Search results

The year 2007 is the fortieth anniversary of the 1967 constitutional referendum. The referendum changed the Australian Constitution however it didn’t specify directions to be taken. In many ways, it could be said that the referendum represented promises to Indigenous Australians for new ways of enjoying human rights, and promises to other Australians that Indigenous citizens could expect a…

This UPR Progress Report operates as a statement of key human rights concerns and developments in Australia in 2013. The report is the third in a series of annual reports that are being developed in the lead up to Australia’s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in October 2015. Each report identifies important milestones as well as…

Australia’s key human rights obligations which are relevant to asylum seekers, refugees and people in immigration detention are set out below. People should not be returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened (referred to as ‘ refoulement’) [208] Everyone has the right not to be subjected to arbitrary detention [209] Children should only be detained as a measure of…

6.1 Commission projects and publications The Commission has considered issues relating to the human rights of people impacted by section 501 visa refusals or cancellations in the following work: The Commission’s report: 2011 Immigration detention at Villawood: Summary of observations from visit to detention facilities at Villawood [106] The Commission’s 2009 submission to the Senate Standing…

According to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (also called the Refugee Convention), a refugee is someone who is outside their own country and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their:

As my predecessor pointed out in the Native Title Report 2003, native title is a political process as well as a legal process. Indigenous people enter a relationship with the State on the basis of their identity as the traditional owner group of an area of land. In some cases native title has provided the first opportunity since colonisation for a relationship of this type to be formed.

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

1. Make a list of what you have learnt about Indigenous issues from your reading of Face the Facts - Questions and Answers about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples:

In 2006 the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet made a revealing statement about Indigenous affairs. He argued that his own government’s policy performance in the Indigenous portfolio had been a failure. He went further to say that while well intentioned, the policies and approaches of the past 30 years had contributed to poor outcomes for Indigenous people.