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I have pleasure in presenting the twelfth Annual Report on the operations of the Privacy Act 1988 for the year 1999-2000. The year past has been a challenging and productive year for the Office.

The Commission implemented a Performance Management Scheme for all staff from 1 July 1999. The scheme is intended to strengthen and support the Commission in performing its functions by providing regular and formal assessment of employees' work performance and to provide employees with skill development and career advancement opportunities. A review of the Commission's Performance Management Scheme guidelines, to evaluate its effectiveness and the need to make changes to how it is operating, is planned after completion of the first cycle (1 July 1999 to 30 June 2000.

The Commission during 1999-2000 used a range of consultancy services where there was, for example, a need for rapid access to latest technology and experience in its application; limitations on executive time; lack of in-house resources; the need for independent study; or a need for a change agent or facilitator.

The Commission undertakes bilateral international activities, generally as part of the Australian Government's development cooperation program developed by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The most substantial of these is the Human Rights Technical Assistance Program, which is an integral part of the annual Dialogue on Human Rights with China.

1. The Committee considered the tenth, eleventh and twelfth periodic reports of Australia, submitted as one document (CERD/C/335/Add.2), at its 1393rd, 1394th and 1395th meetings (CERD/C/SR.1393, 1394 and 1395), held on 21 and 22March 2000. At its 1398th meeting, held on 24 March 2000, it adopted the following concluding observations.

The experience of people in rural and remote Australia has always featured prominently in the Commission's work. During the reporting year the Commission undertook two major projects addressing the human rights of children and young people in rural and remote Australia.

Susan Halliday has been the acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner since 1999. This is in addition to her duties as the Sex Discrimination Commissioner.

The year of this report saw several significant changes and developments within the Commission. Some were anticipated; some had been delayed; some were more welcome than others all led to a full and active twelve month period.

The reconciliation process has made clear the pressing need for Aboriginal peoples to negotiate freely the terms of their continuing relationship with Australia. The report shows that the recognition of Indigenous people's right to their land and the origins of a nation are inextricably related and that changes to one part of the relationship infer and require changes to the other. Developments in native title law reflect upon the ethical foundations of the nation.(p44)

(a) whether the finding of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) that the Native Title Amendment Act 1998 is inconsistent with Australia's international legal obligations, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, is sustainable on the weight of informed opinion;

The Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee conducted an inquiry this year into the federal government's implementation of recommendations made by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Bringing them home. The inquiry considered proposals for the establishment of an alternative dispute resolution tribunal for members of the stolen generations; and considered the consistency of the government's response to the recommendations with the reconciliation process and the aspirations and needs of members of the stolen generations.

The past year has been one of great contrasts. On the one hand, we have experienced the apparent harmony and healing of the walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and similar walks in other states and on the other hand, the national outpourings of grief and anger at the death of a 15-year-old boy in custody in Don Dale Detention Centre in Darwin in February.

This report identifies the necessity to adopt a human rights approach to reconciliation, as well as shortcomings in Australia's performance on human rights issues as they relate to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. This chapter emphasises processes and mechanisms that enable reconciliation to be implemented within a human rights framework. It identifies crucial commitments and processes that governments must engage in to progress meaningful reconciliation in the coming years.

The recognition of native title by the High Court in 1992 was a significant development in the legal apparatus for protecting Indigenous culture. Under the concept of native title it is possible that sacred and significant sites and objects might be protected, not within the historical category of Aboriginal heritage, but as matters valued in contemporary Indigenous culture with current significance to a people whose culture is ongoing. In addition, under native title such protection could be provided, not as an act of beneficence by government, but as a matter of legal right.

The defining feature of the past year has been the focus on reconciliation ... But as we reach this crucial stage in relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, reconciliation has come to mean different things to different people. Reconciliation has been described as a 'peoples movement' ...having reached a level of community support that is now unstoppable. For the government it is also a term that means practical measures to achieve practical improvements in the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples ... For many Indigenous peoples it has been seen as yet another opportunity ...

1. The Committee considered the tenth, eleventh and twelfth periodic reports of Australia, submitted as one document (CERD/C/335/Add.2), at its 1393rd, 1394th and 1395th meetings (CERD/C/SR.1393, 1394 and 1395), held on 21 and 22 March 2000. At its 1398th meeting, held on 24 March 2000, it adopted the following concluding observations.

The following instruments, declarations, principles and guidelines set out Australia's International human rights obligations with regard to cultural heritage protection.

The application of human rights principles to native title has been the subject of an ongoing dialogue taking place both nationally and internationally in the reporting period.