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In 2006 the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet made a revealing statement about Indigenous affairs. He argued that his own government’s policy performance in the Indigenous portfolio had been a failure. He went further to say that while well intentioned, the policies and approaches of the past 30 years had contributed to poor outcomes for Indigenous people.

During the 2004 reporting period I have embarked on a series of consultations focusing on the ideas and principles that were contained in a Discussion Paper, released by my predecessor as Social Justice Commissioner in June 2003. The Discussion Paper was entitled Promoting Economic and Social Development through Native Title (at Annexure 1). This chapter seeks to record and develop the ideas and…

This chapter considers some of the Commonwealth’s practices regarding the use of wrist x-ray analysis as a means of assessing chronological age for the purposes of criminal prosecution. It highlights situations where the reliance on wrist x-rays as evidence of age was contrary to stated Australian Government policy; or where it contributed to individuals who were in fact children, or who…

For more than a decade, the Australian Human Rights Commission has called for reforms to Australia’s system of mandatory and indefinite immigration detention – both in light of the impacts it has on people’s mental health and wellbeing, and because it leads to breaches of Australia’s international human rights obligations. During this time, the Commission has investigated…

Introduction Part A: Structure of this report Part B: Summary of findings and recommendations Part C: The complaints by Mr El Masri Part D: The Commission’s human rights inquiry and complaints function Part E: Mr El Masri’s detention from 14 November 2002 to 14 October 2005 Part F: The detention of Mr El Masri on 28 November 2006 Part G: The detention of Mr El Masri in MSU Part H: Use…

COMMISSIONER OZDOWSKI: Welcome to every one, I think we will start rolling and I would like to formally open this public hearing which is one of series of hearings conducted around Australia. My name is Sev Ozdowski and I am the Human Rights Commissioner and with me are my two Assistant Commissioners. To my right is Dr Trang Thomas, Professor of Psychology at the Royal Melbourne Institute of…

Australian law requires the detention of all non-citizens who are in Australia without a valid visa (unlawful non-citizens). This means that immigration officials have no choice but to detain persons who arrive without a visa (unauthorised arrivals), or persons who arrive with a visa and subsequently become unlawful because their visa has expired or been cancelled (authorised arrivals)…

This report contains a summary of observations made by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) during its 2010 visit to the immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island.

DR OZDOWSKI: Welcome to everyone. I think there is no need again to administer the oath or affirmation. As with yesterday, we will do it only in the case of new witnesses coming, but please understand that the principles associated with the oath or affirmation do stand up. Also, I would like to ask witnesses in order to finish on time, that they will focus on questions and try to answer, and to…

The first twelve months of the federal government's new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs has ended. The primary focus of this period has been on abolishing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and creating new processes to engage with local Indigenous communities and coordinate mainstream delivery of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait…

On 21 June 2007, the Australian Government announced a ‘national emergency response to protect Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory’ from sexual abuse and family violence.[1] This has become known as the ‘NT intervention’ or the ‘Emergency Response’. The catalyst for the measures was the release of Report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into…