Social Justice Report 2006: Information Sheet 6: Recommendations
Social Justice Report 2006
Information Sheet
6: Recommendations
The Social Justice Report 2006
contains the following nine recommendations and one follow up
action.
Chapter Two:
The new arrangements for Indigenous affairs
– facilitating Indigenous access to government services
Recommendation 1: Directed to federal
Parliament
That there be established a regular federal
parliamentary committee of inquiry into the progress of the new arrangements in
Indigenous affairs and progress in achieving whole-of-government service
delivery to Indigenous communities.
This inquiry should be conducted every two years. Its
terms of reference should include identifying:
- Progress in addressing existing inequalities in
Indigenous peoples’ access (both urban and remote) to mainstream services
(including the adequacy of processes to ensure that Indigenous specific
expenditure supplements mainstream expenditure rather than substitutes for this expenditure); - Progress in ensuring that processes are targeted so as
to address existing need; - Effective, sustainable and representative mechanisms
for the participation of Indigenous peoples at the local, regional and national
levels; - The adequacy of performance monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms for the new arrangements, including the adequacy of data collected to
evaluate progress in addressing Indigenous disadvantage; and - Whether the new arrangements are meeting the
commitments made by the Australian Government through COAG to overcome
Indigenous disadvantage.
The
committee’s terms of reference should also require it to report on the
extent to which the new arrangements in Indigenous affairs comply with human
rights-based approaches to development and engagement with Indigenous
peoples.
The committee’s inquiry processes
should be required to maximise participation by Indigenous peoples, including by
consulting widely with Indigenous communities and organisations.
Recommendation 2: Directed to the Council of
Australian Governments, National Indigenous Council and Ministerial Taskforce on
Indigenous Affairs
That there is acknowledgement by government of the
importance of a human rights-based approach to development in order to
effectively implement the new arrangements and the achievement of effective and
sustainable improvements in Indigenous living standards and well-being.
This requires acknowledgement of the importance of
Indigenous forms of social organisation on the basis of mutual respect and good
faith and for supported processes, including through capacity building
initiatives, to ensure that the aspirations of Indigenous peoples are able to be
voiced.
Recommendation 3: Directed to the Office of
Indigenous Policy Coordination
That, in exercise of its coordination and monitoring
role at a whole-of-government level, the Office of Indigenous Policy
Coordination:
- Identify and promote best practice examples of
improving accessibility of mainstream services as achieved through individual
programs (such as Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme equivalent access
arrangements) as well as through whole-of-government coordination initiatives
(such as ICCs and SRAs); and
Develop its
proposed Indigenous urban strategy with the full participation of Indigenous
communities and peoples in urban localities, and with the inclusion of explicit
targets and benchmarks for improved access to programs.
Chapter Three:
Addressing the fundamental flaw of the new
arrangements for Indigenous affairs – the absence of principled engagement
with Indigenous peoples
Recommendation 4: Directed to the Australian Public
Service Commission (APSC) and Secretaries Group on Indigenous Affairs.
That the Secretaries Group request the
Australian Public Service Commissioner to conduct a confidential survey of staff
in Indigenous Coordination Centres to identify current issues in the
implementation of the new arrangements and the challenges being faced in
achieving whole-of-government coordination. This survey should be conducted by
the APSC in furtherance of the Management Advisory Committee's Connecting
Government report.
Recommendation 5: Directed to the Ministerial
Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs and National Indigenous Council
That the Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs
acknowledge that the absence of mechanisms at the regional level for engagement
of Indigenous peoples contradicts and undermines the purposes of the federal
whole-of-government service delivery arrangements.
Further, that the Ministerial Taskforce direct the
Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination to address this deficiency as an urgent
priority, including by:
- consulting with Indigenous communities and
organisations as to suitable structures, including by considering those
proposals submitted to the government for regional structures; - utilising the ‘expert panels’ and
‘multiuse list of community facilitators/ coordinators’ to
prioritise consideration of this issue; and - funding interim mechanisms to coordinate Indigenous
input within regions and with a view to developing culturally appropriate models
of engagement.
Further, that the
National Indigenous Council request the OIPC to report quarterly on progress in
developing regional engagement arrangements and the mechanisms put into place to
facilitate Indigenous participation in this process.
Chapter
Four:
International developments on the
rights of indigenous peoples – Closing the ‘protection
gap’
Recommendation 6: Directed to the Office of
Indigenous Policy Coordination
That the federal Government identify a focal point to
coordinate, on a whole-of-government basis, its Program for the Second Decade of
the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The focal point should consult with
Indigenous organisations in determining the activities to be undertaken for the
Decade, in accordance with the goal, objectives and Program of Action for the
Decade. The government’s program should specifically respond to the items
identified in the Program of Action for the Second Decade, rather than being a
general thematic response. The program should also be operational within this
financial year.
Further, that the government
allocate specific funding for the conduct of activities for the Second Decade,
as determined through the consultations with Indigenous peoples.
Recommendation 7: Directed to the Office of
Indigenous Policy Coordination and Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade
That the federal Government specify the
process for consideration of funding for engagement in international
deliberations and identify focal points within each federal department or agency
(for example, the relevant contact point within the Department of the
Environment and Heritage for engagement on issues relating to the Convention on
Biological Diversity).
Recommendation 8: Directed to the Indigenous Peoples
Organisations Network and Australian Council for International
Development
That the non-government sector,
led by members of the Australian Council for International Development as
appropriate, engage with Indigenous organisations and the IPO Network to build
partnerships for the implementation of the Second International Decade (as well
as highlighting the relevance of the Millennium Development Goals to the
situation of Indigenous peoples in Australia).
Recommendation 9: Directed to the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAid and Office of Indigenous Policy
Coordination
That the Department of Foreign Affairs, in conjunction
with the Social Justice Commissioner, conduct regular briefings for all agency
heads on developments on the rights of Indigenous peoples, including the right
to development (including the human rights-based approach to development),
Millennium Development Goals and Second International Decade for the
World’s Indigenous People. The Secretaries Group on Indigenous Affairs
would be the appropriate body to receive these
briefings.
Further, that AusAid be invited to
contribute to the Secretaries Group on Indigenous Affairs to identify lessons
that can be learned from Australia’s international development activities
for policy making on Indigenous issues within Australia.
Follow Up Action by Social Justice Commissioner
(Chapter Three)
The Social Justice Commissioner will work with
Indigenous organisations and communities to identify sustainable options for
establishing a national Indigenous representative body.
The Commissioner will conduct research and consultations
with non-government organisations domestically and internationally to establish
existing models for representative structures that might be able to be adapted
to the cultural situation of Indigenous Australians, as well as methods for
expediting the establishment of such a body given the urgent and compelling need
for such a representative body.