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Family violence and abuse is occurring at an unacceptable level in our Indigenous communities. It is a scourge that damages our families and communities, traumatises our women and children and tears at the fabric of our culture.

There is no issue currently causing more destruction to the fabric of Indigenous communities than family violence. This has been acknowledged by all levels of government in recent years, with a number of significant inquiries and initiatives undertaken or commenced at the federal, state and territory level to address its impact.

A century ago, the Australian people engaged in a debate about creating a nation. They held meetings...They wrote articles and letters in newspapers. Many views were canvassed and voices were heard. The separate colonies, having divided up the land between them, discussed ways of sharing powers in order to achieve a vision of a united Australia. The result was the Australian Constitution, establishing the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.

Family violence and abuse occurs at unacceptable rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) communities. We have heard many tragic stories of women, children and young people who have experienced devastating sexual abuse and family violence. It is a scourge that is causing damage and trauma among Indigenous communities, to our women and children, and to the fabric of Indigenous cultures.

Background Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) have been promoted as one of the key approaches to develop mutual obligation for the delivery of services over and above basic citizenship entitlements.

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

Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of this right.

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.

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) A minimalist response to symbolic issues b) The perceived divisiveness of self-determination c) An emphasis on perceived areas of agreement d) Misrepresenting progress towards practical reconciliation

[1] Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Membership of the Expert Panel, http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/indigenous/progserv/engagement/Pages/membership_expert_panel.aspx (viewed 17 October 2011).

New arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs (introduced as of 1 July 2004) transferred responsibility for the administration of Indigenous specific programs to mainstream government departments. The new arrangements aim to remove, or at least reduce, the barriers that prevent Indigenous peoples from accessing existing mainstream services on an equitable basis. This objective has been called ‘harnessing the mainstream’.

This Appendix reproduces materials approved by the United Nations General Assembly when establishing the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People. It also extracts and briefly comments on the main provisions of the Program of Action for the Second Decade.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Partnership Agreement for Remote Service Delivery came into effect in January 2009 and will run to 30 June 2014. It is a joint commitment by all Australian governments to a ‘concentrated and accelerated approach to tackle deep-seated disadvantage’ in remote communities.[1] The Partnership is premised on a place-based initiative, targeting 29 remote priority locations across Australia for a whole-of-government approach to service delivery. [2]

[1] Extract from United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Report of the International Workshop on Methodologies regarding Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Indigenous Peoples (New York, 17–19 January 2005), UN Doc E/C.19/2005/3 (2005), paras 46–49. At http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/workshopFPIC.html (viewed 19 November 2010).

In early 2001 AMEEF, as managers of the MMSD (Australia) project, commissioned various studies including a baseline assessment of the minerals industry and five other areas of interest: mining and biodiversity, stakeholder engagement, mining-Indigenous agreements, managing minerals wealth, and industry-based initiatives for sustainable development. These studies will contribute to a final report of the MMSD (Australia) project, which will form part of MMSD's global project.

It is a story of colonisation; the threat of losing our cultural authority to manage our societies; and the despair that has come from that disempowerment. It is a story of grief and trauma and the continued pain of living with grog, drug and violence.

Bringing Them Home - the Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (the National Inquiry) - made 54 'head' recommendations, 83 recommendations in total [1], to address what was referred to as 'the continuing devastation of the lives of Indigenous Australians'. The implementation of most recommendations requires action to be taken by the Commonwealth Government and/or State or Territory Governments.

2.1 Introduction [1] Successive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioners (Social Justice Commissioners) have always shown constant leadership and advocacy in reporting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights to our lands and waters in the 19 Native Title Reports written between 1994 and 2012. [2] These Reports consistently show that social justice is ...

Social Justice Report 2011 Back to Contents Appendix 2: Chronology of Events Relating to the Administration of Indigenous Affairs 1 July 2010 – 30 June 2011 DATE EVENT / SUMMARY OF ISSUE 2 July 2010 Torres Strait Islander sea rights recognised by Federal Court The Federal Court recognised the Torres Strait Regional Sea Claim Group’s native title rights over about 37 800sq. km of sea between Cape ...