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Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that a child's best interests are to be a primary consideration in all actions concerning them. The Australian system, whereby the guardian of unaccompanied child asylum seekers is the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, rather than an authoritative, independent statutory body, does not ensure that the requirements of article 3(1) are met.

It was a landmark for Australia - the first federal law to say that all people have the right to be treated fairly, regardless of their background, culture or colour.

There is an urgent need for sound policy in Indigenous affairs. Chapter 1 of the Social Justice Report 2006 considers what some of the key elements of good Indigenous policy making are.

There is no issue currently causing more destruction to the fabric of Indigenous communities than family violence. This has been acknowledged by all levels of government in recent years, with a number of significant inquiries and initiatives undertaken or commenced at the federal, state and territory level to address its impact.

The new arrangements for Indigenous affairs have brought about a number of changes to programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. During the past year, the Australian Government has reviewed the operation of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) and aligned it with mainstream employment programs.

According to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (also called the Refugee Convention), a refugee is someone who is outside their own country and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their:

Background Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) have been promoted as one of the key approaches to develop mutual obligation for the delivery of services over and above basic citizenship entitlements.

beyondblue provides accurate, up to date, easy to read fact sheets on depression, anxiety and related disorders. Factsheets relevant to employment include:

New arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs (introduced as of 1 July 2004) transferred responsibility for the administration of Indigenous specific programs to mainstream government departments. The new arrangements aim to remove, or at least reduce, the barriers that prevent Indigenous peoples from accessing existing mainstream services on an equitable basis. This objective has been called ‘harnessing the mainstream’.

In 2006, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner conducted a national survey of Indigenous Australians living on Indigenous land. There were 54 survey respondents, which included traditional land owners, as well as other Indigenous Australians with interests in land and land-use. The survey questions asked Indigenous respondents to identify their aspirations for their land and to identify their capacity to earn an income from the land. The survey findings are as follows:

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.

The new arrangements for Indigenous affairs have been put in place to ultimately improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. However, the fundamentals required to make the new arrangements work have yet to be properly established. While governments are waiting to hear from communities about their needs and entering into agreements with communities at a growing rate, some basic principles have yet to be implemented.