Australia’s First Nations children deserve a brighter future where governments safeguard their wellbeing, rights and dignity, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss said today on International Human Rights Day.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Ms Katie Kiss has warned that legislation introduced by the Queensland Government late last week was “a devastating step backwards for First Nations rights and a blow to respectful relationships between the state government and Indigenous Queenslanders.”
The Queensland Parliament repealed the Path to Treaty Act 2023 at its sitting last Thursday night and introduced legislation to amend the Youth Justice Act 1992, and Children’s Court Act 1992.
Calls from local First Nations residents to repeal the recently decreed Port Augusta Declared Public Precinct have been backed by Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman launched the National Anti-Racism Framework on 26 November at Parramatta Townhall.
“It’s gone.” That’s what Mick Gooda said to me plaintively half an hour into counting the votes to enshrine a First Nations Voice to parliament in our constitution on October 14, 2023.
I’d started that day – a year ago today – with a high level of optimism that Australia was going to do this, that Australia would get this right, that Australia would make history. How wrong I was. Instead, the failed referendum has left a trail of hurt and confusion for non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians like me.
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More than 1500 people tuned into the 2024 lecture to learn about ‘Dismantling systemic racism – perspectives from First Nations peoples’.
Systemic racism, in law, policies and service delivery, has serious and ongoing consequences for First Nations peoples, including poor mental and physical health, economic disadvantage, over-incarceration and social exclusion.
CEO of First Nations Collective Marni Tuala delivered the lecture, sharing the findings of extensive consultations with First Nations peoples across Australia about their experiences of racism.
Governments must recognise systemic racism and its devastating impacts on Australia’s First Nations peoples and take urgent action to address it, a new report has found.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said, “Systemic racism, in law, policies and service delivery, has serious and ongoing consequences, including poor mental and physical health, economic disadvantage, over-incarceration and social exclusion.”
Katie Kiss commenced in the role as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner on 3 April 2024. To ensure the voices of First Nations people across Australia help form the agenda for the term, the Commissioner is conducting a national listening tour to hear from First Nations people about how we move forward after the Voice Referendum, how to progress and utilise mechanisms to realise our rights, what issues are most urgently in need of attention and what expectations First Nations people have of the Social Justice Commissioner role.
Artwork courtesy of First Nations Co.
This report serves as a foundational document for the development of a National Anti-Racism Framework.
Drawing from extensive consultations with over 496 contributors from city, remote and rural backgrounds. These voices not only highlight the urgent need for action, but also serve as a clarion call for systemic solutions to eradicate racism.
The First Nations consultations unveiled a complex and pervasive landscape of challenges faced by First Nations communities.
