Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Limited - Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on

7 These reforms must also be carried out in tandem with other critical reforms at both the Federal and State levels, such as the introduction of a Voice to Parliament and the fulfillment of the other objectives of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including truth-telling processes and treaty making, implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and increas. [...] For example, in 2017 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights observed that many Federal Government policies and decisions failed to respect the rights to self-determination and effective participation, contributed to the failure to deliver on the targets in areas of health, education and employment, and fuelled the escalating and critical incarceration and child removal rates of. [...] A Federal Human Rights Act would also ensure that executive decisions made in relation to matters such as raising the age of criminal responsibility and the implementation of OPCAT are properly guided by consideration of key rights such as the rights of young people and the rights of people in detention. [...] ALSWA agrees with the Commission’s position that the partial references to this right in the preambles to the ACT, Victorian and Queensland Acts are insufficient and submits that it is critical that a full articulation of this right be included in the preamble to the Federal Human Rights Act.16 ALSWA also supports the inclusion of cultural rights, non-discrimination rights and economic, social and. [...] As such, ALSWA strongly supports the proposal of the Commission that the Act include the core economic, social and cultural rights enumerated in the International Covenant of Economic Social and Cultural Rights.19 In ALSWA’s view, it is also crucial that the Act includes accessible, efficient and effective remedies for violations of human rights.