For most of us, human rights are so much a part of every day life that we often take for granted the protection they provide us. Therefore it comes as a surprise to most that Australia has one of the weakest systems for the protection of human rights in the western world.
Of all the groups within our society, Australia’s Indigenous peoples suffer the most extreme human rights violations. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up only two percent of Australia’s total population and the disadvantages they experience are deeply disturbing.
In particular, Indigenous peoples are experiencing markedly inferior levels of health care, education, employment opportunities, access to clean water and adequate housing. All of which should be provided by our state and federal governments.
The
right for health requires of our government that all citizens have an equal opportunity to be healthy. Currently, there is not equal access for Indigenous peoples to neither primary health care nor the infrastructures that supports good health. That is, hospitals, medicines, services that aim to prevent ill health, and health education. For example, Aboriginal babies die at three times the rate of other babies in Australia and the average life expectancy of Indigenous peoples is 20 years less than the average of the Australian population as a whole.
For many countries the
right to education is not being upheld due to insufficient professional and support staff, resources and basic infrastructure that is needed to operate in a functional way. In the Social Justice Commissioner’s statement on the government’s ‘national emergency’ measures, dated 22 June 2007, Mr Calma stated, ‘I have a letter on my desk from Mapuru in Arnhem Land, a remote community that has been writing to the Minister from over five years asking for a school to be built for their kids—and they are still waiting. Mapuru is not alone. Only last year the Senate Estimates process exposed the complete incapacity of Wadeye to provide enough primary places for the Indigenous kids that live that regional centre.’
Employment is important to living standards, self-esteem and overall wellbeing. It is also important to the family. Children who have a parent who is employed are more likely to attend school and stay on past the compulsory school age. They are also more likely to enter into post secondary education and gain employment.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are about half as likely to finish school as non-Indigenous children. Therefore, the
right to employment opportunities is severely undermined for these children. In 2004-05, the unemployment rate for Indigenous people (13 percent) was about three times the rate for non-Indigenous people (four percent).
Having your
right to clean water upheld is essential for healthy living. This right being upheld means that the quantity supplied fully meets domestic needs for drinking, personal hygiene, bathing and food preparing. The water quality with regard to micro-organisms, chemical residues and other disease-inducing agents is of major importance to health outcomes. A functional sewerage system prevents contamination of drinking water and food. A 2006 government report showed that 40 per cent of remote Indigenous communities had experienced sewerage overflows or leakages in the previous 12 months.
The
right to adequate housing has not been upheld in many Indigenous communities. Overcrowded housing (as well as low quality and condition) can contribute to poor health, family violence and poor educational performance. In 2004-05, 25 percent of Indigenous peoples aged 15 years and over lived in overcrowded and inadequate housing.
As you can see, the human rights violations committed to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are substantial. It is clear that the Australian government is not doing enough to protect the rights of Indigenous Australians. In a recent speech, Mr Calma, the Social Justice Commissioner, stated,
‘It is not acceptable to continually state that Indigenous disadvantage is tragic, and ought to be treated with urgency, and then fail to fund programs so they are capable of meeting need or raising the standard of Indigenous health to the general population.’
It is not that the government cannot afford to protect the human rights of these peoples; it is that they seem not to care. But they should, as the Indigenous populations are Australians too, and by international law, their rights must be protected. The inferior level of health care, education, employment opportunities, access to clean water and adequate housing given to these people is unacceptable.
‘Social justice is what faces you in the morning. It is awakening in a house with an adequate water supply, cooking facilities and sanitation. It is the ability to nourish your children and send them to school where their education not only equips them for employment but also reinforces their knowledge and appreciation of their cultural inheritance. It is the prospect of genuine employment and good health: a life of choices and opportunity. A life free from discrimination’—Mick Dodson, former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner.
How do I know this?
The Australian Government Productivity Commission—Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators, 2007,
www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/indigenouse/keyindicators2007.html
Australian Indigenous Health Infonet,
www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/html
Australian Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission,
www.hreoc.gov.au/hr_explained
www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice
www.hreoc.gov.au/media_releases
This article, by Morgan Lawrence of Balmain Public School, was the Year 5/6 Runner-Up in What Matters? 2007—a writing competition, run by The Whitlam Institute, that gives year 5-12 students in NSW and ACT a chance to say what matters in society today. For more information go to: http://www.whitlam.org/whitlam/index.php
