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Imagine the sea rising around you as your country literally disappears beneath your feet, where the food you grow and the water you drink is being destroyed by salt, and your last chance is to seek refuge in other lands...[1]

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. Most notably, there have been: i) reforms to the machinery of the United Nations (UN) and the emphasis given to human rights within that system; ii) the making of global commitments to action, through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People; and iii) the further elaboration of human rights standards as they apply to indigenous peoples.

Lateral violence is a multilayered, complex problem and because of this our strategies also need to be pitched at different levels. In Chapter 3 I have looked at the big picture, with the human rights framework as our overarching response to lateral violence. In this Chapter I will be taking our strategies to an even more practical level, looking at how we can create environments of cultural safety and security to address lateral violence.

The need for a long-term approach and bipartisan support across the political divide [for addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage] was stressed by those attending consultations across Australia and in the hundreds of written submissions to the review. First Australians and those working with them are rightly cynical about new government reform and how long it will last. The ...

4.1 Introduction 4.2 Justice reinvestment in Australia five years on 4.3 Justice targets 4.4 National Justice Coalition 4.5 Conclusion and recommendations 4.1 Introduction The overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as both victims and offenders in the criminal justice system remains one of the most glaring disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...

In my role as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (Social Justice Commissioner), I am required to prepare two reports on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ human rights issues each year – the Social Justice Report and the Native Title Report.

This submission will focus on the current Australian immigration detention regime as it applies to minors. The regime will be examined based on data and information made available by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (“DIMIA”) and supporting documentation ranging from government publications, the Flood Inquiry and testimonies given to the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission “HREOC” under oath.

2.1 Scope of international obligations During Australia’s review, the Government made a commitment to improving Australia’s monitoring of its international human rights obligations. Australia is a party to seven of the core human rights treaties and maintains a number of reservations under these. The Australian Government made a commitment to conduct a comprehensive review of such reservations by ...

The Disability Discrimination and Other Human Rights Legislation Amendment Act 2009 (Cth) has made a range of significant changes to federal discrimination laws. The focus of this paper is on the major changes to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), which commenced for the most part on 5 August 2009.

The first twelve months of the federal government's new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs has ended. The primary focus of this period has been on abolishing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and creating new processes to engage with local Indigenous communities and coordinate mainstream delivery of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Twelve months on, the new arrangements remain in a transitional phase. It will be a number of years before they are fully locked into place.