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This toolkit, produced by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is designed to help individuals and groups in the Australian community who wish to participate in the Australian Government’s National Human Rights Consultation.

A century ago, the Australian people engaged in a debate about creating a nation. They held meetings...They wrote articles and letters in newspapers. Many views were canvassed and voices were heard. The separate colonies, having divided up the land between them, discussed ways of sharing powers in order to achieve a vision of a united Australia. The result was the Australian Constitution,…

CARAD is a group of volunteers, supporters and donors formed from January 2000, in an attempt to meet some of the range of essential and urgent needs of refugees who reach Perth, following assessment of their claim while in a detention centre. We have now met in excess of 2,000 refugees, not all of whom remain in WA, and have provided them with compassionate, practical assistance. We estimate…

My name is Keysar Trad. I am the Vice President of the Lebanese Muslims Association in Sydney. The Lebanese Muslims Association was established in 1961 by a group of Lebanese Muslim citizens to advocate on behalf of Lebanese and other Muslims in the Australian community. We have over 1100 financial members and over tens of thousands who use our facilities on festive occasions, many or our members…

3.1 Introduction In chapters 1 and 2, I look back over the past 20 years that the Social Justice Commissioner position has been in place and think about the journey and our learning over this time. In this chapter, I want to explore how those lessons can take us forward to chart a confident course into the future and how the realisation of our rights can produce long term sustainable…

The consultation was organised by the Illawarra Ethnic Communities Council and chaired by the ECC Executive Officer, Kathy Tzanis. The meeting was facilitated by Meredith Wilkie and Omeima Sukkarieh (notes) from HREOC with Omeima also interpreting parts of the discussion. It was attended by 14 invited participants.

This submission has been prepared by staff and law students from the Southern Communities Advocacy Legal and Education Service Inc (SCALES). The students worked on this submission as part of a course offered through Murdoch University School of Law in Advanced Clinical Legal Education. This unit is conducted at the School's Law Clinic - SCALES which is also a community legal centre that provides…

It has now been over two years since the federal government introduced new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs. One of the catchcries of the new arrangements is that they are aimed at ‘harnessing the mainstream.’ This is to be achieved by removing or reducing the barriers that prevent Indigenous peoples from accessing existing mainstream services on an equitable…

Homelands still belong to the people, we want to build homes on our land and live there. When we come to the homeland we come back to the peace and quiet. ... It is a much better environment on the homelands, better things for the children.[1]

Pursuant to section 11(1)(f)(ii) of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth), I attach a report of my inquiry into complaints made by twenty six immigration detainees at the Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. I have found that acts or practices of the Commonwealth, namely placing some of the complainants in separation detention for periods of between three…

We must face up to our humanitarian responsibilities to accept refugee children and their families. We must take them out of the immigration detention centres and welcome them into the community where they can play, learn and grow. At least then when our children look back on this time and ask us what we did to stand up for refugee kids, we can say we gave them their childhood." (Calvert,…

1.1 Introduction 1.2 Machinery of Government changes 1.3 The 2014 Budget 1.4 Leadership, representation and engagement 1.5 Constitutional recognition 1.6 Indigenous Jobs and Training Review 1.7 Closing the Gap 1.8 Stolen Generations 1.9 International developments 1.10 Australian Human Rights Commission complaints 1.11 Conclusion 1.1 Introduction At the beginning of this reporting period, we…

This appendix provides an overview of the main events with regard to the administration of Indigenous affairs to 30 June 2006. It commences with a summary table and is followed by a detailed description of each event.

2.1 Scope of international obligations During Australia’s review, the Government made a commitment to improving Australia’s monitoring of its international human rights obligations. Australia is a party to seven of the core human rights treaties and maintains a number of reservations under these. The Australian Government made a commitment to conduct a comprehensive review of such…

Commissioners: DR SEV OZDOWSKI, Human Rights Commissioner MRS ROBIN SULLIVAN, Queensland Children's Commissioner PROFESSOR TRANG THOMAS, Professor of Psychology, Melbourne Institute of Technology MS VANESSA LESNIE, Secretary to the Inquiry

Indigenous imprisonment rates in Australia are unacceptably high. Nationally, Indigenous adults are 13 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous people[1] and Indigenous juveniles are 28 times more likely to be placed in juvenile detention than their non-Indigenous counterparts.[2]

1.1 Introduction This year marks 20 years since the establishment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (Social Justice Commissioner) role under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth). When I first started in this position I was asked if any of the previous Commissioners had left any words or notes of advice. I answered them ‘no, but they all…

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…