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In 1999 and 2000 the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the CERD Committee) and the Human Rights Committee (HRC) of the United Nations both criticised the 1998 amendments to the Native Title Act 1993 (the NTA) as limiting the rights of Indigenous people.(1) The committees found that the amendments were discriminatory and recommended that Australia either suspend implementation…

The following 58 legal instruments must be amended to eliminate discrimination against same-sex couples and their children in the area of financial and work-related entitlements.

On 13 February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, on behalf of the Australian Parliament, made a historic and long overdue national Apology to the Stolen Generations. With eloquence and emotion, Prime Minister Rudd said what so many Australians have wanted to say, and what so many Indigenous peoples have needed to hear:

This bibliography has been prepared by the Rural Education, Research and Development Centre, Townsville, Qld according to guidelines established by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to assist in its inquiry into aspects of rural and remote school education provision in Australia. It attempts to include highly relevant, more recent, seminal, theoretical and policy-oriented…

While the native title system is able to deliver social and cultural outcomes through determinations of native title, Indigenous land use agreements (ILUAs) are one of the only ways in which native title holders can pursue economic development.

This is an Inquiry into discrimination against same-sex couples regarding access to financial and work-related entitlements and benefits. Many of Australia’s laws exclude same-sex couples from financial and work-related entitlements and benefits that are enjoyed by heterosexual couples. For example, same-sex couples do not enjoy the same tax and health concessions as other de facto couples…

Imagine the sea rising around you as your country literally disappears beneath your feet, where the food you grow and the water you drink is being destroyed by salt, and your last chance is to seek refuge in other lands...[1]

This Chapter considers options for addressing lateral violence in environments that concern our lands, territories and resources. Although this is the beginning of the conversation, the Chapter aims to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities some ideas about how to address lateral violence through the establishment of strong structural foundations and principles. It…

This report contains a summary of observations by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) following its July 2009 visit to Australia’s immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island. It follows the Commission’s 2006, 2007 and 2008 annual reports on inspections of immigration detention facilities.[1]

5.1 Introduction The significant role of business to respect and support our human rights is increasingly being recognised. Although the protection of human rights remains the responsibility of government, business is realising that human rights are both relevant and fundamental to their operations. In many of the conversations I have had with business and community leaders across the…

The following material was provided to the Inquiry by Michael Williams, Chairman of the Swedish Network of Refugee and Asylum Support Groups in a series of emails in April 2003.

The project was officially supported by the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia, the Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria, the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, the Islamic Council of Victoria, the Islamic Girls’ and Women's Group, the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues, the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition and Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE. The…

When people enter an aged care facility they usually have to pay certain daily fees and other payments to fund their care and residence. The Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) (the Aged Care Act) sets out how those fees and payments should be calculated in both public and private aged care facilities.

Education is a key determinant in predicting health and well-being, longevity, employment, housing and economic stability. This section documents the issues emerging from the consultations and public submissions in relation to education.

When we look at the many issues that face Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, it is easy to get paralysed by their complexity, entrenched nature and the sheer size of the challenge. But as an optimist, I believe that there is a lot that we can do to address these problems. There are many different tools available to suit the varying circumstances that face our diverse communities…