2014 WACOSS Conference

Mick Gooda

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner

Australian Human Rights Commission



Tuesday 6 May 2014

Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre

Acknowledgements



It is with respect and gratitude that I acknowledge that we sit today on the lands of the Whadjuk Noongar peoples.



My people are the Gangulu from the Dawson Valley in central Queensland. On behalf of my Elders I also pay tribute to your Elders, both past and present, for their continued struggle for their country and their culture.



Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. The work that you do in your organisations provides services to some of our most vulnerable citizens and strengthens the capacity of communities.



The title of this morning’s session is ‘Recognition of Aboriginal people in the Constitution and the possibility of Aboriginal advancement’. Without a doubt, I see constitutional recognition as a pathway for advancement. I have said again and again, that is it is a real nation building opportunity and the benefits will extend to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and non-Australians alike. It is a journey that will mark our maturity as an inclusive, just nation.



But constitutional recognition is by no means the only possibility for advancement. In fact, what I want to discuss this morning is how constitutional recognition connects with a broader human rights approach. I want to talk about some of the practical connections that you can make as practitioners, service deliverers and advocates. I will explain human rights further and introduce you to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a tool to guide your engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Finally, I will return to the campaign for constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.



But firstly, let me start by giving you an outline of this position that I currently occupy, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Social Justice Commissioner, and a snapshot of my agenda.



2014 is 21 years since this position was established as a result of the Native Title Act, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and a HREOC Inquiry into racial hatred. Previous Social Justice Commissioners are Professor Mick Dodson, Dr Bill Jonas, Dr Tom Calma and Ms Zita Antonios.



As Social Justice Commissioner, I have some statutory duties. I’m required to provide to the Australian Parliament an annual Social Justice Report and I also provide a report on Native Title. I’m also required to:

• review the impact of laws and policies with regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• promote an Indigenous perspective on issues and
• monitor the enjoyment and exercise of human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

As Social Justice Commissioner I only have five staff, so I quickly realised that it would be unrealistic to pick even one of the myriad of challenges facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, like education, housing or employment and expect to fix it by January 2015.



I believe that fixing these issues will require the intergenerational commitment of the whole nation.

Instead, at the centre of my priorities is the belief that we need to firstly develop stronger and deeper relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the rest of the Australia.

Secondly, we need to develop stronger and deeper relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and all levels of government.

And thirdly, we need to develop stronger and deeper relationships between ourselves as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

I believe human rights are one of the most powerful tools to help build good relationships. And the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the foundational document in human rights for all Indigenous peoples.



The Declaration contains a number of key principles underpinning the rights it protects. Those key principles can be summarised as:

• First, self-determination
• Second, participation in decision-making and free, prior and informed consent
• Third, respect for and protection of culture
• Forth, non-discrimination and equality.

In my opinion, the Declaration and its key principles and rights can help improve all the types of relationships I talked about earlier.



The Declaration should also be used as a tool for reconciliation – for building relationships based on respect between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the broader Australian community. Just like constitutional recognition, it has the ability to lead to positive change for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, while at the same time bringing Australians together.



So what does this mean in your daily work?



I think if you keep coming back to those four principles I just mentioned- self-determination, participation in decision-making and free, prior and informed consent, respect for and protection of culture and non-discrimination and equality you get a good idea about the what this means in practice.



I challenge people from all walks of life to apply these four principles to the work they do with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.



At an organisational level, it might be as simple as making sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are involved in your decision making and actively consulted about your services. It might be seriously considering some of the cultural barriers that make accessing your service challenging for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and then developing a plan to address this. It might be thinking of a way you can celebrate the vibrancy and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in your community.



These are just ideas, ultimately, what I am saying is that putting the Declaration into practice is not a program of work, nor is it a tokenistic checklist. It is an approach. It requires attitudinal shift, self-reflection and the willingness to actively listen and engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.



At a social services sector wide level there are also unique challenges and opportunities to put the Declaration into practice.

Most NGOs are doing great work in our communities. However, as I travel across Australia, unfortunately I am hearing stories that some NGOs are edging out Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services in competitive tenders.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander run services do fantastic work. However, it appears that some of our organisations struggle to compete with the larger NGOs in terms of cost, capacity and evaluation.

Even more worrying, I am hearing that some non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations are not operating in a culturally secure way. This can make services less accessible and result in fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people using them. This is certainly not to say that these practices are reflective of all NGOs working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. But I do think that cultural security is always a challenge across organisations.

The bottom line is, organisations that work in and for our communities need to develop their cultural security and do their work in line with the principles of the Declaration.

Done well, this can facilitate a mutually beneficial relationship between the Aboriginal community controlled sector and the NGO sector. Aboriginal organisations can help NGOs increase their cultural security in delivering services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. At the same time, NGOs have the experience to complement the capacity of the Aboriginal community controlled sector in areas like administration, best practice programs, evaluation and organisational governance. This is how genuine partnership works.

I am very pleased to be able to tell you about a sector-wide approach to partnership in the Northern Territory. In February 2013 a Forum was held in Alice Springs, bringing together non-Aboriginal NGOs operating in the Northern Territory along with the Territory’s Aboriginal peak bodies.^[1] The NT Council of Social Services were key drivers of this process.

The Forum initiated the development of key principles to guide new ways of working between NGOs and Aboriginal organisations in the Northern Territory to ensure collaboration and partnership.^[2] The primary objective of the ‘NGO Principles’ is to put ‘Aboriginal people back into the driver’s seat’ in regards to service delivery and community development.^[3] The principles also explicitly draw on the Declaration.

I believe that these principles, if widely adopted and implemented, could facilitate the much needed mutually beneficial relationships between the Aboriginal community controlled sector and the NGO sector. These Principles are a practical example of utility of a human rights-based approach. It would be great to see an organisation like WACOSS take up the challenge of starting a similar partnership process in your state.

And finally, another way to realise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander human rights is through the campaign for recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australia Constitution.

A referendum to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution is an opportunity to redefine our national identity based on recognition, respect and inclusion and to change the role of government in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lives.

We know that a successful referendum will encourage reconciliation among all Australians and enable practical improvements to the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Reforming the Constitution will also provide an opportunity for all Australians to acknowledge and be proud of our histories and cultures that existed – and continue to exist – before the Constitution was written.

In February 2013 we witnessed a historic step toward a referendum when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act 2013 (Act of Recognition) was passed unanimously through Federal Parliament. The Act of Recognition provides acknowledgement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique place as Australia’s first peoples. It also prescribes that a review will be commenced considering proposals for constitutional change, their likely levels of support in the community and likelihood of success. ^[4] This report must be completed by 27 September 2014 and tabled in parliament within 15 sitting days.

The Act of Recognition is a welcome development but it is only a first step. I urge the Government to build on the work of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The recommendations acknowledge the need to couple recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia’s first peoples with reforms to address the provisions of the Constitution which permit, enable or anticipate racial discrimination.

The success of constitutional reform lies in the hand of every day Australians. A public education campaign is being run by Recognise and is now mobilising large number of Australian from all walks of life. At the moment, before we know what the referendum question will be, the aim is to try and build popular support and momentum.

This will need to be a community movement; we will need to take the whole community with us.And that is where you as organisations and individuals come in. The more voices supporting constitutional recognition, the greater the chance of success.

There is a long way to go on constitutional reform. But I believe in the innate decency of the Australian people to walk with us on this next important stage of our national journey towards reconciliation.

So finally, to bring all of this together. What does constitutional law have to do with how NGOs in the Northern Territory work and what does any of it have to do with human rights?



Well, to me it is about relationships, respect and responsibilities. At every point, at every interaction, we have the opportunity to recognise, rather than diminish. We have the opportunity to work in partnership; we have the responsibility to value each other’s humanity and rights.



And the more we do this, the more we see practical examples of reconciliation and human rights in practice, the more we see the fabric of Australia change. The question won’t be why should we change the Constitution to recognise Australia’s first peoples, but why haven’t we done it already?



Thank you.

^[1] The Forum was jointly hosted by the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APO NT), Congress, Australian Council of Social Services, NT Council of Social Services and Strong Aboriginal Families, Together. See APO NT, Non-Indigenous NGO Service Delivery in Remote NT Communities. At http://apont.org.au/index.php/ngo-forum-11-february-2013.html (viewed 8 October 2013).

^[2] Forum on the role of Non-Indigenous Organisations’ engagement in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (Communiqué, 11 February 2013). At http://apont.org.au/attachments/article/72/130211-Communique-NGO%20Forum%2011%20February%202013-meeting%20outcomes.pdf (viewed 8 October 2013).

^[3] Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory, Principles for a partnership-centred approach for NGOs working with Aboriginal organisations and communities in the Northern Territory (2013). At http://apont.org.au/attachments/article/72/210313%20-%20Principles%20for%20NGOs%20-%20Final.pdf (viewed 8 October 2013).

^[4] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act 2012 (Cth), s 4