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The Australian Government has signalled that economic development is a central focus for the Indigenous Affairs portfolio this term. The Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs, created in May 2004 to drive and coordinate the federal Government’s Indigenous policies,1 identified as one of three key areas2 for priority action:

The most distressing aspect about the level of juvenile justice intrusion in the lives of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is the fact that entry into the system is usually the start of a long career of incarceration for many (SNAICC submission 309 page 28).

Indigenous children throughout Australia remain very significantly over-represented `in care' and in contact with welfare authorities. Their over-representation increases as the intervention becomes more coercive, with the greatest over-representation being in out-of-home care. Indigenous children appear to be particularly over-represented in long-term foster care arrangements. A high percentage of Indigenous children in long-term foster care live with non-Indigenous carers.

“The discussion about a new National Representative Body is about our place at the table in making the decisions that impact on our communities, on our men, our women and our children.

One of the deaths in this section has now been acknowledged by the South Australian Government in its 1994/95 implementation report as a death in custody (A2SA). The prisoner in the case was 'released' from custody on his deathbed.

The reporting period for this Report is 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. Throughout this period, there was significantly more activity in native title law and policy than I witnessed in the first five years of my term as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

One of the Commission’s central functions is to undertake education programs that increase public awareness and generate discussion of human rights and anti-discrimination issues within Australia.

Family violence and abuse is causing untold damage to the cultures and fabric of Indigenous societies. It is damaging our communities, our families, our women, our children and our men. All Indigenous people are entitled to live their lives in safety and full human dignity - without fear of intimidation, family violence or abuse. This is their cultural and their human right. Like all Australians, Indigenous peoples are also entitled to the full and equal protection of the law.

The deceased was travelling with a friend in a car on Kloeden St, Ceduna at around 1:30am on the morning of Sunday 2 July. The car was approached by police who later stated that they were attending to a break-in in the street. The officers ran a warrant check on the pair. The friend was allowed to go but the deceased was arrested on warrants for non-payment of fines and a non-appearance on an assault police charge at Port Lincoln Courthouse, 300km from Ceduna. Following the arrest procedures the deceased was placed in the police cell complex around about 2.30am.

(a) whether the finding of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) that the Native Title Amendment Act 1998 is inconsistent with Australia's international legal obligations, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, is sustainable on the weight of informed opinion;

The 'right to negotiate' is a fundamental right assured by the Commonwealth Native Title Act (the 'NTA') and reflected in international human rights standards. Yet in practice the capacity of native title parties to exercise their 'right to negotiate' is determined by factors other than the mere existence of the right. Given the primary role of state and territory governments in land administration, their policies regarding the administration of the right to negotiate have a significant impact on native title parties' capacity to exercise their 'right to negotiate'.