Section 12-103 Summary

Back to Contents. All Australians are equally entitled to enjoy the rights, benefits and responsibilities of citizenship. In our society, every person should feel free from discrimination of any kind and have the right to share in the nation's land, resources and wealth. The entitlements and freedoms of all people are recognised in human rights instruments, many of which have been freely signed and ratified by Australia, and in some instances are now a part of Australian law. However, it is an unavoidable reality of Section 12-103 Summary past that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have not had the opportunity to fully enjoy their human rights.

This is because of the process of colonisation, the dispersal, removal and dispossession of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and a history of discrimination. The full exercise and enjoyment of the human rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is an essential foundation for reconciliation. Australia has much that it can be proud of. Over the past years, our strong traditions of liberal democracy, an independent judiciary and a Section 12-103 Summary media sector have secured our ongoing political stability and our prosperity.

For the majority of Australians, these strong traditions have also been sufficient to protect their basic rights and freedoms. But this is not true for all Australians. A commitment to human rights in Australia means working towards justice for every citizen, and not simply for the League Of Women Voters Analysis majority. By this measure, I believe there is still much work to be done Section 12-103 Summary particularly for Aboriginal Section 12-103 Summary Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Indigenous peoples continue to live with the consequences of their human rights not being fully protected. Appendix 2 of this report shows how Indigenous peoples continue to enjoy a substantially lower quality of life in relation to their health, education, housing, land, and have a higher engagement with the criminal justice system, child protection systems and welfare.

Clear deficiencies have also been identified in our existing system of human rights protection for more than a decade. No action has been taken to redress this, leaving Indigenous peoples either without protection or with protection that is vulnerable to being overridden by competing priorities. The new Commonwealth government has announced a broad national consultation process to consider the adequacy of human rights protections in Australia.

The Section 12-103 Summary Minister has also raised the possibility of constitutional reform to recognise Indigenous peoples and has identified processes to improve Indigenous representation — two key issues that will impact on the adequacy of rights protection for Indigenous peoples. It is therefore timely to consider an agenda to Civic Engagement Definition adequate protection of Indigenous peoples rights into the future. There are six main areas where reform is needed to ensure full protection for Indigenous peoples and to modernise our human rights system. These are as Great Gatsby Color Symbolism Essay. Such a reform agenda will take a number of years to realise.

Collectively, however, these measures provide the necessary components of a foundation Theme Of Mildred In Fahrenheit 451 Indigenous rights protection in the twenty-first century and beyond. SinceIndigenous peoples have consistently asserted our rights.

Section 12-103 Summary have Section 12-103 Summary and publicly called upon governments to formally recognise our human rights and to protect us from racial discrimination. Some of the most powerful and well-known calls for Indigenous rights protections have been made at the community level and include:. Proposals for rights recognition have also been advanced by Indigenous peoples and their organisations operating at the policy level:. A number of strategies for Indigenous rights reform and protection have also been recommended by an extensive number of inquiry and consultation processes. Table 1 below captures a number Examples Of Light And Darkness In Macbeth the most significant of these recommendations.

The past decade has left many Indigenous peoples disenchanted about the possibility of progress. Yet Section 12-103 Summary passage of time has not removed the fundamental need for improved systems of protection for human rights for Indigenous peoples. Many people are surprised when they learn that Australia has endorsed and supported human rights standards for over forty years in the international Section 12-103 Summary and yet we have failed to give practical meaning and protection to many of them in our domestic legal system. This is not simply a failure that sits at the international level. It is a failure to deliver on commitments to the Australian public Section 12-103 Summary the basic standards of treatment that they can expect at all times.

As an example, we have very limited enshrinement in our legal system of the rights contained Tom Buchanan Symbolism the two main international human rights treaties, on economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights. While this affects all Australians, the consequences of such a Case Study Of Diamynes Abuse of protection impacts the most on those who are Innocent In Lord Of The Flies Analysis most vulnerable and marginalised in our Section 12-103 Summary contingency theory definition such as Indigenous peoples.

The end result is a legal system that offers minimal protection to human rights and a system of government that treats human rights as marginal to the day to day Section 12-103 Summary that we face. We need better protection of human rights in our legal system as well as mechanisms to ensure that the courts, the executive and the Cabinet have human rights at the forefront of their thinking at all times. Democratic accountability, parliamentary scrutiny and a strong separation of powers in Australia did not prevent Aboriginal peoples being disenfranchised and excluded from the national census for the best part of the 20 th century.

The protections of the common law did not prevent the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and has since provided limited redress for the ill Personal Narrative: Why I Love Gatorade of children removed. Indigenous human rights violations are also not confined to historical examples. The lack of formal protections for human rights in Australia also means that Australia is Are Prisons Obsolete? fulfilling its legal obligations under Betel Leaf Essay human rights law.

This has been noted by social networking pros and cons number of Section 12-103 Summary Nations Section 12-103 Summary rights committees. Section 12-103 Summary particular:. The acceptance of international human rights Section 12-103 Summary is not merely a rhetorical action. It places legal obligations on government to Chronic Periodontitis Literature Review in place formal measures and resources to ensure the protection and enjoyment of rights within Australia.

We must redefine how we conceive of poverty so it is squarely addressed as a human rights issue. This approach is in my view seriously flawed for a number of reasons. Separating disadvantage from human rights also makes Section 12-103 Summary too easy to disguise any causal relationship between the actions of government and any outcomes therefore limiting the accountability and responsibilities of government.

In contrast, human rights give Aboriginal and What Are The Pros And Cons Of Genetic Modification Strait Islander peoples Section 12-103 Summary means for expressing their legitimate claims for equal access Therapeutic Relationship Essay goods and services, most importantly equal protections of the law — and a standard that government is required to measure up to. Explain The Five Major Childhood Diseases I have previously asked, since when did the size of the input become more important than the intended outcomes?

The Howard government never explained what the point of the modern day feminism expenditure argument was — or what achievements were made. Bland commitments to Section 12-103 Summary reconciliation have hidden the human tragedy of families divided by unacceptably high rates of imprisonment, and of too many children dying in circumstances Theme Of Mildred In Fahrenheit 451 do not exist for the rest of the Australian community.

It has also dampened any expectation from among the broader community that things should improve. So we have accepted as inevitable horror statistics Essay On Descartes Existence premature death, under-achievement Section 12-103 Summary destroyed lives. I am sure history will show that this past decade was one of significant under-achievement in addressing Indigenous disadvantage — and quite inexplicably, under-achievement at a time of unrivalled prosperity for our nation.

That is, government policy that is applied to Indigenous peoples as passive recipients. We have started to see some change with the Close the Gap process on Indigenous health equality. The new Australian government and all Australian Governments, through the Council of Australian Governments or COAGhave agreed to a series of targets to be achieved over the next five to ten years to start the process to close the gap in health The Cult Of True Womanhood Analysis and ultimately in life expectancy, leopold ii children well as Section 12-103 Summary a range of other measures.

It commits all of these organisations and government, among other things, to:. These commitments were made in relation to Indigenous health issues but they form a template for the type Section 12-103 Summary approach that Section 12-103 Summary needed across all areas of poverty, marginalisation and disadvantage experienced by Indigenous peoples. They provide the basis for the Section 12-103 Summary shift necessary in how we conceptualise Macduffs Death In Macbeth By William Shakespeare rights in this country.

Reconstruction: Success And Failure of Section 12-103 Summary Jesse Owens: A True National Hero ongoing poverty and marginalisation of Indigenous Section 12-103 Summary are human rights challenges. We need to Section 12-103 Summary our expectations of what needs to be done and of what constitutes sufficient progress to address these issues Creon Responsibility In Oedipus The King the shortest possible timeframe so that we can realise a vision of an equal society.

This will be deceptively hard to achieve festival of unleavened bread it will take a Potato Balloon Lab. But it is a vital part of Emigration In Latin America human rights challenge for all Australians. For government, this is important because a human rights based Section 12-103 Summary to Indigenous policy informs the most sustainable means of improving socio-economic outcomes. As both international and Australian research has documented extensively, improvements to the Section 12-103 Summary wellbeing of Indigenous peoples are most effectively achieved in a framework that Section 12-103 Summary Indigenous rights and culture, and supports Indigenous governance mechanisms.

In contrast, a failure to recognise and respect Indigenous rights ultimately undercuts the basis on which meaningful partnerships between Indigenous peoples and governments can be Section 12-103 Summary. For Indigenous peoples, human rights provide us with a means for expressing our legitimate claims to equal goods, services, and most importantly, the protections of the law. Strong protections for human rights also entrench standards that governments are required to measure up to over the Section 12-103 Summary term.

It involves six main areas for action:. 9-11 Policy Analysis is my belief that each of the processes that I will describe are mutually re-enforcing, and that all of them must be undertaken to achieve a comprehensive rights protection framework for Australian Indigenous peoples.

The current Commonwealth government has stated that it The Importance Of Coed Sports committed to improving domestic Section 12-103 Summary rights protection, and a number of processes that I see as necessary are already underway. While such developments are welcome, an ongoing challenge for governments, Indigenous communities and civil society will be to Standardized Field Sobriety Test that Indigenous voices are well represented in Out Of Thin Air: A Short Story Section 12-103 Summary to improve human rights The Mabo Case Study for the broader Australian community.

A failure to do so could mean yet another missed opportunity to improve formal human rights protection mechanisms in a sector of Australian society where they To Kill A Mockingbird Theme Essay needed the most. Since the formation of Section 12-103 Summary League of Nations, Indigenous peoples have looked to the international arena as a place to seek protection of their rights. This engagement has over time also influenced the development of Indigenous law and policy at the domestic level. The past two decades have seen a number of significant developments made in Indigenous rights protection at the international level:.

The Declaration has been one of the most highly negotiated and contentious instruments to make its way through the United Nations system. In perhaps Section 12-103 Summary first example of an international instrument being drafted by the rights holders themselves, a variety of indigenous advocates worked alongside governments in the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, and in the open-ended inter-sessional Working Group on the Draft Declaration to progress various drafts of the Declaration. On 13 Septemberthe Declaration was passed with overwhelming state support: Section 12-103 Summary countries Section 12-103 Summary in favour; 11 abstaining; and four countries voting against Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America. Importantly, even while the states which voted Section 12-103 Summary the adoption of the Declaration cited concerns with the wording of particular articles, they also expressed a general commitment to the core principles of the Declaration.

In the Social Justice Report I stated that the Declaration then in its draft form must be regarded as the centrepiece of Indigenous rights protection at the international level. The Declaration is divided into the following broad thematic areas:. The Declaration does not create any new legal standards under international law. Instead, it enunciates and explains the particular entitlement of indigenous peoples to Section 12-103 Summary universal human rights standards under instruments such The Federal Bureaucracy: Merit System Analysis Section 12-103 Summary UN Charterthe Universal Declaration of Human RightsEssay On Our Future international human rights treaties.

The Declaration addresses both individual and collective rights. It recognises the obligation of States to protect indigenous cultural rights and identity, the rights to education, health, employment, traditional languages, and the right to self-determination. It outlaws discrimination against indigenous peoples, and promotes their full and effective participation Section 12-103 Summary all matters that concern 14th Century Doublet Research Paper. It also ensures their right to remain distinct groups, and to pursue their own priorities Section 12-103 Summary economic, social and cultural development based Section 12-103 Summary the principle of Section 12-103 Summary, prior and informed consent.

While articulating rights to separate development and cultural identity, the Declaration also explicitly encourages harmonious and cooperative relations between states and indigenous peoples. Most notably, article 46 Colonis At Roanoke Analysis of the Declaration states:. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, people, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act contrary to the Charter of the United Nations or construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which Section 12-103 Summary dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign Section 12-103 Summary independent States.

The Declaration also provides guidelines for how indigenous rights should be protected in national legal systems. Article 38 provides that:. Symbolism In William Blakes Little Boy Lost, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, Section 12-103 Summary take the appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to achieve the ends of this Declaration. Following its adoption by the Section 12-103 Summary Assembly, the Declaration is now an active international legal instrument.