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for the Protection of Australia’s Children,
and
• a booklet, Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Child Rights Report Card, which
explains the concerns and recommendations
on the rights of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander children and youth, and
suggests how Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander services, organisations, parents
and communities can take action to
improve the protection of, and support
for, the rights of our children.
CRC member Marta Mauras has also confirmed
participation as an international key note at
SNAICC’s national conference in June 2013.
The CRC recommendations strongly build on,
and will be further integrated in, existing
SNAICC work.
For example, SNAICC will focus on key recommendations
to strengthen Aboriginal participation
in child protection decision-making
and increase the availability of early childhood
education and care services for all children by
considering providing free or affordable early
childhood care.
SNAICC undertook activities to reactivate the
Indigenous Sub Group of the NGO Group
on the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (ISG) during the reporting period,
based on an agreed work plan and more
regular communication. As well as hosting
a series of events at the UN Permanent
Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York,
SNAICC attended the ISPCAN Conference in
Istanbul in September 2012, at which National
Executive member Desley Thompson gave three
presentations — on international partnerships
to advance the rights of Indigenous children;
Indigenous leadership in integrated children
and family services; and Indigenous cultural
advice services in child protection.
SNAICC also prepared two submissions to
contribute to the UN Secretary General’s
report on the rights of children with particular
attention to Indigenous children, one on
behalf of the ISG and one from a national
perspective on behalf of SNAICC. Through
this representation, the ISG advocated for
increased visibility of Indigenous children
in international human rights forums and
increased pressure for redress of their rights
violations.
SNAICC participated in other major processes
this year to increase awareness of human
rights issues impacting Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander children, and to strengthen and
broaden efforts for better protection. These
included:
• a submission to the Attorney General’s
Department (AGD) on the Australian
Government’s Draft National Human Rights
Action Plan
• a submission to the AGD on a new UN
mechanism, ratified in December 2011, that
gives children (or their advocates) an avenue
to complain about potential abuses of
their rights to the Committee on the Rights
of the Child, and
• two submissions for the United Nations
Secretary-General in preparation of a report
he was requested to provide to the General
Assembly on the rights of the child, with a
focus on the rights of Indigenous children.
One submission centred on critical rights
issues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children continue to experience in
Australia; the other submission, on behalf
of the Indigenous Sub Group of the NGO
Group on the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, was on violations of the rights of
Indigenous children around the world, including
key recommendations for change.
This year SNAICC continued to increase
awareness of child rights, including:
• facilitating a series of sessions on the
rights of the child at Indigenous Human
Rights Advocacy training conducted by the
Diplomacy Training Program and Oxfam
Australia at Mt Isa in March 2012 and Alice
Springs (September 2012), and
• producing an information paper on the
Victorian Charter of Human Rights and
Responsibilities Act 2006 and the Australian
Capital Territory equivalent, with a focus
on their relevance to Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples and children
(December 2011).
SNAICC Annual Report 2012 35