Rural and Remote Mental Health Conference 2017
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Notre Dame University,
88 Guy Street, Broome
June Oscar
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
Australian Human Rights Commission
Friday 27 October 2017
Acknowledgements
[Introduction in Bunuba]
Yaningi warangira ngindaji yuwa muwayi ingirranggu, Yawuru yani U. Balangarri wadjirragali jarra ningi – gamali ngindaji yau muwayi nyirrami ngarri thangani. Yaningi miya ngindaji Muwayi ingga winyira ngarragi thangani. Yathawarra, wilalawarra jalangurru ngarri guda.
Today I stand on this land of yours the Yawuru people. There are many of us who have travelled from other areas and speak different languages. This land is hearing all our different languages. We are here to sit and talk with good feeling.
I would like to honour Country of the Yawuru people. The men, women and children. The past, present and future keepers of this land and sea country.
I would also like to acknowledge all those other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the local community and from afar who may be joining us today.
My name is June Oscar, I am a proud Bunuba woman, and I address you today as the first Aboriginal woman appointed to the role of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.
It gives me great pride to stand before you today and deliver my acknowledgments in my mother’s language, the language of Bunuba country, that land of ranges, rivers and grassy plains that is my grounding foundation.
I would like to extend my thanks to the WA Country Health Service for inviting me to speak.
Today I will talk about my work at the Australian Human Rights Commission, I will discuss the importance of language and culture to our social and emotional well-being, and I will highlight the role of our women in leading us to a better future.
Role of the Social Justice Commissioner
As the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, a big part of my responsibility is to raise awareness of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to provide guidance to Government on how to promote and protect these rights.
I look forward to bringing my experiences from living in community to this role and to elevating the voices of our people.
I have said a number of times since my appointment this April that I will work hard to ensure that the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are more than just words on a page – they must be a part of our lived reality.
Constitutional recognition
The theme of this conference is Rural and Remote Mental Health and I want to begin by acknowledging that when we look at the statistics, when we hear some of the stories coming out of our communities, we cannot escape the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health is in crisis. In order to respond effectively to this crisis, we must look at its root causes at all levels, whether they be local, regional, or national; whether they be cultural, social, or political.
For decades, centuries even, barriers to hearing our voice and supporting our peoples to realise our aspirations have undermined governments’ capacity to deliver positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Since the arrival of the British on our shores in 1788, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have consistently called for greater control over our destinies, for the ability to live freely and equally, and for greater recognition of our rights as the First Peoples of this land. This has remained an unresolved source of pain for our people.
Following the Prime Minister’s comments yesterday, it seems like this will persist further for some time.
Today, nearly 230 years later, too many of our peoples are still not able to feel at home in the place we call our own. The political systems and institutions of this country remain inadequate at providing us with a voice in the matters that affect our lives.
It is with great sadness that those in power have rejected our aspirations as reflected in the Uluru Statement[1].
We cannot turn away from the legitimate aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We have made it clear that only substance, not symbolism, will suffice.
Our people seek an answer to our powerlessness, not extra rights. We seek a resolution that is not confined by the parameters of government, but is driven by the will of our people. This is self-determination.
So long as we fail to address this question as a nation, so long as we suppress the desires of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for a greater say- the policies, the programs directed at us will flounder.
We must give meaning to the rhetoric of “doing things with”, “not to” our people. This starts with respecting our aspirations for change. We might disagree on how we get there, but we cannot afford to dismiss what our people have been calling for for generations.
The Uluru Statement merely asked to begin a conversation so that we might finally address our place in the nation and our power within it.
It is my hope that these conversations can continue and that we can sit down with government to work our way through this process. We cannot afford to close the door entirely on this issue.
We must not forget that this issue speaks not only to the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples but to the aspirations of all Australians – about the kind of nation we hope to share together.
There is a lot of goodwill that rests deep in the heart of all Australians and how we go forward from here will mean a lot for the wellbeing of this country.
There is a lot at stake here.
We know that only when we become stakeholders not recipients in the political realm, participants not mendicants, the game can change. And I think we can all agree that the game does need to change.
The health of our people, and the health of this nation depends on it.
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
When arguing for a voice in the political system here at home, it is interesting timing that Australia has recently been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Last month, we commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Australian Government formally adopted the Declaration two years later in 2009[2].
The Declaration was developed by and for Indigenous peoples across the globe and is the most far-reaching, comprehensive instrument concerning Indigenous peoples. The Declaration is underpinned by four guiding principles: self-determination; participation in decision making and free, prior and informed consent; respect for and protection of culture; and non-discrimination and equality.
Bringing full effect to the Declaration has been a challenge for many states around the world, but it is obligatory under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[3] that each nation takes key steps towards the realisation of our human rights. It is my great hope and ambition to help make the Declaration a useful tool for our mob so we know to expect and demand, and how to negotiate and participate in, equitable partnerships into the future.
While it is disappointing that there is currently no active and coordinated national plan in place to give full effect to the Declaration, I look forward to working with the Australian government in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples around the country so we can together breathe life into the Declaration through what we hope will become a National Implementation Strategy.
Close the Gap Campaign/ Closing the Gap Targets
Meaningful access to basic human rights has an immense impact on the cultural and social determinants of health. The Close the Gap Campaign, which I now co-chair along with Mr Rod Little, has right from the very beginning advocated for a human rights-based approach to addressing the health disparities in this country[4].
Achieving health equality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians has been a national priority since 2007 when the Council of Australian Governments signed the Close the Gap statement of intent[5], and went on to launch the Closing the Gap Strategy along with its series of targets relating to health, education and employment.
This Strategy and the commitment by government to make itself accountable is commendable, but the lack of progress is concerning. Six out of the seven targets are not currently on track to be met.
Participation in decision-making
Earlier this year the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz observed the failure of Australian governments to adequately support and meaningfully engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to support our right to self-determination and to ensure our full and effective participation in decision-making.
She went on to explain that she saw this as a key contributing factor undermining governments’ ability to deliver on health, education and employment targets, and to aggravating the escalating incarceration and child removal rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples[6].
As we all know, these worsening statistics are not just poor outcomes in themselves, they are also key drivers of the cycles of despair and poor mental and physical health that continue to plague our people.
Our rights, our well-being and our access to a brighter future require that governments and service providers acquire the capacity to work with us in a radically different way than has been the norm over the past several decades.
It was encouraging to hear the Prime Minister’s commitment last year and repeated several times since “to do things with Indigenous Australians, not do things to them"[7].
Ensuring that this promise can be lived up to will require very significant changes to the way government does business, and to how services are structured and supported in our communities. This is our challenge, and I look forward working together with the Commonwealth and State Governments to better position this country for success.
I have quoted a friend of mine before, Yolngu leader Gularrwuy Yunupingu who spoke no truer words than to say:
What Aboriginal people ask is that the modern world now makes the sacrifices necessary to give us a real future. To relax its grip on us. To let us breathe, to let us be free of the determined control exerted on us to make us like you. And you should take that a step further and recognise us for who we are, and not who you want us to be. Let us be who we are – Aboriginal people in a modern world – and be proud of us.[8]
Culture as a protective factor
Ours is the oldest living culture on earth. Our ancestors who, according to the most recent evidence[9], walked this land for over 65,000 years before the arrival of Europeans, prospered because of their intimate knowledge of our lands, waters and climates.
It is my great privilege to have been raised by my mother and my grandmother who knew every animal, rock and plant, who knew how to find water amongst the tall and endless plains of spikey spinifex and boabs. These lessons take a lifetime to learn and to pass on.
There is little doubt that we, the First Nations of this land, like all Australians, will continue to be influenced and impacted by modernisation, and we will encourage our children to excel in the non-Indigenous world as we want them to have unlimited choices in life and do their best in the wider society.
But we must also incorporate the traditional ways into their teachings in ways that will pay tribute and respect to our elders from across the generations – tribute in our languages, and tribute in living by the principles of what we call in my Bunuba language, Ngarranggani.
Ngarranggani lies at the heart of our culture, it is timeless, it is all past, present and future. It is our dreaming, our creator, our kinship, morality and ethics. It is the power of our land, and the source of our health.
Our cultural concepts of health feed our spirit to walk in both worlds. This is why I reiterate time and time again, the foundation to First Peoples achieving better outcomes must be centred around the abiding strength of our diverse cultures, our ceremonies, our language, our country.
Cultural continuity, or "being who we are", is foundational to our health, and evidence globally suggests that the wellbeing of Indigenous People requires the foundation of connection to traditional culture and practice[10].
We must make it a priority to keep the old people’s language and stories flowing through our communities so they are available for the sustenance of our children and our children’s children.
Our land is where our people need to be able to draw positive emotions, meaning and purpose, emotional stability, self-esteem and resilience. Land, language and culture go hand in hand. Language is the vehicle to transmit cultural strengths and positive messages about our Aboriginality from generation to generation.
That is why it has been very encouraging to hear that in the past few weeks, the NSW government has passed new legislation to recognise, revive and protect the languages of the Aboriginal peoples from across that state[11]. It is exciting to see government support for the hard work of Aboriginal community organisations who encourage and facilitate learning at the grass roots - within our families and our communities.
Effects of colonisation
Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and knowledge has been treated with very little value by Australian governments and society at large. For example, there may be some of you here today, who, like me were discouraged from using your own language at school and on the mission when you were growing. These events are still in our living memory.
The ongoing effect of the colonial process is all too telling when we look at the health statistics of Indigenous societies around the world, whether they be in New Zealand, North America, South America, Greenland and elsewhere. We should see the social tragedy facing Indigenous communities today as akin to societies recovering from war and conflict.
Unfortunately, while there are some wonderful initiatives afoot, the critical importance of our cultures is still unappreciated by a significant number of Australians who also often underestimate the level of trauma Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have suffered. This trauma is real. It is passed on through generations. As long as oppressive beliefs, systems and processes persist, our healing will remain incomplete.
It is only a society that boldly acknowledges the wrongs of the past, and is determined to address those wrongs in the present, that will succeed in creating a stronger and safer place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to prosper. We need to acknowledge the damage that the colonial agenda has wrought on our people and stress that the survival, practice and teaching of our cultures and our languages is critical in the modern world.
To quote a colleague of mine, Mr Richard Weston, CEO of the Healing Foundation:
‘It’s not about trying to have a debate in this country about blame or guilt for non-Aboriginal people, it's really just trying to understand how we got to where we are. So, if we understand how we got to where we are, we can create solutions that can change the situation’.[12]
Racism
But in order to develop this understanding of which Richard speaks, we need call out the underlying factor to so many issues afflicting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Racism – the discrimination, marginalisation and substantive inequality faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people due to our ethnicity – the colour of our skin, and the view, implicit or complicit, that somehow our relative disadvantage in society is because of our own failure or weakness as individuals, or a result of practicing our culture.
Racism makes us sick. It comes in many forms, and it need not be ‘overt’ to cause lasting damage. The effects of casual racism and repeated micro-aggressions can be just as destructive.
Perhaps the most insidious form of racism is the prejudice that is built into systems.
Systemic racism can occur through the denial and the continued marginalisation of our voices from the structures of civic governance and seats of power, the way institutions operate without due regard for our cultural difference and the their failure to take measures to allow for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have meaningful access to appropriate services. We cannot shy away from the reality, that in all these ways, racism undermines our health and impacts on society at large.
Indigenous Australians are twice as likely to have experienced racial discrimination from health workers and school staff, than the general community... Indigenous experience of racial discrimination has also increased markedly in some contexts: 29% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have felt racially discriminated against by police in the past 12 months, nearly twice as many as in 2014 (16%)... Similarly, more Indigenous respondents have experienced racial discrimination in the past year by a local shop owner and/or staff (20%) and employers (18%), compared with 2 years ago (14% and 13% respectively)[13]. Given these statistics, it is not hard to see how the racism that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face every day contributes to poorer mental health.
Racism contributes to increased substance abuse. For too many, the depressing and numbing effects of alcohol and other drugs momentarily silence the pain and resentment of ill-treatment, displacement, and disenfranchisement. And for some, that pain becomes too much to bear.
As noted in the ‘Hear our voice’ report, between 1999 and 2006, there were 96 Aboriginal suicide deaths in the Kimberley, an average of one suicide per month over that period. In my community of Fitzroy Crossing, 13 people took their own lives in 2006 alone[14].
It has also been well documented that racism can restrict access to resources required to improve health outcomes, including employment, housing, education, and health services[15]. Shame, stigma and ‘just not knowing’[16] still get in the way of help-seeking.
The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has claimed that institutional racism in the Australian health system has contributed to poor outcomes for Indigenous people.6 This is concerning and, I’m sure that you will all agree, it is of critical importance that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are able to access culturally safe and competent health services.
Australia’s Indigenous health policies are guided by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan principles. These guiding principles ask that governments adopt a holistic approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy, and recognise that the improvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health status must include attention to physical, spiritual, cultural, emotional and social well-being, community capacity and governance.[17]
When these principles are successfully applied, this has a significant and positive impact on our communities, as has been demonstrated, for example, by the National Healing Foundation’s trauma- informed programs which are based on pre-existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specific frameworks.
Quoting Richard Weston again, he said recently that:
‘In Australia we continue to try and respond to the Indigenous health crisis by putting an ‘Indigenous spin” on western approaches. We must change this around. It has to be solutions that are developed, designed and supported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves, for their own communities.’
To be effective, therefore, rather than giving into the temptation to roll out services that might work for non-Indigenous communities, we must accept that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and the organisations charged with providing services to them, are frequently confronted with unique and complex problems. These problems involve grappling with the unknown, and demand that communities, organisations and governments summon the courage to cut new paths together, paths that may sometimes seem to wander at first before they find the right track. These are the journeys we must undertake if we are to stop doing what we know doesn’t work, and to start working out what will.
All of you working in the health sector can and do have a profound effect on the health of our people. When you work with us in the right way, your individual actions contribute directly to the realisation of our human rights, and you enable the conditions for healing and re-empowerment. For this I thank you!
I would also like to take the opportunity to revisit the theme of language that I touched on earlier. Our languages are treasures to be shared, and I encourage my fellow Australians, particularly those who work with our communities, to make an effort to learn Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. When you learn another language, you learn much more than just the words, you learn about the worldview that goes with that language, and you learn more about how to effectively serve and connect with the communities with whom you work.
Community resilience and responsibility
While it is true, that colonisation and racism have served to undermine our societies and contribute to our ill-health, I want to highlight our capacity for resilience. Our very survival in this country is testament to our strength as a people and to our ability to adapt to our conditions. It is evidence of the strength of our culture, which, as I have said, must be the bedrock of any solutions to the many challenges we face.
I also want to send a strong message that we, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples cannot afford to normalise cycles of destructive behaviour. We see the cost in the eyes of our children who have come to expect this life of pain, of interaction with the care and justice systems, drugs, alcohol and little hope that things will change.
We must harness our strength and all work harder to change the narrative of low expectations, that is set upon us by others and which we inherit. We must all step up to the plate and drive positive change in our communities, in our families, in our relationships, and in ourselves.
We don’t have to wait for Governments to do this.
It is all too predictable that children who grow up amidst chaos, neglect and abuse will suffer poor mental health, they will be more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs, and will be more likely to perpetrate violence upon themselves and others. We must stand together in the knowledge the status quo is unacceptable, and we must accept that only we have the power to bring about lasting change. That is what empowerment means.
Community-driven approaches
Community-driven approaches are the key to success. My Kimberly mob here today will be familiar with the story of Fitzroy Crossing. Our community was in crisis. We could not wait for government or others to act. Too many of our people were dying and we took decisive action to on alcohol restrictions. This sort of progress relies on each community being supported to be their own agents of change, to imagine a new future and to bring that future into being.
And we must remember, empowered societies not only bring about more effective social and emotional well-being solutions, the very act of exercising agency is, in itself, a rich source of improved spiritual and mental health.
One of my predecessors, Professor Tom Calma once said:
‘Bureaucrats and governments can have the best intentions in the world, but if their ideas have not been subject to the ‘reality test’ of the life experience of the local Indigenous peoples who are intended to benefit from this, then government efforts will fail in the medium to long term’.[18]
To affect change we must speak up and make ourselves heard. We must be willing to partner with government and other organisations: to appreciate their good intentions; but at the same time not shy away from providing the necessary reality checks either. This is what well-functioning community-controlled service delivery requires, and whether they be for health or justice or any other area, these services are best placed to ensure culturally safe and effective services are provided to communities.
The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recently made the comment that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managed medical services are “indispensable for improving health indicators and overcoming disadvantage”, and she is right. [19]
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our pioneers – those who founded Aboriginal Medical Services; who became nurses, doctors, other allied medical professionals and para-professionals; those who have become world-class medical researchers and educators; and those who articulated guiding documents such as the National Aboriginal Health Strategy. We honour your legacy. We take inspiration from your achievements. And we express our determination to build on the foundations you laid to achieve our cherished goal of reaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality within a generation.
Local SEWB programs
It has been pleasing to see in the last few months, the injection of much needed funding by WA Government, for capacity building in the Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields regions for mental health.
It’s a small step in the right direction to build the skills and confidence of our social and emotional wellbeing teams to help our communities.
It’s important we use this funding to upskill Aboriginal people to lead projects aimed at building the capacity of community members to empower them and others to change their lives, their communities and the systems that are barriers to good social and emotional wellbeing.
Effective programs delivered by KAMS, such as the ‘Validating the Kimberley Mum’s Mood Scale’[20] are critical to building individual resilience. Women who suffer post-natal depression can feel alone and helpless, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman in remote Australia.
We all know that one cannot pour from any empty cup, and this program supports these women at this pivotal time in their lives so they can replenish themselves, their families and their communities.
I would also like to note the great work of the Kimberley Empowerment Healing and Leadership Program[21] which is centred on raising self-awareness of an individual’s identity and strengths. Programs like this empower individuals to take control of their lives, and allow them to heal through behavioural change so they can grow in all aspects of life.
Exciting programs such as these will inevitably impact the cultural, social and emotional wellbeing of the individual and their wider family. We need to invest in developing more of them.
Women and girls
Our female leaders are key agents for change and empowerment in this country. We hold the power to catalyse and to take a lead in re-building and healing our communities.
Historically, Indigenous women have never been considered inferior to men[22]. It was only after the introduction of European ideas that new behaviour of undermining and undervaluing the place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women was introduced.
Nonetheless, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have never stopped striving to make things better, not just for themselves, but for their families and communities.
Doctor Jackie Huggins, Co-chair of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples and a good friend of mine has said:
‘For Aboriginal women the foundation for all levels of their leadership is 'community'.
Jackie has recently ensured the National Congress had equal genders on the Executive Council and Ethics Committee.
Coming from a housing Commission House in the outer suburbs of Inala where her family were amongst the first Aboriginals to live in the area for generations, Jackie has gone on to accomplish so much for Aboriginal women, and for all Australian Women.
Another, inspirational Aboriginal women, Antoinette Braybrook grew up in semi-rural Victoria, where she and her siblings endured constant racism. So much so, that Antoinette dropped out of school at 16. Determined to change her path, she returned to her home town at 30 and later set up the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service in Victoria (FVPLS)[23].
Strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women come from all across this nation and from diverse of social environments, but they fight the same fight, to overcome adversity. They all driven by their hunger for something better.
Later this year my team and I will launch a national human rights based engagement process with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls - which is being supported by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
A key driver for this project was to acknowledge that it is now over 30 years since the landmark Women’s Business report was published in 1986. It has been too long since our collective voice was last heard at a national level.
Our aim will be to elevate the voices of our women, assess what their immediate needs are, and to guide and influence governments to implement policies and practices that foster agency within our communities and provide the conditions for positive change.
This approach recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are strong yet, in many ways, a highly vulnerable group within the Australian community. The project also acknowledges that our women and girls experience challenges that in many ways are very different to those of men and boys.
The original Women’s Business report was conducted by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and inquired into ‘the involvement of Aboriginal women in land rights, culture, health, housing, education, employment, legal aid, child welfare (with particular reference to adoption and fostering of Aboriginal children)’. Amongst other findings, the report clearly documented the desire of Indigenous women to have agency in their own lives[24].
My team and I hope to build on the legacy of this report. However, systemic change cannot come about as a result of consultation and reporting alone. This work will need to be backed up with action. With this in mind, I have proposed that, pending the availability of resources, this project should form the first phase of a longer process for focusing on human rights based capacity-building within our communities, within the government departments that serve us, and within non-government organisations.
I am very much looking forward to hearing all your voices. It is your voices that will guide us to a better tomorrow.
Yaninyja
Thank you all.
[1] Referendum Council 2017, Uluru Statement from the Heart, 26 May 2017, National Convention, Uluru. At https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017-05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF
[2] UN General Assembly, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly, 2 October 2007, A/RES/61/295. At http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf (viewed 26 October 2017).
[3] UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 993, p. 3. At http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36c0.htm (viewed 26 October 2017).
[4] Close the Gap Campaign Indigenous Health Campaign 7 May 2017. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/projects/close-gap-indigenous-health
[5] Australian Human Rights Commission, Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Equality Summit Statement of Intent 7 May 2017 At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/close-gap-indigenous-health-equality-summit-statement-intent (viewed 26 October 2017).
[6] UN General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples on her visit to Australia, 20 March – 3 April, 2017, A/GRC/36/46/Add.2. At https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G17/234/24/PDF/G1723424.pdf?OpenElement (viewed 26 October 2017).
[7] Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull MP, Closing the Gap Statement 10 February 2016. At https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/closing-the-gap-statement (viewed 26 October 2017).
[8] Gularrwuy Yunupingu, Rom Watangu, The Monthly https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2016/july/1467295200/galarrwuy-yunup (viewed 23 October 2017).
[9] Sarah Gibbons, Humans Arrived in Australia 18,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought, 20 July 2017, National Geographic. At https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/australia-aboriginal-early-human-evolution-spd/ (viewed 26 October 2017).
[10] Purdie N, Dudgeon P, Walker R, Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice (First Edition), 2010, Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). At http://research.acer.edu.au/indigenous_education/24/ (viewed 26 October 2017).
[11] Bridget Brennan, NSW introduces nation's first laws to recognise and revive Indigenous languages, 11 October 2017, ABC News.(online) At http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-11/nsw-passes-unprecedented-laws-to-revive-indigenous-languages/9039746 (viewed 26 October 2017).
[12] Andie Noonan, Culture key to suicide prevention among Indigenous Australians, experts say, ahead of global discussion, 4 April 2017, ABC News (online). At http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-04/culture-key-to-suicide-prevention-among-indigenous-australians/8412338 (viewed 23 October 2017).
[13] Polity Pty Ltd Research & Consulting , 2016 Australian Reconciliation Barometer, Reconciliation Australia 2016 (online). At https://www.reconciliation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/RA_ARB-2016_-Full-report_FINAL-1.pdf (viewed 26 October 2017).
[14] Pat Dudgeon, Kathleen Cox, Divina D’Anna, Cheryl Dunkley,
Katherine Hams, Kerrie Kelly, Clair Scrine and Roz Walker, Hear our voices Community Consultations for the Development of an Empowerment, Healing and Leadership Program for Aboriginal people living in the Kimberley, Western Australia, March 2012, Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet (online). At http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/bibliography/?lid=23764 (viewed 23 October 2017).
[15] A. Ferdinand, Y. Paradies & M. Kelaher 2013, Mental health impacts of racial discrimination in Victorian Aboriginal communities, 14 November 2012, VicHealth. At https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/media-and-resources/publications/mental-health-impacts-of-racial-discrimination-in-victorian-aboriginal-communities (viewed 26 October 2017).
[16] Nagel,T. 2005, Remote Mental Health: Indigenous women of the Top End O&G, vol. 7, no. 4, The Lowitja Institute. At http://www.lowitja.org.au/remote-mental-health-indigenous-women-top-end (viewed 23 October 2017).
[17] The Department of Health Australian Government, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/B92E980680486C3BCA257BF0001BAF01/$File/health-plan.pdf (viewed 23 October 2017).
[18] T Calma, The Right to Health of Indigenous Australians, (Speech delivered at the Inaugural course on Health, Development and Human Rights, University of New South Wales, 16 July 2007. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/site-navigation-10 (viewed 23 October 2017).
[19] Stephen Smiley, Australia must change: UN human rights rapporteur, 20 September 2017, ABC News (online). At http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/australia-must-change:-un-human-rights-rapporteur/8962922 (viewed 23 October 2017).
[20] Marley JV, Kotz J, Engelke C, Williams M, Stephen D, Coutinho S, Trust SK (2017), Validity and Acceptability of Kimberley Mum’s Mood Scale to Screen for Perinatal Anxiety and Depression in Remote Aboriginal Health Care Settings, 30 January 2017, US National Library of Medicine (online). At https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5279756/ (viewed 26 October 2017).
[21] Dudgeon P, Cox A, Walker R, Scrine C, Kelly K, Blurton D, Boladeras J, Bracknell C, Brennan T, Butorac A, Charles A, Collard L, Duffin W, Grogan G, Hams K, Hansen C, Holland C, Ingram D, Mascall C, Mia T, Miller D, McGuire V, Murray B, McGrady G, Peckham M, Riley B, Ryder A, Swift S, Taylor, Voices of the Peoples: the National Empowerment Project: national summary report 2014: promoting cultural, social and emotional wellbeing to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, 2014, Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet (online). At http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/key-resources/bibliography/?lid=28606 (viewed 26 October 2017).
[22] Manitoba Government, Manitoba Government Establishes Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission, 29 November 1999, Manitoba (online). At http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=24270&posted=1999-11-29 (viewed 26 October 2017).
[23] Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission, Antoinette Braybrook, CEO of the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service, 7 July 2015. At https://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/home/news-and-events/profiles/item/1265-antoinette-braybrook-ceo-of-the-aboriginal-family-violence-prevention-and-legal-service (viewed 26 October 2017).
[24] Phyllis Daylight, Mary Johnstone, Women’s Business: Report of the Aboriginal Women’s Taskforce, Australian Government Publishing Service Canberra1986.