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The Complaint Handling Section had a productive year investigating and conciliating complaints of alleged discrimination and human rights breaches; providing information to the public about federal anti-discrimination and human rights law through its Complaint Information Service and community education and liaison program; and providing complaint investigation and resolution skills training to state equal opportunity, anti-discrimination authorities, other Australian Public Service agencies and private companies.

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.

The Commission assesses compliance with human rights principles by examining and reporting on issues of race, age, sex and disability discrimination and human rights. In doing so, we play a significant role in the monitoring of legislation and policy in Australia.

neglected child - a child found begging, wandering about or frequenting any thoroughfare or tavern, sleeping in the open air and who has no settled place of abode or means of subsistence; residing in any brothel or associating or dwelling with any person, known or reputed to be a thief, prostitute or drunkard or a person convicted of vagrancy; a child having committed an offence and who, in the opinion of the Justices, ought to be sent to an industrial school; an inmate of an immigrants' home or a child whose parent cannot control him/her and want him/her to be placed in an industrial school.

In most states and territories of Australia, Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) are negotiated on a case by case basis between the relevant parties, usually traditional owners, governments and industry groups. South Australia however, has taken a more comprehensive approach to these agreements. The South Australian Government, Indigenous traditional land owners and industry stakeholders have developed a state-wide framework that streamlines ILUA processes and reduces the resources that are required for successive negotiations.

In 2000-01, as in past years, the Commission participated in some bilateral international program activities, generally as part of the Australian Government’s development cooperation program developed by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

(a) How did we get here? It is not credible to suggest that one of the wealthiest nations in the world cannot solve a health crisis affecting less than 3% of its citizens. Dr Tom Calma AO, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, 2005 [10] In 2008, the United Nations Human Development Index ranked Australia the third most developed nation in the world. Then, as now, we ...

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Australia’s introduction of mandatory immigration detention and the eighteenth anniversary of the system of mandatory, indefinite immigration detention. In the current context, it is apt to recall that mandatory detention was introduced in reaction to the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, with concerns about a potential ‘influx’ spurring bipartisan support for increasingly tough measures on persons who arrived in Australia without a visa.[8]

State, Territory and Commonwealth native title policies (1) direct the way in which governments conduct negotiations with native title claimant groups and the scope and content of the agreements they make as a result of these negotiations. Such policies may influence whether negotiations will be confined to native title rights and interests as they are legally defined, or whether they address the broader economic and social development needs of the claimant group.

This document contains a record of the key points of discussion at the above forum and is prepared by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. It does not constitute minutes of the forum, and the fact that a position is stated does not mean that every party in attendance has committed to that position. However, it does indicate the key points of discussion during the day, and provides a platform for taking work forward on the issues raised.

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.

This is my fifth Social Justice Report as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. In the course of this report I look back at developments over the past five years to ascertain the extent to which we are moving towards achieving long term, sustainable improvements in the situation of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders and the extent to which government policy making and program delivery is inhibiting such improvement.