Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Report launched today

Australian Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs and Deputy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Robynne Quiggin today launch the Social Justice and Native Title Report 2016.

The document is a state-of-the-nation report on the social justice and native title issues affecting Indigenous Australians in 2016.

Major developments during the year include the united call for action embedded in the Redfern Statement, and continuing challenges in relation to Indigenous incarceration.

“We also report on progress regarding the Constitutional recognition of Australia’s first peoples, the place of broader treaty discussions, and the High Court decision on paperless arrest laws,” say Professor Triggs and Deputy Commissioner Quiggin.

Professor Triggs notes the report urges governments to genuinely engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to address issues such as property rights, justice targets and escalating incarceration rates.

Professor Triggs, who is acting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, says it is intolerable to have continuing high rates of incarceration and death in prison, 25 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

Deputy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Robynne Quiggin, says reforms such as those put forward by the Indigenous Property Rights Project, together with consultations on constitutional recognition, would help deliver a society that values Indigenous knowledge and the human rights of Indigenous peoples.

“We ask governments and policymakers to listen to, value and implement the practical solutions proposed by Indigenous Australians,” the Deputy Commissioner says.

The Social Justice and Native Title Report 2016 is the seventh and final report covering the term of the previous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda, who resigned in August 2016 to join the Royal Commission into the Child Protection and Youth Detention Systems of the Northern Territory.

Launch details: Media are invited to attend today’s launch at 3pm at LendLease, Level 14, Tower 3, International Towers Exchange Place, 300 Barangaroo Avenue, Sydney.

Media contact:  Dominic O’Grady for Deputy Commissioner Robynne Quiggin.
M: 0419 258 597. E: dominic.ogrady@humanrights.gov.au