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This is the third successive Social Justice Report to report on the implementation of the new arrangements for Indigenous affairs at the federal government level. The past two Social Justice Reports have emphasised the importance of governments ensuring the effective participation of Indigenous peoples in decision making that affects our lives. This includes the development of policy, program delivery and monitoring by governments at the national, as well as state, regional and local levels.

Last year I set out my priorities for my term as Social Justice Commissioner.[1] My priorities revolve around the central idea that to address the disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and build a more reconciled nation, we need to develop stronger and deeper relationships:

a) Do Indigenous peoples have a right to self-determination? b) What is Indigenous self-determination? c) Summary - Defining Indigenous self-determination

Part 1: What are the new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Overview Committee (Queensland), 1996: First Report (Department of Families, Youth and Community Care, Brisbane).

This report contains a summary of observations made by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) during its 2010 visit to the immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island.

A key priority throughout my five year term as Social Justice Commissioner is to strengthen and rebuild relationships within our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

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.

You would be hard pressed to find a newspaper, television or radio station that did not make mention of Sorry Day activities and National Reconciliation events over the past week.

During the 2004 reporting period I have embarked on a series of consultations focusing on the ideas and principles that were contained in a Discussion Paper, released by my predecessor as Social Justice Commissioner in June 2003. The Discussion Paper was entitled Promoting Economic and Social Development through Native Title (at Annexure 1). This chapter seeks to record and develop the ideas and discussions that were generated in the consultation process. 1

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was established in 1990 by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 (Cth). The Act made provisions for the establishment of 35 representative Regional Councils on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia.

a) Ngaanyatjarra Regional Partnership Agreement. b) Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly c) Post-ATSIC regional representation for Torres Strait Islanders on the mainland