I know the heavy responsibility that is placed on schools and learning environments to support and solve nearly every social problem of our time. While I know schools cannot possibly deliver all of the solutions to complex problems, they are a good start.



The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission provides curriculum based human rights education modules and resources. These are available on our website. Our education programs are designed and directed to a range of users, from primary school students through to politicians, lawyers and judges and across all fields of public activity - employers, education institutions and service providers, to name a few.



The schools program is just one crucial facet of our education role. Its broad aim is to develop in students, an awareness of their human rights, and their responsibilities, as members of the community in which they live. Teachers are also able to develop their awareness of human rights.



In so doing, a central aim is to assist young people in their development as informed, active citizens and to encourage values of tolerance, respect and empathy.



Our web-based Information for Teachers has been developed over several years, and is now very extensive. It will be known to many of you. It includes a series of curriculum linked resources for secondary school teachers to assist them to introduce human rights subjects to students.



We also have web-based Information for Students which compliments the information for teachers, and provide answers to most of the questions young people have about human rights.



It is intended to be a “virtual one stop shop” about human rights. It is a multi-layered website that draws students through a range of human rights issues.



It includes a human rights timeline that stretches back to concepts of human rights in the earliest civilisations. It gives

  • a "plain English" guide to what human rights are;
  • common questions and answers on human rights;
  • an explanation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and
  • more detailed information on issues such as Indigenous Social Justice, "Stolen children", refugees and asylum seekers, children in immigration detention, sexual harassment and discrimination including harassment and bullying in the school yard; and
  • has separate sections about Human Rights Overseas (and where to get more information on them) and Children's rights.



Information for Students is also linked to other key areas of HREOC’s website that may interest students including:

  • "Human Writes" essay competition and the national youth dialogue page
  • resources from the Youth Challenge modules
  • Voices of Australia module and resources as was demonstrated at a workshop by staff this morning
  • The Face the Facts publication and module
  • Bringing them home module and resources
  • Information for Employers kit



It also has a human rights calendar, ideas for ways students can become involved in human rights issues and colourful posters they can download.



These resources may be useful to you and your colleagues and we have brought along some resources for you to take home today. As educators we must acknowledge that there is always room to develop, fine tune and add new approaches to teaching methods while holding on to and strengthening strategies that achieve results in each local context.



I would like to finish by acknowledging and commending you all on the challenging and rewarding work you do. I continue to be impressed by your hard work, your willingness to engage with ideas and your capacity to take on the many complex tasks and challenges that confront your schools and students. You are the people who have the critical role in realising the learning potential of Indigenous children.



Through the development of a national Indigenous education think tank I hope to be part of a process to support you in your work, now and into the future.



I will close by thanking you again for the opportunity to address you this afternoon and I encourage you and your colleagues to visit the HREOC website and access the numerous resources that we host, some of which are cited as follows.



Thank you.


HREOC: Human Rights Education resources

All four reports of the National Rural and Remote Education Inquiry are available on the HREOC website at:

www.humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/rural_education/index.html

Information for Teachers

www.humanrights.gov.au/info_for_teachers/index.html



Information for Students

www.humanrights.gov.au/info_for_students/index.html



Information for Students provides students with ‘plain English’ information about international and domestic human rights issues. It has a Q&A Section and links to a wide range of resources to assist students to research and find answers to questions they may have in relation to their rights and responsibilities.



Youth Challenge: Teaching Human Rights and Responsibilities

https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/youth-challenge-online-teaching-human-rights-and-responsibilities



Face the Facts: Questions and Answers about Refugees, Migrants and Indigenous People

www.humanrights.gov.au/info_for_teachers/face_facts/index.html



Bringing Them Home: Learning About the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families

https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/bringing-them-home-report-1997



Paid Maternity Leave: Activities on Gender Equality in the Workplace

www.humanrights.gov.au/info_for_teachers/pregnancy/index.html



Human Rights Explained

https://humanrights.gov.au/education/human-rights-explained-fact-sheets

This is an online resource for tertiary students. It was first published in 1998 and remains one of the Commission’s most accessed sections.



Voices of Australia: Educational Module

(no web link yet but will be available at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/info_for_teachers/index.html )

The latest education module to be developed has been designed to complement Voices of Australia, a publication that celebrates 30 years since the inception of the Racial Discrimination Act, 1975. The module provides various learning activities that encourage students to read, listen and creatively respond to stories about the experiences of Australian people, in the classroom. Voices of Australia: education module is an online resource for teachers of secondary students, though the activities could be adapted to suit different age groups and language proficiencies. The teaching and learning activities have been designed to address the curriculum outcomes in all subjects related to Civics and Citizenship across Australia (including history, society and environment and humanities).Voices of Australia is due to be launched in time for the 2007 school year and will be available from the Commission free of charge to schools.

Last updated

September 13, 2009