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Explore a report prepared for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission into the deaths in custody of Indigenous juveniles.

For further information contact: Damian Griffis Senior Policy Officer - Systemic Advocacy People with Disabilities (NSW) Inc PO Box 666 STRAWBERRY HILLS NSW 2012 Telephone: (02) 9319 6622 Facsimile: (02) 9318 1372 Email: damiang@pwd.org.au

Why do I love HREOC? Well, I was there at the birth. I watched the Commission grow and accept new challenges every year. Australians used to be blind to the inequalities of women, to injustice to Aboriginals and other indigenous peoples, to Asian Australians, to gays and other sexual minorities, to people with disabilities and many others. If our eyes have been opened, we should be grateful to HREOC. In a real sense, it has been a conscience of our country: speaking out when others were silent. The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, Justice of the High Court of Australia

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

From 1835, when the European occupation of Victoria commenced, until the 1880s government policy was one of segregation of Indigenous people on reserves. These were mainly controlled by missions.

1.1 Barriers People with disabilities do not enjoy equality before the law when they come into contact with the criminal justice system in Australia. Whether a person with disability is the victim of a crime, accused of a crime or a witness, they are at increased risk of being disrespected and disbelieved. If a victim, their disability may be seen to mitigate the offender’s guilt; if a perpetrator ...

Adoption is the transfer, generally by order of a court, of all parental rights and obligations from the natural parent(s) to the adoptive parent(s). In Australia, legal adoption is relatively recent. It was first introduced in 1928 in Victoria, for example. Until very recently adoption involved near-total secrecy, partly in deference to the desire of adoptive parents to present the child as their own and partly because of the stigma of illegitimacy which typically attached to adopted children.

The Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA) and equivalent state and territory laws make it unlawful to discriminate against, harass or victimise people with disabilities or their associates – including in employment.

This submission has been prepared following a public seminar held on 4 March 2002 to discuss the experiences of children in Immigration Detention Centres in Australia. The seminar, held at the University of Western Sydney (Macarthur - Bankstown), was convened by Childhood and Youth Policy Research Unit of the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, University of Western Sydney in association with Defence for Children International (Australia) and the Association of Child Welfare Agencies.

In November 2001, the Human Rights Commissioner announced an Inquiry into the adequacy and appropriateness of Australia's treatment of child asylum seekers and other children who are, or have been, held in immigration detention, including:

The International Commission of Jurists is dedicated to the primacy, coherence and implementation of international law and principles that advance human rights. Its aim is to promote human rights through the rule of law by ensuring that developments in international law adhere to human rights principles and that international standards are implemented at the national level. The Commission was founded in Berlin in 1952 and its members are jurists representing different legal systems of the world.