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Organisational excellence The Commission is accredited as an ‘A status’ national human rights institution (NHRI) by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. The ICC is responsible for accrediting new NHRIs, as well as re-accrediting existing NHRIs every five years, according to a rigorous and transparent process ...

The Commission’s vision is of and for an Australian society in which the human rights of all people are respected and promoted. Our task is to find practical, pragmatic ways to turn the rhetoric of human rights into an everyday reality for all Australians and build a more tolerant and inclusive community. As this report indicates, this past year has been a period of substantial achievement as we strive towards this goal.

1936 it was. I would have been five. We went visiting Ernabella the day the police came. Our great-uncle Sid was leasing Ernabella from the government at that time so we went there.

Along with my colleagues at the Australian Human Rights Commission, I began the 2009–10 reporting year awaiting a report from what had been one of the largest public consultations in Australian history, the National Human Rights Consultation.

This Chapter considers options for addressing lateral violence in environments that concern our lands, territories and resources. Although this is the beginning of the conversation, the Chapter aims to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities some ideas about how to address lateral violence through the establishment of strong structural foundations and principles. It also seeks to assist governments to help us confront this problem by reinforcing these structures through legislation and policy.

The consultation was organised by the Illawarra Ethnic Communities Council and chaired by the ECC Executive Officer, Kathy Tzanis. The meeting was facilitated by Meredith Wilkie and Omeima Sukkarieh (notes) from HREOC with Omeima also interpreting parts of the discussion. It was attended by 14 invited participants.

The removal of the children from Wave Hill by MacRobertson Miller aircraft was accompanied by distressing scenes the like of which I wish never to experience again. The engines of the 'plane are not stopped at Wave Hill and the noise combined with the strangeness of an aircraft only accentuated the grief and fear of the children, resulting in near-hysteria in two of them. I am convinced that the news of my action at Wave Hill preceded me to other stations, resulting in the children being taken away prior to my arrival.

A fundamental goal of the Commission is to engage all parts of the Australian community in a constructive dialogue about human rights and how they can be better protected.