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2.1 Scope of international obligations 2.2 National framework 2.3 Equality before the law and non-discrimination 2.4 Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers 2.5 Right to life, liberty and security of the person 2.1 Scope of international obligations Australia prides itself on its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and has announced its candidacy for election to the…

The United Nations Youth Association of Australia welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention. The issue of immigration detention for children has been coming under increased scrutiny in the past eight months. As far as it affects our international standing, the standards by which we treat children and…

The Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) and Argyle Management Plan Agreement (AMPA) together are arguably the most comprehensive arrangements ever made between a resource company and traditional owners negotiated in Australia. They are the result of one of the most comprehensive agreement processes undertaken with traditional owners.

This table includes summaries of every native title determination that occurred during this period, and notable or interesting agreements; it does not include every Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) registered or other native title agreements made over this period, due to the large volume. A snapshot of applications, determinations and ILUAs from this period is provided at the end of this…

10.1 Education Key findings of Review ADFA provided undergraduates with limited education about healthy and respectful relationships, issues regarding consent, the meaning and appropriateness of sexist language and behaviour, and issues regarding controlling and threatening behaviour. The 2011 Unacceptable Behaviour Survey indicated that incidents of inappropriate conduct and inappropriate …

As my predecessor pointed out in the Native Title Report 2003, native title is a political process as well as a legal process. Indigenous people enter a relationship with the State on the basis of their identity as the traditional owner group of an area of land. In some cases native title has provided the first opportunity since colonisation for a relationship of this type to be formed.

State and Territory legislation, programs and policies in the areas of child welfare, adoption and juvenile justice are intended to provide a non-discriminatory framework for the administration of services. In many cases, programs are designed with the objective of reducing the extent of contemporary removals of Indigenous children and young people. In spite of this, the over-representation of…

Under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (Migration Act), a non-citizen’s visa may be cancelled if they do not satisfy the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (the Minister) or the Minister’s delegate that they pass the ‘character test’.

Human rights principles require that Indigenous people's relationships to land, based on traditional laws and customs, be given legal recognition and protection. International legal principles also recognise that Indigenous peoples have economic, social and cultural human rights. Native title, as it is constructed through the Australian legal system, has a limited capacity to meet these human…

In the Social Justice Report 1999, my first report as Social Justice Commissioner, I identified four key themes and challenges that existed in the approach of the federal government to Indigenous policy making at the time. These were moving beyond welfare dependency, accountability, participation and reconciliation.[1] Since the release of that report approximately four years ago, the key themes…

4. Research relevant to benchmarking 5. The Commonwealth Grants Commission Report on Indigenous Funding 6. Australian Bureau of Statistics 7. Initiatives at the inter-governmental level related to benchmarking 8. The Steering Committee framework for reporting on Indigenous disadvantage 9. Governance and capacity building 10. Developments at State and Territory level

The landscape of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) is under severe ecological stress. Issues such as salinity, poor water quality, stressed forests, dried wetlands, threatened native species, feral animals and noxious weeds are commonplace within the MDB. The reasons for this dramatic decline in river health are caused by water mismanagement including reversal of natural flow cycles and over…

This collection of statistics has been chosen for their relevance in highlighting the key characteristics of the Indigenous population. It focuses on key areas such as health, education, employment, housing, and contact with criminal justice and welfare systems. Where possible, the data is presented in a way that identifies absolute and relative change in the situation of Indigenous peoples over…

The removal of the children from Wave Hill by MacRobertson Miller aircraft was accompanied by distressing scenes the like of which I wish never to experience again. The engines of the 'plane are not stopped at Wave Hill and the noise combined with the strangeness of an aircraft only accentuated the grief and fear of the children, resulting in near-hysteria in two of them. I am convinced that the…

In 1863 the area now known as the Northern Territory came under the control of South Australia. By 1903 the whole area was leased to non-Indigenous people. As there were few non-Indigenous women, relationships between the Indigenous women and non-Indigenous men were relatively common. The consequence was a growing population of children of mixed descent who were usually cared for by their mothers…