Indigenous communities need to be part of the solution.
In the 1980s I led a delegation from the Federation of Land Councils to the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, chaired by Erica-Irene Daes. The working group’s task was to establish the foundations for an international human rights instrument which would set a global standard for the protection of Indigenous rights.
In 2007, after more than 20 years of international consultations and discussion with Indigenous nations, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People was adopted by the UN general assembly.
In recognising the “urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples”, the declaration was brought into existence to enshrine rights that “constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and wellbeing of the Indigenous peoples of the world.”
While non-binding, the declaration benchmarks the standards of global respect and efforts by nation states to help reduce levels of disadvantage and discrimination experienced by many of the world’s 370 million Indigenous people.
There are 46 articles listed in the declaration, which provide clear guidance for advancing reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the light of their tangled and often unsatisfactory histories. The two elements I see as most pertinent to the Australian reconciliation journey are the right to self-determination and the right to free, prior and informed consent (Article 4 and 19).
We should recall that in the development stages of the declaration the Australian government was supportive – the minister for Aboriginal affairs himself, Robert Tickner, attended the working sessions on several occasions. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their organisations were leaders in the process of crafting the declaration and were diligent participants, offering their insights.
But despite the hard work and dedicated commitment, in a shameful episode, Australia was one of only four countries who refused to ratify the declaration, claiming it was incompatible with our national laws. The prime minister of the time, John Howard, stated:
“We do not support the notion that you should have customary law taking priority over the general law of the country.”
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...t-of-the-solution-top-down-measures-dont-work
In the 1980s I led a delegation from the Federation of Land Councils to the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, chaired by Erica-Irene Daes. The working group’s task was to establish the foundations for an international human rights instrument which would set a global standard for the protection of Indigenous rights.
In 2007, after more than 20 years of international consultations and discussion with Indigenous nations, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People was adopted by the UN general assembly.
In recognising the “urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples”, the declaration was brought into existence to enshrine rights that “constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and wellbeing of the Indigenous peoples of the world.”
While non-binding, the declaration benchmarks the standards of global respect and efforts by nation states to help reduce levels of disadvantage and discrimination experienced by many of the world’s 370 million Indigenous people.
There are 46 articles listed in the declaration, which provide clear guidance for advancing reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the light of their tangled and often unsatisfactory histories. The two elements I see as most pertinent to the Australian reconciliation journey are the right to self-determination and the right to free, prior and informed consent (Article 4 and 19).
We should recall that in the development stages of the declaration the Australian government was supportive – the minister for Aboriginal affairs himself, Robert Tickner, attended the working sessions on several occasions. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their organisations were leaders in the process of crafting the declaration and were diligent participants, offering their insights.
But despite the hard work and dedicated commitment, in a shameful episode, Australia was one of only four countries who refused to ratify the declaration, claiming it was incompatible with our national laws. The prime minister of the time, John Howard, stated:
“We do not support the notion that you should have customary law taking priority over the general law of the country.”
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...t-of-the-solution-top-down-measures-dont-work
