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Against the Stronger Futures legislation: Dhanggal Gurruwiwi from Yirrkala, George Gaymarani Pascoe (Milingimbi), Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM (Utopia), Betty Pike, a Nyoonga woman from SW Australia, Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann AM (Nauiyu), Djapirri Mununggirritj (Yirrkala), Rev Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra OAM (Galiwin’ku) and Harry Jakamarra Nelson (Yuendumu). and issued a media release to express its solidarity with the Yolnuw Makarr Dhuni (Yolngu Nations Assembly) — which represents Aboriginal people in Western, Central and East Arnhem Land and is fiercely opposed to the legislation. SNAICC also compiled an overview for its website on the opposition to the bills, including comments from Yolnuw Makarr Dhuni, human rights agencies, the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. The Stronger Futures legislation was passed by the Senate in June 2012. SNAICC submitted a briefing paper to the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) on its proposed new family support program, Caring for Our Mob. SNAICC is keen to assist the development of the new model to translate intention to do things differently into real practice on the ground. SNAICC has been very committed to the reform of the child protection system in the Northern Territory. SNAICC had been engaged with services in the NT before the announcement of the Board of Inquiry into Child Protection in the Northern Territory in 2009 and continued our involvement after the announcement, working with local agencies to develop a response and lobby for the changes the sector believed would improve the system. When the then NT Government accepted all the recommendations of the inquiry, including that an independent body be set up to monitor and review progress with the implementation of the recommendations, SNAICC was invited to participate as a part of that committee. SNAICC accepted the role on condition that we remained able to effectively support and thus be informed by the sector in the NT. Over the past two years, the committee has worked to seek direct input from the ground on progress, and to inform the department and report to the minister on our findings. We have seen progress made — slow at first, then gradually gaining momentum. The task will take quite a long time to get entrenched as a part of a much healthier culture and way of doing business. At the time of publication, the new NT Government announced it would disband the Monitoring and Review Committee, among other changes. SNAICC believes its abolition will break the continuity and momentum of the recent child protection reforms, leading to a SNAICC Annual Report 2012 33
loss of confidence —particularly in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It will mean the recommended and necessary bipartisan approach has yet again failed to take hold. In 2012, SNAICC invested significantly in better understanding and engaging with targeted international Indigenous human rights bodies. This included participation in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. The Eleventh Session of the UNPFII (from 7 to 18 May) was attended by four SNAICC representatives as part of the Australian delegation in New York: Deputy Chairperson Geraldine Atkinson, CEO Frank Hytten, Policy and Research Manager Emma Sydenham, and SNAICC Resource Service Manager Melissa Brickell. SNAICC activities at the UNPFII included hosting a side event on Indigenous children, making a statement on Indigenous children and youth to the forum and hosting a series of meetings, including with UNICEF and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. SNAICC reported on its experience as Foreign Correspondent in the May 2012 edition of the Human Rights Law Centre’s monthly Bulletin. SNAICC prepared three background papers to inform our participation in the Permanent Forum: • Children Growing the Declaration Strong, a document that introduces key human rights instruments relevant to Indigenous children: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration). The paper highlights some key successes and strengths of the CRC in its first 20 years, and the strong complementarities between the CRC and the Declaration, as important and tangible lessons and opportunities for advancing Indigenous children rights. • A systematic overview of the work of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 2001 that relates to Indigenous children — including all recommendations and the current status of their implementation. • An overview of the work of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as it relates to Indigenous children. SNAICC is seeking to build on a number of the recommendations made by the forum this year, including an invitation to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to participate in its next session, and to prepare for effective participation in 2013. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reviewed Australia’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, Switzerland, on 4 and 5 June 2012. SNAICC was represented at the review by Deputy Chairperson Geraldine Atkinson and CEO Frank Hytten. In preparation for the review, SNAICC was a member of the Child Rights Taskforce and Steering Committee, contributing to the Listen to Children report (May 2011), and the Addendum Report (May 2012). Being in Geneva for the review also gave SNAICC the opportunity to engage with Committee members, seeking guidance on how to best address serious violations that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continue to experience. In its report, released in June 2012, the committee was very strong in its indictment of the Australian Government and provided comprehensive recommendations to strengthen the protection of Indigenous children’s rights in Australia. For more information on key recommendations see pages 36–37. To build awareness around these recommendations and how organisations and individuals can use them to support our children, SNAICC prepared: • a brief overview of the relevant recommendations as an online resource • a briefing paper connecting the committee’s recommendations to the second three-year plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children in the implementation of the National Framework 34 SNAICC Annual Report 2012
Page 1 and 2: Secretariat of National Aboriginal
Page 3 and 4: Contents About SNAICC 3 SNAICC mile
Page 5 and 6: SNAICC milestones 1981 SNAICC Confe
Page 7 and 8: SNAICC National Executive Chairpers
Page 9 and 10: SNAICC National Executive Lisa Coul
Page 11 and 12: SNAICC National Executive Kerry Cra
Page 13 and 14: “Every day there’s something he
Page 15 and 16: Chairperson’s Message Continued f
Page 17 and 18: “The kids in WELA are a step ahea
Page 19 and 20: A snapshot of published work in 201
Page 21 and 22: Focus area 1 Child and family wellb
Page 23 and 24: tattoos and a ‘grown-ups pack’
Page 25 and 26: National Aboriginal and Islander Ch
Page 27 and 28: Focus area 2 Aboriginal and Torres
Page 29 and 30: Drawing on the knowledge and experi
Page 31 and 32: A major focus of SNAICC’s work th
Page 33: Focus area 3 Social justice and chi
Page 37 and 38: In 2012, SNAICC attended two import
Page 39 and 40: Focus area 4 A strong national peak
Page 41 and 42: SNAICC intensified its focus this y
Page 43 and 44: In 2012 SNAICC conducted a series o
Page 45 and 46: “Our service is about Aboriginal
Page 47 and 48: “There’s a whole board of Elder
Page 49 and 50: Organisational chart Executive Assi
Page 51 and 52: SNAICC Governance SNAICC is governe
Page 53 and 54: 8 for Priorities Aboriginal and Tor
Page 55 and 56: Independent Audit Report For the Ye
Page 57 and 58: Income Statement For the year ended
Page 59 and 60: Balance Sheet For the year ended 30
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Page 63: The national peak body for Aborigin

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