National Sorry Day Committee
http://www.nsdc.org.au/home/index.php?option=com_phocaguestbook&view=phocaguestbook&id=6&Itemid=38
Archive for May, 2010
Sorry Day – 2010. Reparations package, please and “New partnership with Stolen Generations members welcomed.”
May 26, 2010Australian Human Rights Commission.
The Stolen Generations’ Working Partnership announced today by the Federal Government is a welcome move that should go some way towards addressing the immediate and practical needs of Stolen Generations members, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda, said today on National Sorry Day.
Commissioner Gooda said this new commitment by Government to engage with Stolen Generations members and to work in partnership with them and service providers had the real potential to improve lives.
“Past practices which forcibly removed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families were continuing up until 40 years ago and have significantly impacted on members of the Stolen Generations and – either directly or indirectly – on virtually every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person in Australia,” Commissioner Gooda said.
“I congratulate the Government, the National Sorry Day Committee and the Stolen Generations Alliance for committing to work together to find solutions and better coordinate delivery of services to Stolen Generations members.
“I’m confident that this new partnership has the potential to improve lives by ensuring that the needs of the Stolen Generations are top of mind in a range of key government policy areas such as closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage, national mental health initiatives and the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s children,” Mr Gooda said.
“While I welcome the Stolen Generations’ Working Partnership and its commitment to reviewing the recommendations of the 1997 Bringing them home Report, I urge the Government to introduce, as a matter of urgency, a reparations package that provides monetary compensation, guarantees against repetition and provides restitution and rehabilitation to the Stolen Generations,” he said.
“The majority of Stolen Generations members are now over 45,” he said. “We have no time to waste and must move quickly to provide the help and support that is needed before Stolen Generations members get too old or die.”
Commissioner Gooda said this year’s National Reconciliation Week and its theme of, Reconciliation: Let’s see it through!, provided the perfect opportunity to refocus on bringing real closure and healing for members of the Stolen Generations.
Commissioner Gooda called on the Federal Government to build on the significant inroads it had already made towards reconciliation, such as the National Apology, establishing an independent Healing Foundation, and formally supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples last year, by implementing the main recommendations of the Bringing them home Report.
“Let’s put Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week into action and make reparations a reality,” he said.
“Until we do, the suffering and loss experienced by our peoples will continue to hinder reconciliation and our positive development as a nation.”
National Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May – 3 June. Information can be found at:
http://www.reconciliation.org.au/home/get-involved/events/national-reconciliation-week
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Forum – 4-5 August, Adelaide
May 25, 2010Australian Government
The Department of Health and Ageing together with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Home and Community Care (HACC) Reference Group invites you to submit an abstract that addresses one or more of the Forum themes.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Forum
4 – 5 August 2010, Adelaide, South Australia
Background
The National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes commenced on 1 July 2009. Under this agreement, the Australian Government and all State and Territory Governments have committed to closing the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.
In support of the Agreement, the Department of Health and Ageing together with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Home and Community Care (HACC) Reference Group have provided an opportunity for Indigenous aged care workers in services providing care for Indigenous people, to come together under a National Forum. The forum’s purpose is to provide an environment where collaboration, strategic thinking, communication and linkages across the Indigenous aged care sector can occur.
Purpose
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care workers operate in relative isolation from other people in their sector, with limited opportunity to share experiences, hear what is happening in the broader context of their sector, or contribute to the future direction of their workforce and sector.
The expected outcomes of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Forum include:
greater integration and linkages between aged care services providing aged care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;
the sharing of models of aged care service delivery aimed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;
and strategies to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care staff recruitment and retention.
The Forum will provide a platform to stimulate discussions on professional workforce development and building employer capacity to help support a sustainable Indigenous Aged Care sector.
Call for Abstracts
Abstract Submission
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Forum Steering Committee invites you to submit an abstract that addresses one or more of the Forum themes. Abstracts will be accepted until 5.00PM EST 18 June 2010.
Abstracts are to have a focus on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care sector and will be grouped according to the following themes:
Theme 1 – Innovation in service delivery
Theme 2 – How to improve services
Theme 3 – Building partnerships
Theme 4 – Workforce, training, recruitment and retention
Theme 5 – Models of service delivery
Theme 6 – Developing a nationally consistent aged care system
Theme 7 – Continuity of care
Presentation type: please indicate the type of presentation for which you wish your paper to be considered. These could include:
Oral presentation (written paper before the Forum plus oral presentation at the Conference, published on website after Forum);
Poster (visual display and possible networking opportunities at the Forum);
Workshop (oral/interactive presentation at the Forum plus written report after the Forum);
and Story (brief story outline submitted instead of formal abstract). This is for presenters who feel they have a message/story they would like to share with other delegates that does not fit in with the more formal abstract/paper process.
General Enquiries
If you have questions regarding the abstract(s) submission process, please contact the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Forum Secretariat by telephone (02) 6289 5230 or email Indigenous.Aged.Care.Forum@Health.gov.au
Abstract Submission Information
Abstracts should be submitted to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Forum Secretariat via post, fax or email.
Post: GPO Box 9848
MDP 600
Canberra ACT 2601
Fax: (02) 6289 5163
Email: Indigenous.Aged.Care.Forum@Health.gov.au
full details for submissions etc:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-aged-care-forum.htm
Defending Melanesian customary land – publication
May 20, 2010Publication: In Defence of Melanesian Customary Land
Date published: 10 Apr 10
“This AID/WATCH publication presents Melanesian and Australian voices in defence of Melanesian customary land. The chapters touch on the broad themes of customary land in the region, as well as particular issues in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. Those issues include land tenure conversion, incorporated land groups, leases, the productive value of customary land, women and land, land tenure reform programs, and the social security features of traditional land tenure systems.”
free download or order hard copy from:
http://aidwatch.org.au/publications/publication-in-defence-of-melanesian-customary-land
Take ten minutes to watch and listen to Muckaty Voices
May 18, 2010What kind of world we create is a function of where we invest our surplus energy. If you do nothing else, take ten minutes to watch this You Tube video.
Muckaty legal case update
May 18, 2010ABC Alice Springs
Lawyers step in as waste dump gets nod
By Alex Johnson
Posted May 11, 2010 08:23:00
Protesters say no to a nuclear waste dump
A team of solicitors will travel to Tennant Creek today to prepare their case against the Federal Government’s plan to build a nuclear waste dump north of the town.
The Darwin based legal team will speak to traditional owners as part of a push to challenge the nomination of the site at Muckaty Station.
A Senate committee has endorsed it as a suitable site for the facility.
Solicitor George Newhouse says the Northern Land Council failed to consult with the traditional owners which makes the nomination invalid.
“Essentially, the Northern Land Council appears to have consulted with the wrong people,” he said.
“The traditional owners with a direct spiritual connection to the site vehemently object to the nuclear waste dump and do not want it to proceed.”
Mr Newhouse says he is yet to see an anthropological report which the NLC has used to justify the nomination.
“We find it quite astonishing when we compare their determination against the land commissioner’s report which clearly identifies the traditional owners we’re speaking to as owners of the land.”
from
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/11/2895781.htm?site=alicesprings
Medical Journal of Australia – NT Intervention and indigenous health issues
May 17, 2010The Medical Journal of Australia
After the Intervention – Editorial
Health Impacts of the Northern Territory intervention
Peter O’Mara
MJA 2010; 192 (10): 546-548
On 12 March 2010, the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) launched a health impact assessment of the Australian Government’s Northern Territory Emergency Response to protect Aboriginal children. The report of the assessment was developed by AIDA in collaboration with the Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation at the University of New South Wales, and with support and financial assistance from the Fred Hollows Foundation.
…
The health impact assessment of the NTER is underpinned by the Aboriginal understanding of health and wellbeing. It refers to The dance of life model developed by Professor Helen Milroy, Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health at the University of Western Australia.5 This model represents an Aboriginal interpretation of health and illustrates health in its five dimensions — cultural, spiritual, social, emotional and physical — within which are a number of layers reflecting historical, traditional and contemporary influences on health. These five dimensions were examined within the health impact assessment framework.
…
Bearing in mind the Aboriginal definition of health outlined above, the health impact assessment predicts that the intended health outcomes of the NTER — improved health and wellbeing and, ultimately, longer life expectancy — are unlikely to be fully achieved. The health impact assessment findings speak for themselves and show that the intervention does more harm than good. The report’s disturbing prediction — that the intervention will cause profound long-term damage to our Indigenous communities — should be of concern to all Australians, including medical practitioners.
The main findings of the report are that:
* the intervention could potentially lead to profound long-term damage, with any possible benefits to physical health largely outweighed by negative impacts on psychological health, social health and wellbeing, and cultural integrity;
* the increasing levels of mistrust caused by the Howard Government’s ill conceived and rushed implementation of the intervention will continue to compromise the Rudd Government’s ability to work in partnership with Aboriginal communities to achieve shared objectives; and
* the potential negative impacts of the intervention may be minimised, but only if governments commit to working in respectful partnerships with Indigenous people.
Full story with much useful information at:
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/192_10_170510/oma10307_fm.html
And check out full Contents of 17 May 2010 issue
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/192_10_170510/contents_170510.html
Tuhoe, their spiritual heartlands and the Crown … an epic saga continues
May 16, 2010At the start of the 20th century Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana and his followers were told, by the then NZ Pakeha Prime Minister Joesph Ward, that “two suns can not shine in the one sky”. The modern nation-state is a jealous god.
But in the 21st century, we must look to new arrangements of co-existing sovereignty if we are to find healing solutions to solve some of the problems caused by the worship of this jealous (and historically proven blood thirsty) god.
The Tuhoe peoples struggle is of epic proportions, and continues …
From NZ Hearld:
Crown’s tactics cost Tuhoe their Urewera heartland
By Yvonne Tahana
http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/indigenous-peoples/news/article.cfm?c_id=464&objectid=10644976
Tariana Turia: Te Urewera and Tuhoe are inseparable
* Tariana Turia is the co-leader of the Maori Party.
http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/indigenous-peoples/news/article.cfm?c_id=464&objectid=10644720&pnum=0
Paul Moon: Tuhoe’s long-standing call for autonomy
http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644446
Senate committee report re Muckaty
May 14, 2010Senate – Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee
National Radioactive Waste Management Bill [Provisions]
…
3.117 A major area of contention in the present inquiry, and in the inquiry by the ECA committee in 2008, is the extent to which all relevant traditional owners have been consulted over the nomination of Muckaty Station as a potential site for the waste facility. This issue also goes to the question of whether the consent to the Muckaty Station nomination was granted by traditional owners with the relevant authority to make decisions affecting, or to ‘speak for’, the land in question. The committee acknowledges the importance of these questions, and notes that the inquiry provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to put forward their views on these issues.
3.118 Despite this, the evidence received by the inquiry was not sufficient to allow the committee to reach a conclusion on these matters, which, fundamentally, must be determined by information which the committee does not have access to or is not competent to assess. In particular, the committee did not have access to the deed of agreement relating to the Muckaty Station nomination, or to anthropological reports relating to the question of traditional ownership of that country.
3.119 Further, the committee does not consider that it is its role to determine whether the consultative processes around the Muckaty Station nomination were adequate or whether the approval of traditional land owners has been adequately sought according to legal and traditional requirements. These disputes revolve around issues to do with Indigenous cultural practice and its interaction with the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. The committee believes that ultimately these matters must be resolved in a legal forum or through a mechanism that is competent to resolve such disputes between groups of traditional owners.
(emphasis added – songlines)
…
Recommendations from Senate Committee report re National Radioactive Waste Management Bill
May 14, 2010Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee
National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010 [Provisions]
7 May 2010
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 1
3.122 The committee recommends that, as soon as possible, the Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism undertake consultations with all parties with an interest in, or who would be affected by, a decision to select the Muckaty Station site as the location for the national radioactive waste facility.
Recommendation 2
3.123 The committee recommends that proposed section 21 of the Bill be amended to make the establishment of a regional consultative committee mandatory, immediately following the selection of a site for the radioactive waste facility.
Recommendation 3
3.126 The committee recommends that proposed sections 9 and 17 of the Bill be amended to require the Minister to respond in writing to comments received in accordance with the Bill’s procedural fairness requirements.
Recommendation 4
3.131 The committee recommends that the Explanatory Memorandum be amended to include a detailed rationale for, and explanation of, the Minister’s absolute discretion in relation to decision making under the Bill.
Recommendation 5
3.134 The committee recommends that the Bill be amended to include an objects clause.
Recommendation 6
3.135 The committee recommends that, subject to consideration of the preceding recommendations, the Senate pass the Bill.
Download parts or whole report from
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/radioactivewaste/report/index.htm
