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Social Justice Report 2004 :

Social Justice Report 2004

Statement - Press conference, Tabling of Social Justice Report 2004 and Native Title Report 2004

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    • Mr Tom Calma

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), Parliament House, Canberra, 8 April 2005

    I would like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunawal people, the traditional owners of the land where we meet.

    Thank you for joining me here on the occasion of the tabling of the Social Justice Report 2004 and the Native Title Report 2004. Both reports were tabled in Parliament out of session earlier today.

    These are my first annual reports as Social Justice Commissioner. They are released at a time of great change for Indigenous affairs, with the abolition of ATSIC and new whole of government initiatives.

    These reports set out how I will go about my role as the independent watchdog to monitor and ultimately report to Parliament on developments in Indigenous affairs.

    The Social Justice Report:

    • Sets out how I will approach the role of Social Justice Commissioner, and indicates some of my key priorities over the coming years;
    • Offers a preliminary analysis of the new arrangements that have been put into place at the federal level for administering Indigenous affairs
    • Sets out the relevant factors to be met to ensure that Shared Responsibility Agreements with Indigenous peoples and communities do not breach the Racial Discrimination Act 1975; and
    • Provides an overview of the programs available for Indigenous women upon exiting prison.

    In relation to the new arrangements the report notes that:

    • The new processes have not been in place long enough for us to be able to decide whether they will be beneficial or detrimental to Indigenous peoples. It will probably be a mix of both - my interest is to minimise any detriment to Indigenous people;
    • They contain a number of very positive developments - such as moves to simplified funding processes, more coordinated service delivery and grant funding for 3 year cycles
    • But there are also a range of issues on which I have preliminary concerns
      • One is ensuring that we have a skilled public service that can interact appropriately with Indigenous people and communities - there are cultural issues here as well as ensuring that staff on the ground have skills in capacity development;
      • Another issue is the way that the government informs Indigenous communities about what it is doing - it is clear to me that at the moment communities do not understand these new arrangements sufficiently. I have discussed this with the govt and pointed out that a failure to properly communicate its intentions could significantly undermine progress
    • I have also flagged a number of issues which are of critical importance but on which the government is not sufficiently advanced to date. I have identified these as challenges for government, which I will be closely watching developments.
    • These challenges include:
      • ensuring that Indigenous people are able to participate fully in decision making, including through representative structures; and
      • ensuring that we do not see the introduction of punitive funding models where communities are negotiating for the delivery of basic services and citizenship entitlements.

    The report also provides a very good illustration of the challenges that currently exist for all governments. This is with a review of support for Indigenous women exiting prison. It finds that there are some innovative programs, but that generally they are uncoordinated and piecemeal.

    The Native Title Report sets out principles for promoting economic and social development through native title. I intend to further develop the principles and their application to the native title system through discussions with Commonwealth, State and Territory governments over the coming year. This will include a detailed analysis of options such as the leasing of Indigenous land.

    The central message in this report, however, is that native title has been distanced from debates about addressing Indigenous disadvantage and has not been considered a tool for achieving economic prosperity. This needs to change.

    I will shortly be releasing a community guide to both reports which will be distributed nationally through the two major fortnightly Indigenous newspapers. I have also signalled that I will be consulting with Indigenous communities and representative structures about the impact of the new arrangements.

    I welcome any questions you may for me about the reports.

    Thank you