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4. Research relevant to benchmarking 5. The Commonwealth Grants Commission Report on Indigenous Funding 6. Australian Bureau of Statistics 7. Initiatives at the inter-governmental level related to benchmarking 8. The Steering Committee framework for reporting on Indigenous disadvantage 9. Governance and capacity building 10. Developments at State and Territory level

As this is the first public speech I have made in Sydney since the events at Redfern several weeks ago, I would also like to begin today by paying my respects to the family of TJ Hickey and to express my condolences for your loss. I would also like to acknowledge the elders of the Redfern community for the strength and the dignity that you have displayed in dealing with these tragic events and their aftermath.

The department welcomes the HREOC report which provides positive feedback on detention service reforms established since the Palmer and Comrie reports. We note HREOC’s recommendations several of which are consistent with DIMA’s ongoing improvement programme.

While a short period of detention may be permitted for the purpose of conducting preliminary health, identity and security checks, Australia's detention system requires detention well beyond those permitted purposes. In fact, Australia's immigration detention laws and practices create a detention system that is fundamentally at odds with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma has called on the federal Government to address serious flaws in their Indigenous affairs programs and services. 

For more than a decade, the Australian Human Rights Commission has called for reforms to Australia’s system of mandatory and indefinite immigration detention – both in light of the impacts it has on people’s mental health and wellbeing, and because it leads to breaches of Australia’s international human rights obligations. During this time, the Commission has investigated numerous complaints from people in detention and conducted two national inquiries into the mandatory detention system.[1]

Commissioners: DR SEV OZDOWSKI, Human Rights Commissioner MRS ROBIN SULLIVAN, Queensland Children's Commissioner PROFESSOR TRANG THOMAS, Professor of Psychology, Melbourne Institute of Technology MS VANESSA LESNIE, Secretary to the Inquiry

Australia operates bilateral human rights technical cooperation programs with the Governments of China and Vietnam. These programs are funded by AusAID and managed by the Commission on behalf of the Australian Government.

Rural Australians For Refugees Wangaratta Branch is not directly involved with children or adults in detention centres. Therefore our submission is very brief and comes from the desire to add to the growing voice of Australian citizens. We do not support the current mandatory detention of refugees and asylum seekers that is the present policy of government. We are not legally trained and write very much as a part of the rural community of Australia.