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Gudmundur Alfredsson is a young Icelander who serves as secretary to the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) In Geneva, at fire Centre for Human Rights. He has produced a document for the WGIP entitled Analytical compilation of existing legal Instruments and proposed draft standards relating to Indigenous rights. This document was prepared to assist the WGIP in its efforts to constitute a Declaration for indigenous peoples.
The Chair of the WGIP, Madame Does, wishes to complete a Declaration in 1987 offer the WGIP's session in Geneva this year. However, sources in Geneva believe this will most probably occur in 1988. After the Declaration has emerged from the WGIP it must work its way up through the UN hierarchy; the Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, then the Commission on Human Rights, to the Economic and Social Council which would then pass to the General Assembly, most probably via the Assembly's Third Committee which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural matters. This movement through the various divisions would be a two year process before final adoption.
The document Analytical Compilation gathers together the existing international formal documents that relate to indigenous rights, and any proposed changes or strengthening, plus the addition of 'rights' pertaining to indigenous people which have been submitted to the WGIP by various Indigenous representative groups. These groups, exemplified by the National Aboriginal and Islander Legal Service, the Indian Law Resource Centre, and the Inuit Circumpular Conference believe that the Declaration must reflect their needs and desires or it is inherently unjust.
This important document divides these instruments and standards into twelve chapters: enjoyment of fundamental rights, physical integrity, freedom of religion, education, language, culture and traditions, intercultural education, land and natural resources, autonomy and sell-determination, treaties and agreements, responsibility of indigenous populations to respect universal human rights, and health.
A copy of the document can be obtained from the Aboriginal Law Centre-phone (02) 697 2252 or 697 2256. (See this issue-Geneva, September 1986, ILO 107-License To Rights.)
The Aboriginal Homeland Centres Inquiry was referred to the Committee by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs on 24 June 1985. (See [1983] AboriginalLawB 18; (1986) 18 AboriginalLB 6.)
To date, the Committee has taken over two and a half thousand pages of evidence to the Inquiry in the form of submissions from government agencies concerned with Aboriginal homeland centres, Aboriginal organisations, anthropologists and some resource organisations representing Aboriginal groups, and verbal evidence taken at public hearings. Public hearings have been held in Canberra, Alice Springs, Darwin and Brisbane. Final public hearings will be held in Adelaide, Perth Grid Canberra early in February.
The Committee has also visited a large number of Aboriginal homeland centres during the course of the Inquiry and has taken evidence directly from Aboriginal people living in homeland centres. The Committee has visited the following areas during the course of the Inquiry: Ngaanyatjarra homelands, the Pitjantjatjara homelands, Hermannsburg and associated outstations, the kimberleys, Amhem Land and North Queensland.
The Committee anticipates presenting its report on the Inquiry in the Autumn sittings of the House of Representatives in 1987 (approximately May 1987). The following Is the terms of reference for the Inquiry which includes a list of the membership of the Committee.
The Committee has been requested by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs to inquire Into and report on:
The social and economic circumstances of Aboriginal people living in homeland centres or outstations, and the development of policies and programs to meet their future needs.
Chairman:
Mr CA Blanchard MP-(WA)
Deputy Chairman:
Mr R F Shipton MP- (Vic)
Members:
Mr IMD Cameron MP-(Qld)
Mr G Campbell MP-(WA)
Mr D M Connolly MP-(NSW)
Mr J Gayler MP-(QLD)
Mr G L Hand MP-(Vic)
Mr M J Maher MP-(NSW)
Mr D R Elder (Secretary)
Tel: Canberra (062) 72 7267
The second book to be published by Blackbooks and the first by an Aboriginal author, Wlndradyne- A Wiradjuri Koorie by Mary Coe, has been recently launched. The first book was Aboriginal Land Rights In NSW, by Meredith Wilkie, who wrote the book as a researcher for the Aboriginal Law Centre.
Wlndradyne is the story of the Wiradjuri people fighting a war against the British conquerors. Windradyne is one of the many forgotten people in Australia's' history, because he was on the 'other side as a member of the nomad war machine. Windradyne was a warrior, a fighter against the imposition of the State. So upon his defeat, the state refused him history -no books, no war memorial and no RSL clubs.
'It Is true that the nomads have no history; they only have a geography. And the defeat of the nomads was such, so complete, that history is one with the triumph of States.'
The importance of geography is reflected in the dominance of 'sites' in Aboriginal culture and religion. The priorities of Land and Heritage emphasise 'geography' in Aboriginal politics, though they are usually merged with the idea of 'sovereignty which is the language ochre State. These are some points that come to the fore when considering the publication of Windradyne- A Wiradjuri Koorie.
Blackbooks is located in the Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative College and specialise in books by or about Aborigines and Aboriginal history and culture. A catalogue is available which lists and describes all their available titles.
The new Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) was set up by the Commonwealth Government on Human Rights Day, 10 December 1986 to replace the Human Rights Commission.
The President of the HREOC, Mr Justice Einfeld, is a Justice of the federal Court of Australia and is widely travelled and experienced. Mr Justice Einfeld appeared, as counsel, in many of Australia's most famous legal cases, including the Ananda Marga 3, the 'Greek Social Security Conspiracy' case, Mr Justice Lionel Murphy's Parliamentary Inquiry, the Bartons, and the Mudginberri case.
There are three Commissioners making up the HREOC with Mr Brian Burdekin as the Human Rights Commissioner, Ms Irene Kwong Moss the Race Discrimination Commissioner and Ms Pamela O'Neil as the Sex Discrimination Commissioner.
Briefly the profiles of these three Commissioners are:
The functions of the particular Commissioners are listed below:
Sex Discrimination Commissioner
Inquiry into and conciliation of complaints under the Sex Discrimination Act.
Race Discrimination Commissioner
Inquiry into and conciliation of complaints under the Racial Discrimination Act.
Human Rights Comissioner
Inquiry into and conciliation of complaints under:
| • | International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; |
| • | International Labour Organisation Convention If (discrimination in respects of employment and occupation); |
| • | Declaration of the Rights of the Child; |
| • | Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons; and |
| • | Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons. |
Administration of the affairs of the Commission.
Complaints and inquiries relating to human rights, race and sex discrimination can be made to the Commission's office at:
9th floor, Westfield Towers, PO Box E9 100 William Street, St James, Sydney NSW 2001.
The following advertisement will appear in Australian national newspapers in March:
We. the undersigned, endorse the call for the establishment of a national watch committee into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The aims of watch committee include:
1. Monitoring the treatment of Aboriginals in custody;
2. Responding where the abase of rights of individuals occur;
3. Initiate reforms in the legal system which cause or contribute to the abuse of human rights of Aboriginals in Custody;
4. Act to reduce the over-representation of Aborigines in custody.
We urge you to attend a Public Meeting on 14 April in Sydney Town Hall, 7.30pm to join in the selling up of a National Watch Committee with these objectives.
PO Box 498. Broadway. NSW 2007. Ph 1021 698 9826.
Large organisations - $100, small organisations - $30.00, individuals - emp. $10, unemp. - $5. stud. - $5. pens. - $5.
The Aboriginal Low Bulletin, Legal Services Bulletin and Social Security Reporter have since December 1986 constituted a new data base for the Australian Computerised Legal Information Retrieval System- CLIRS.
This database (DB1280) will contain all that has been written in the AboriginalLB since its first issue in 1981. CLIRS has been described as 'an electronic up-to-the-minute encyclopaedia of legal cases, judgements and laws'.
The negotiation for the Bulletins to go on-line has been on and oft since March 1985 when at the National Meeting of the Legal Services Bulletin, in Melbourne, it was decided to accept an invitation to allow the journals' texts to be reproduced on CLIRS. (See [1985] AboriginalLB 26; 1(13) pg14).
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URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AboriginalLawB/1987/1.html