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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
20 October 2023Media ReleaseCommissioners distressed by death of boy after being detained in Perth prison
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO, and National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds have issued a joint statement following the death of a First Nations teenager who had been held in a youth detention unit at the Casuarina adult prison in Perth. Commissioner Oscar: “My thoughts are with the family and community of the 16-year-old boy who passed… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
13 October 2023News story
Closing the Gap in a Divided Family - June Oscar feature in the Aus
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar says forging a relationship with her white relatives has given their extended families a different perspective on the voice - feature article by Victoria Laurie in the Australian. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
28 September 2023Opinion piece
The referendum is Australia’s gateway moment
Read Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar's op-ed in support of the Voice Referendum, published in The Guardian Australia. "We’ve been advocating for a permanent representative body for decades. My old people wanted this. My family in remote Australia facing unbelievable struggles daily want this." -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
25 September 2023Video
2022 Human Rights Oration by Larissa Behrendt
Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO, winner of the 2021 Human Rights Medal, delivered the annual Human Rights Day Oration at the 2022 Human Rights Awards. She called for structural reform and self-determination for First Nations people: “Departments of child protection need to be replaced by empowered community-controlled organisations and true self determination. Child prisons and -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
25 September 2023Video
Wiyi Yani U Thangani Opening Address by June Oscar
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women's Voices) National Summit was held over three days from 9-11 May 2023, with an additional one-day Youth Forum on 8 May. The Summit brought together over 800 First Nations women delegates from across Australia, for decision-making, innovation and celebration. This recording is the second in our livestream series from the Summit, beginning with an opening… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
15 September 2023Media Release
The Voice is an opportunity for unity: June Oscar AO
The Voice is a once in a lifetime opportunity to unite all Australians. It is the first time in Australia’s history that we are on a collective path to recognising First Nations peoples’ deep connection to this continent, and our remarkable civilisation. It is an opportunity to have a society of inclusion, unity and recognition. The referendum is also an opportunity to overcome division, to… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
8 September 2023Speech
CEW Leadership Summit
Introduction in language Hello everyone. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of Naarm, all the Countries of the Kulin Nations, and I pay my respects to Elder’s past, present and emerging. I recognise our First Women, our mothers, sisters, aunties, and daughters who have cared for our communities, shared knowledge and culture, and nurture future generations through women’s ways of… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
8 September 2023Speech
ICOMOS General Assembly and Scientific Symposium GA2023
Jalangurru lanygu balangarri - good afternoon everyone. Yaningi warangira ngindaji yuwa muwayi ingirranggu, Gadigal yani U. Balangarri wadjirragali jarra ningi – gamali ngindaji yau muwayi nyirrami ngarri thangani. Yaningi miya ngindaji Muwayi ingga winyira ngirranggu thangani. Yathawarra, wilalawarra jalangurru ngarri guda. For those of you who do not know me, my name is June Oscar. I am -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
7 September 2023Webpage
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Information about the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
8 August 2023Webpage
The Uluru Statement from the Heart
The Uluru Statement from the Heart (the Statement) is an invitation from a group of First Nations people to non-Indigenous Australians. Shared in 2017, the Statement calls for substantive reform to help realise Indigenous rights, through the establishment of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and a Makarrata Commission, to undertake processes of agreement-making (treaty) and truth-telling. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
Minimising harm in conversations about the referendum
This section of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum resource kit provides information and practical tips to engage in conversations about the referendum in ways that minimise harm, including: Practise cultural humility, Centre Indigenous knowledges, voices, and perspectives, Remember, there is no one true ‘Indigenous perspective’, Avoid deficit discourse, and Call out and actively… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
Indigenous Rights & the Voice
The Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum proposes a mechanism that addresses Indigenous peoples’ right to participation in decision making, and the right to consultation with government. The Voice could also promote the realisation of other human rights for Indigenous peoples, including to ensure the full realisation of rights to health, education, housing and the protection of Indigenous… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
Symbolic change or substantive reform
The difference between symbolic change and substantive reform in the context of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and the Australian Constitution. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
The Voice and human rights
The Statement of Compatibility confirms that the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Bill is consistent with the realisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ right to self-determination, with the right to equality and non-discrimination, and promotes the right to take part in public affairs. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
Referendums and constitutional change
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) will hold a referendum in late 2023. The referendum will ask Australians whether the Constitution should be changed to include a recognition of the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Indigenous Voice to Parliament -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
Support services - Voice referendum
Racism directed towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is likely to continue increasing in the lead up to the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. We've collated a document with formal support services and ways to report incidents of racism. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
2 August 2023Webpage
The history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples advocating for the right to be heard
There is a long history of First Nations people advocating for the right to representation and participation in decisions that affect them. The events listed are a selection of moments in history when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have taken action to call for large-scale change by Australian governments to realise their Indigenous rights, demonstrating the history leading to the… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
31 July 2023Webpage
Voice Referendum: Understanding the referendum from a human rights perspective
The Commission has produced a resource kit to encourage the Australian public to consider the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum through a human rights lens. The resources seek to minimise harm by encouraging cultural humility and focusing the conversation on human rights principles as they relate to the referendum and proposed Voice to Parliament. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
24 May 2023News story
Uluru Convention ‘an historic opportunity for change’
“We gather from the furthest corners of this country to discuss a matter of great importance: how we, as the First Peoples of this country, stand in Australia’s founding legal document – the Constitution.” In her opening remarks to the Uluru National Convention, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar, described this week’s gathering of Aboriginal… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
24 May 2023News story
Uluru Statement calls for First Nations’ voice in the constitution
To resounding applause, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates from across the country have agreed to a landmark Uluru Statement calling for the establishment of a First Nations’ voice enshrined in the constitution. "We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart. "Our Aboriginal and Torres…