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When it comes to ‘good policy’ in Indigenous affairs, a core requirement is the effective participation of Indigenous peoples in all decisions that impact on their lives. In practice, this means governments have a responsibility to actively involve Indigenous peoples in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies that affect them, and to make the necessary changes to avoid or address any adverse impacts.

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.

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.

That there be established a regular federal parliamentary committee of inquiry into the progress of the new arrangements in Indigenous affairs and progress in achieving whole-of-government service delivery to Indigenous communities.

Australia"s sole independent watchdog on Indigenous rights and programs said the government"s progress in implementing the new arrangements for Indigenous affairs over the past 12 months has been mixed - with some significant developments in promoting whole-of-government coordination, but some worrying gaps and challenges yet to be adequately addressed.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, has issued a challenge to Australian governments to address Indigenous health inequality and inequality of opportunity through a new campaign outlined in this year"s Social Justice Report.

Mr Calma is an Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in Northern Territory, respectively. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level and worked in the public sector for over 30 years.

A note from the Commissioner New arrangements for Indigenous affairs New arrangements event timeline What are the new arrangements ? Walking with the women Race discrimination and shared responsibility agreements Getting more out of native title Agreement making guidelines Links to the new arrangements Where to from here?

This is my first Social Justice Report to the federal Parliament as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. I commenced my five year term at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission on 12 July 2004.

In accordance with the functions set out in section 46C(1)(a) of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth), this report includes 5 recommendations - 2 in relation to the needs of Indigenous women exiting prison and 3 relating to the new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs. The report also contains 10 follow up actions that my office will undertake over the next twelve months in relation to the new arrangements. These and the recommendations are reproduced here and appear at the relevant part of the report.

This appendix provides an overview of the main events leading up to the introduction of the new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs on 1 July 2004, as well as the key events which have occurred since that time to implement the new arrangements.

The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (RDA) makes it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. The proscriptions of unlawful discrimination in the RDA potentially apply to Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs), including:

The Social Justice Report 2003 is the fifth report by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Dr William Jonas. It was tabled in federal Parliament, along with the Native Title Report 2003, in March 2004.

In accordance with the functions set out in section 46C(1)(a) of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth), this report includes 12 recommendations. The recommendations appear in the text of the report and are also reproduced here.

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.

In the Social Justice Report 1999, my first report as Social Justice Commissioner, I identified four key themes and challenges that existed in the approach of the federal government to Indigenous policy making at the time. These were moving beyond welfare dependency, accountability, participation and reconciliation.[1] Since the release of that report approximately four years ago, the key themes and challenges facing the government have remained relatively constant.

The twin pillars of the government's approach to Indigenous policy in 2003 continued to be practical reconciliation, with its emphasis on service delivery in core areas of disadvantage, and mutual obligation, with its emphasis on reciprocity and individual responsibility. Through both of these policies, the government has identified moving Indigenous people beyond welfare dependency and enabling Indigenous participation in program delivery and design as key features of its approach.

In September 2002, the South Australian Coroner brought down his findings in the inquests into the deaths of Kunmanara[1] Ken (who died on 3 August 1999), Kunmanara Hunt (who died on 27 January 2001) and Kunmanara Thompson (who died on 26 June 2001). Each of these young Anangu was a chronic petrol sniffer (they had been sniffing for at least ten years) in their mid to late twenties living on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands (AP Lands). All three were found to have died as a result of inhalation of petrol fumes.[2]

back to contents Chapter 5: Addressing family violence in Indigenous communities 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. The intensive scrutiny and public awareness of this issue has not, however, led to sufficient commitments of resources and effort to date.

This collection of statistics has been chosen for their relevance in highlighting the key characteristics of the Indigenous population. It focuses on key areas such as health, education, employment, housing, and contact with criminal justice and welfare systems. Where possible, the data is presented in a way that identifies absolute and relative change in the situation of Indigenous peoples over the past five and ten years, and provides some international comparisons.