Aboriginal leaders from across the country have issued a joint statement to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, urging the federal government to act on long-standing commitments to First Peoples.
Timed to the 18th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) being adopted by the UN General Assembly, they are calling for urgent rights-based reforms and action on Closing the Gap targets.
Australia was one of four countries to oppose UNDRIP in 2007 before adopting it in 2009. Yet, Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss told National Indigenous Times 16 years later, the Commonwealth has failed to embed the declaration in policy and law.
The Kaanju and Birri/Widi woman pointed to the government's silence on the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs inquiry into UNDRIP.
After a 12-month process, the inquiry recommended the Commonwealth ensure all legislation and policy "be consistent with the Articles outlined" in the declaration, and establish an independent process of truth-telling and agreement-making "to support healing and assist implementation".
She says truth-telling and agreement-making are inseparable, noting: "Having the opportunity to be involved in agreement-making requires an understanding of the truth of what's happened in the country to know what the justification is for the need for that agreement-making."
But without a mechanism for collective dialogue — the Voice — progress is limited.
"The three pillars are actually critical to this being successful — articles 18 and 19 of the declaration talk about our right to participate in decisions that affect us, Commissioner Kiss says.
"The voice is critical to that… not just truth-telling and treaty. We can't do those things without having a voice."
Labor have not ruled out truth-telling and Treaty implementation in their second term of government, despite the Voice defeat in 2023. In May, Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said she is "very much open to listening to what people have to say".
In a statement to National Indigenous Times, the Minister said the government was a "proud" signatory of UNDRIP, noting it was under the Howard government in 2007 that it wasn't initially adopted.
"The Government is committed to the principles of UNDRIP and is embedding these principles in the way we work, particularly when it comes to Closing the Gap," she said.
"The National Agreement on Closing the Gap is a prime example of how we are supporting the principles of self-determination that underpin UNDRIP."
Senator McCarthy said the government is "considering the findings of the report", but also noted: "At the same time, the Government is giving practical effect to UNDRIP through policies, programs and our approach to engagement and collaboration."
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Two years have gone by
Commissioner Kiss, along with former Social Justice Commissioners Mick Dodson, Tom Calma, Mick Gooda and June Oscar, and former MPs Ken Wyatt, Linda Burney and Patrick Dodson, have called on the government to respond to the committee's report by November 22, two years after it was tabled.
"All the recommendations are critical to the implementation of the declaration," Commissioner Kiss said.
"Every target that is captured within the Closing the Gap agreement is a human right, and the fact that we have to have targets in place to try to force governments into addressing these human rights issues shows that we've had a breach or a non-realisation of those rights."
She says the UNDRIP is "critical" to both guiding governments, but also assessing progress in "achieving the rights that Indigenous peoples have to basic human rights".
Citing education, she notes: "In terms of looking at the right to education, from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective, we know that our children are overrepresented in those being suspended and excluded from school. So, how are we making sure that they've got the right to education?"
The leaders said the six recommendations from the report in 2023 "provide a roadmap to improving the recognition of rights," emphasising UNDRIP as "the most powerful tool to guide change in law, policy, and outcomes for Indigenous Peoples around the world".
"Yet, here in Australia, we are still waiting for meaningful action to close the gap between rhetoric and reality," they said.
"While progress is being made on some targets, only four are currently on track. That tells us the pace of change is not satisfactory."
Earlier this year, Senator Lidia Thorpe introduced a private member's bill to bring Australian law in line with UNDRIP, and cited Mick Dodson's leadership at the inquiry.
The bill was voted down, with Thorpe calling it a "continuation of the colonial and genocidal legacy".
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The gap isn't closing
Meanwhile, the Productivity Commission's July report showed outcomes worsening in four areas: adult imprisonment; children in out-of-home care; suicide; and child development.
"Until governments are held accountable for upholding our rights, the gaps will not close," the leaders said.
"The cost of delay is devastating: loss of lives, families, culture, languages and opportunities."
They also highlighted "failures" in the criminal and child justice systems, and urged the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into law, including national standards for children in detention, raising the age of criminal responsibility, and an independent body to investigate Indigenous deaths in custody.
"It is unacceptable that issues identified in the Royal Commission in 1991 remain unaddressed," they said.
"Every year without action entrenches injustice. Commitments by state, territory, and federal governments are on paper. Now they must be delivered."
