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In my role as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (Social Justice Commissioner), I am required to prepare two reports on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ human rights issues each year – the Social Justice Report and the Native Title Report.

In recent years there have been significant developments at the international level that impact upon the recognition and protection of the human rights of indigenous peoples. Most notably, there have been: i) reforms to the machinery of the United Nations (UN) and the emphasis given to human rights within that system; ii) the making of global commitments to action, through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People; and iii) the further elaboration of human rights standards as they apply to indigenous peoples.

During these ten years, thousands of individuals and organisations have used the DDA to create change, either by making complaints of discrimination, using the law as a basis for negotiating broad social change or educating organisations on their responsibilities.

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 left ...

I could tell you of heartbreak, hatred blind I could tell of crimes that shame mankind Of brutal wrongs and deeds malign Of rape and murder son of mine

I'm a mother who has been out of the paid workforce for two years and will probably be for the next 4 years, until my children are ready for pre-school. My return to work will probably be on a part-time basis and I will probably have to re-start my career after so many years out so I don't expect that I will earn very much. I never thought this would be the case - I studied for many years, earned a higher degree, worked overseas and then started my family...I can't see how, after this time out of the workforce, my earnings will ever come close to my partner's.

5.1 Introduction 5.2 Signs of change 5.3 Changing family structures require additional social support 5.4 Translating values into reality 5.5 Sharing care 5.6 Distributing household tasks fairly 5.7 Caring for people beyond the home 5.8 Education and cultural change 5.9 Conclusion

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.

The Unlocking Doors Project was a series of forums, workshops and consultations conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission throughout 2006, which brought Muslim peoples and communities in New South Wales and Victoria into a dialogue with Police. This dialogue sought to strengthen Muslim peoples’ relationship with law enforcement agencies and build on the capacity of the police to respond to the incidents of racial and religious hatred and abuse currently being experienced by Muslim peoples.

The recommendations put forward in this report cover an extraordinarily wide spectrum. Many will require considerable detailed development and negotiation before they can be put into place.

The report includes case studies which highlight, in particular, that employer's and employee's definitions of' 'flexibility' are not necessarily synonymous. Many changes to working time arrangements have only been partly implemented and often depend on the discretion of the manager or supervisor.

This is the text of a letter from Commissioner Ozdowski on 4 October 2005 in response to a request from the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations for views on the effect of the draft Disability Standard on Access to Premises on small business and in particular small business operating out of existing buildings:

The reporting period for this Report is 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. Throughout this period, there was significantly more activity in native title law and policy than I witnessed in the first five years of my term as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.