Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

governments should confine their roles largely to providing financial and other resourcesupport for the implementation of Indigenous programs and policies.There is no right more fundamental for indigenous people than that of self determination. It iscentral to addressing the general disadvantage and oppressed condition of Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander peoples …It is central to a social justice package that policies, institutional structures and legislation shouldoperate to empower indigenous peoples and provide for collective rights of indigenous peoples(ATSIC 1995 page 29).Unless provided in accordance with the requirements of self-determination, servicesto Indigenous people may be effectively inaccessible to them or where accessible areunlikely to secure their objectives.The exercise of self determination by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities mostfrequently centres on the provision of community services. The aim is not merely to participate inthe delivery of those services, but to penetrate their design and inform them with indigenouscultural values. The result is not merely services which are better structured to reflect the needsand identity of particular communities: there can be a resultant improvement in the effectivenessand efficiency of these services (Dodson 1993 page 56).Only Indigenous people themselves are able to comprehend the full extent of theeffects of the removal policies. Services to redress these effects must be designed,provided and controlled by Indigenous people themselves.Non-discriminationThe prohibition of racial discrimination has long been fundamental to human rightslaw. It finds expression in all the treaties within HREOC’s jurisdiction, including theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These treaties do not just prohibitintentional or explicit discrimination. They also prohibit systemic discrimination againstan ethnic group because, for example, a service is modelled on the needs, language orculture of others. Actions, policies and services which have the effect of discriminatingagainst an ethnic group, intended or unintended, are also prohibited (section 9(1A) RacialDiscrimination Act 1975).Implicit in the design of any service are assumptions about the nature and needs ofthe anticipated clients. Typically a service will be designed with the majority or dominantethnic group in mind. This is particularly true for generalist or ‘mainstream’ services ascontrasted with specialist services. In Australia the dominant ethnic group (Anglo-Australians) has a very different demographic profile from Indigenous Australians. MostAnglo-Australians live in urban areas or visit cities regularly and with ease, earn a salary,speak English and have had a high school education. A very high proportion ofIndigenous Australians, in contrast, lives in rural or remote areas, rarely travels to cities,