Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Parallel ...

10. Articles 1 to 3: Definition of discriminationagainst women, obligations to eliminatediscrimination, the development andadvancement of women, and acceleration ofequality between men and womenCEDAW Committee consideration of these issues in 2006and Australian Government responseAt paragraphs 2.40-2.50 of the Australian Government Report, the Government sets outa number of measures that it has implemented to address the CEDAW Committee’s2006 Concluding Comments in paragraphs 30 and 31 that Australia improve Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander women’s enjoyment of human rights. These measures are:• Closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.• Northern Territory Emergency Response.• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Gathering.• State and territory measures to address violence against Indigenous women.The Committee requested that the Australian Government include adequate statisticaldata disaggregated by sex, ethnicity and disability. 6 This information remains illusive.Data is generally collated either by sex or race but not both.Positive developmentsFormal ApologyFor many years, we have called for a formal apology over the stolen generations. TheBringing Them Home Report also recommended that Australian parliaments apologisefor the laws, policies and practices of forcible removal of our children. 7These calls were finally met on 13 February 2008 when the Motion of Apology toAustralia’s Indigenous Peoples was passed by the Australian Parliament. The motionstated:…We apologise for the laws and policies of successive governments that have inflictedprofound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologiseespecially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from theirfamilies, their communities and their country. For the pain suffering and hurt of thesestolen generations, their descendants and for the families left behind, we say sorry… 8678CEDAW Committee Concluding Comments, above n 5, [15].Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Bringing Them Home - Report of the NationalInquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their FamiliesApril (1997) Appendix 9 Recommendations, [5a], (Bringing Them Home Report).Commonwealth of Australia, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, 13 February 2008,167 (Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister). (Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples)18