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Child protection intervention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families across the country is at crisis point. Women are telling me it’s like another stolen generation and as I travel across Australia hearing their stories, it certainly does feel that way. As the 2018 Family Matters report reveals, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make up just over 36 per cent of all…

This opinion piece by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody and Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman was published in The Guardian. Imagine how this case would have played out for the thousands of women of colour who don’t have Kerr’s platform, financial resources or legal support. Sam Kerr is one of the most celebrated football players in the world. Captain of the…

Our voices heard and understood. Our lives and expertise recognised. Our actions counted and invested in as critical to the health and wellbeing of society. These are the powerful and determined calls of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls in Australia today. They are set-out and responded to in the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices): Securing our Rights, Securing our…

The recent death of a 10-year-old in the Kimberley is a tragedy and I pass on my condolences to her family at this particularly distressing time. This tragedy has heightened my conviction that the lives of all of our children in Australia are precious and should be protected at all costs. Nearly 20 years after the Bringing Them Home Report documented the experiences of the Stolen Generations…

Covid-19 has triggered the most significant return to country by First Nations people since the homeland movement commenced in the 1960s. Thousands, like myself, returned to remote communities out of necessity. Facing the unknown, our family leaders who could made the courageous decision to gather loved ones and travel out to country, with minimal resources. Importantly, Australian…

The following opinion piece by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar appeared on ABC Online on May 24, 2018 Next month, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians will celebrate NAIDOC week — with the theme Because of Her We Can. It's because of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO that…

The Northern Australia white paper has the potential to be transformative in improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples if it increases the respect and value of their property rights and their right to development. The white paper, released just over a week ago, focuses on working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who own more than 31 per cent of…

"Just in the last week, three of my closest friends and a relative have been diagnosed with cancer. This is not an uncommon story, to be – as a community – constantly in grief, loss and trauma." These words, from Janine Mohamed, chief executive of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives, will be familiar to our communities across Australia. As will her…

RECENT announcements notwithstanding, there's no getting around the fact that young people in South Australia are being detained in overcrowded and outdated conditions in breach of Australia's human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

By Professor Gillian Triggs and Commissioner Megan Mitchell. We can no longer tolerate the loss of innocent lives, or allow children to be exposed to such horrific crimes. This week we have seen at least four lives tragically cut short at the hands of a partner or family member. Two of these victims were a mother and her unborn baby; the others a 12-year-old girl and a 17-month-old baby…