Human Rights, Multiculturalism and Indigenous Rights
Speech by Mr Tom Calma
The National Race
Commissioner
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
Multicultural Development
Association,
Reconciliation Strategy Launch
Wednesday 30th July 2008, from 10.30am- 12.00pm
Multicultural Development Association 512 Stanley St, South Brisbane
I would like to begin today by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land we meet on today, the Yuggera people.
I also would like to acknowledge the presence of Aunty Ruth Link and Mr Fraser Power the President of the Multicultural Development Association, distinguished guests and all of my Indigenous Aunties and Uncles, brothers and sisters here today.
And thank you Lorella for you efforts to keep me informed of developments and thank you to the members, clients and workers of the Multicultural Development Association for inviting me to address you on this occasion.
I'm glad to be here today to launch the Reconciliation Strategy of the Multicultural Development Association for two reasons. First, occasions like this one allow me, as both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and the Race Discrimination Commissioner, to share with you my thoughts about Indigenous rights and multiculturalism. Indigenous rights and the rights of people from all backgrounds to participate on an equal footing in public life, are together, the core concerns of my respective portfolios.
And second, I'm also glad because, it is important that we gather, as active members of the wider Australian civil society, to share ideas and exchange models of practice to improve mutual understanding between different communities in our society.
As the gathering in this room confirms, Australia by the day, is becoming more diverse. I'm excited by the prospects of this diversity and proud to be working on ensuring that members of all cultures are proudly calling Australia home. A home that is inclusive – a home in which cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds are mutually respected.
However, with all the goodwill and the good work in countries like Australia, the challenge of diversity could not be properly meet without first taking into consideration the rights and concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – the First Nations Peoples of Australia.
Your Reconciliation Strategy is an acknowledgement of this primary obligation.
And in the spirit of reconciliation, I've been asked today to speak on the inter-section between multiculturalism and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and contemporary issues.
I would like to start by placing this inter-section in the wider context of human rights to make clear the positive outcomes of employing the imperatives and instruments of human rights to shape a fair and just Australia.
I do this to place the intersection between Indigenous issues and multiculturalism in the contexts of both universal values and concrete everyday work practices; because as I said last month in a conference about social inclusion; 'practicing human rights in our day-to-day activities are a way of living, and working, that opens people to a more socially inclusive life.' Social work and community work play a significant role in advancing inclusive ways of living in Australia.
As many of you are aware, human rights in Australia are both codified legal instruments and a moral values system that derive their inspirations from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, and the subsequent UN declarations, conventions and treaties.
In the passed 60 years the framework of Human Rights has become more elaborate, robust and responsive to current needs and realities. Human rights are often classified as first, second and third generations.
First generation human rights are civil and political rights that include the right to vote, freedom from discrimination, fair treatment and freedom of speech etc.
Second generation human rights: are economic, social and cultural rights, like the right to education, the right for adequate housing, the right to health etc.
Third generation human rights are collective rights, like the right for self-determination and development.
For Indigenous peoples, migrants and refugees the three generations of human rights are indispensable inspirations and tools in the struggle to achieve equality and recognition.
Echoing the first generation of human rights, in the mid twentieth century, stubborn, determined movements in Australia led the charge to advocate the political and civil rights of Indigenous peoples which had culminated in the official granting of the right to vote to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Today, the struggle for the first generation of Human Rights is still taking place, through the advocacy for upholding the basic rights of all people living in Australia. The establishment of The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the call for a charter of rights are ample examples of this struggle.
Many of you here are actually involved, at large, in achieving the second generation of human rights through striving to implement and develop more inclusive policies.
For example, making submissions regarding adequate housing for refugees, calling for proper education for culturally and linguistically diverse members of the community are all part of instilling the second generation of human rights in the context of everyday work practice.
The Reconciliation Strategy that you are launching today has strong affinity with the third generation of human rights. This strategy is an excellent example of a community development approach that focuses on ways to work with different communities to increase their capacity and ability to find their own authentic and creative solutions to the challenges of being together. More significantly, the Reconciliation Strategy acknowledges the primary status of the first people of this land and their inalienable collective rights.
To me, multiculturalism, as a policy framework, mirrors the ethos of human rights. Last year in an effort to counter the previous government's relentless assault on multiculturalism, I released a position paper outlining the intersection between human rights and the policy of multiculturalism.
I also, in the position paper, made sure to articulate the relationship between multiculturalism and the rights of Indigenous peoples.
This is, in a nutshell, what I have said in the position paper about Multiculturalism within a human rights framework;
Multiculturalism, as a policy of recognition and equity, complements the ethos, standards and obligations contained in the various international instruments on cultural, linguistic and religious diversity.
There are a variety of international human rights documents and treaties that deal with issues relevant to multiculturalism: these documents also relate to racial and religious discrimination, the right to cultural, linguistic and religious freedom, cultural diversity and minority rights.
The International human rights framework on cultural diversity has increasingly become more detailed, clear and strong in articulating the reality of the contemporary world and endorsing multiculturalism to respond to cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity.
The starting point for this development is the notion of equality and non-discrimination contained in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
The Convention defines racial discrimination as: Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.
Article 2(1) of the Convention extends the prohibition on discrimination by creating a positive duty on States to develop a policy that seeks to eliminate racism and promote understanding among all races. It clearly sets out the aims of such a policy and how it should be implemented.
Australia's multiculturalism policy can be seen as a response to the positive duty articulated in the Convention.
Here in Australia, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 responds directly to Australia's obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). It confers on HREOC specific responsibilities, one of which is to promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among racial and ethnic groups and makes racial discrimination and racial vilification unlawful.
This understanding of multiculturalism within the human rights framework allows us to articulate how the rights of Indigenous peoples, and other minority groups in Australia, relate to each other and how they are differentiated.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, like other minority groups, risk being excluded from sharing the economic, social and cultural benefits of being a citizen of Australia. Multiculturalism, as a policy of recognition and equity, can assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in gaining access to these benefits.
The 1989 National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia clearly states that multiculturalism is 'applicable not just to immigrants, but to all Australians, including the Indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.'
Also, the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia assumes that both groups share the quest for the recognition of their right to cultural identity, the right to social justice and the need for economic participation.
Despite these parallels, multiculturalism is an inadequate response to the history of dispossession and exclusion that Indigenous peoples have faced in Australia, for the following reasons:
Firstly, the devastation caused by policies aimed at colonising Australia, including the policy of assimilation to 'breed out' Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, were far worse in their severity and scale than the systemic and individual discriminatory practices used against migrants and their families seeking to settle in Australia.
Secondly, the claims for social justice and human rights by Indigenous peoples originate from a different source, both historically and in international law, than claims by other minority groups in Australia.
Indigenous peoples claim not only recognition of their rights as citizens of Australia but also as Australia's first peoples. This claim has a specific history and relationship to land and territory which in turn gives rise to distinct cultural, social, economic and political rights. These rights are best articulated through the articles contained in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, especially Article 3 that asserts the right of Indigenous peoples to self determination.
I would like to pause for a moment to recognise Uncle Jim Hagan who is with us today. Uncle Jim was the first Indigenous Australian to address the United Nations and also has been involved in the struggle for Indigenous Rights for generations.
For example in relation to the right to enjoy one's culture, Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has made it clear that for indigenous peoples, the right to enjoy culture may consist in a way of life which is closely associated with territory and the use of resources.
It can be seen from an international human rights view point that while the recognition of culture is a measure of equality in the case of ethnic communities, the claim of culture in the case of Indigenous peoples is more fundamental.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians the claim is for recognition as a people, with all the related political and economic rights.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians social justice implies restorative justice through a proper reconciliation treaty that acknowledges the historical wrongs done to Aboriginal peoples.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians the question of economic and political justice is about ensuring that future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander generations have control over their land, their lives and their destiny with sufficient resources to fulfil their potentials as the first people of this country.
In the case of multiculturalism, recognition is largely about inclusiveness, it is about inclusive social policies that allow people from different cultures to participate and contribute to the wider society on an equal footing.
In the case of indigenous peoples, recognition is about acknowledgement of the central place of Indigenous peoples in this society, acknowledgement of the injustice and the harm that still befalls us as a result. Acknowledgement of Indigenous rights is a primary step to put in place comprehensive transitional processes to enable the restoration of indigenous dignity and future vitality.
In short, the three generations of human rights should be fully, not selectively, implemented to right the wrongs and provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians with a solid platform to live free of discrimination and marginalisation.
This brings me back to my early remarks about the role of community and social work in fostering, articulating and advancing the intersection between human rights, multiculturalism and Indigenous issues.
Your Reconciliation Strategy is no doubt an ample representation of the coming together of a human rights inspired set of values and practices.
"What do we value?" The statement from your strategy says, and I quote:
'We are committed to respecting the human rights and social justice principles of fairness, equity, opportunity and dignity for all people.'
I cannot think of a more succinct statement that justly summaries what I have been talking about today.
These values express the essence of human rights principles including human dignity and justice. Valuing human dignity and justice means that community and social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of every person and respect the human rights expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
By instilling these values in your practices, you ensure the satisfaction of basic needs; fair access to services and benefits in order to achieve human potential; and recognition of individual and community rights.
Your reconciliation strategy initiative does that: it puts peoples and their rights first; and it strikes a delicate balance between rights and responsibilities.
The responsibilities I'm talking about here are the practical and moral obligations of all Australians, regardless of their background, towards Indigenous peoples. And the responsibilities of community and social workers to adhere, in their everyday practices, to notions that recognise Indigenous peoples rights, needs and desires.
Aunty Ruth, Mr Power, respected members and guests; in my view, laws, procedures and polices are not in themselves effective tools without strong affirming leadership. I have always maintained that we need leadership, in different walks of life, that champion human rights principles, standards and treaties.
Your Reconciliation initiative does that, it demonstrates an understanding of human rights principles; it acknowledges the rights of Indigenous peoples; and above all, it shows leadership.
Congratulation on a job well done. thank you.
