Wrongs and rights: the economic, social and cultural rights of Indigenous peoples in Australia

Abstract

[Introduction]: This 'Wrongs and Rights' report provides an overview of recent research into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia as at 2001, based on a number of economic and social welfare indicators, including health, education, housing, employment, law and justice, reconciliation, culture, land and native title, and self-determination. The report is part of a three-year advocacy and research project on Indigenous Rights in Commonwealth of Nations countries. The project has two interrelated purposes: to encourage the Commonwealth to recognise that Indigenous rights must be part of any serious concern for human rights; and to gather information on the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Commonwealth. The project is focusing on twenty Commonwealth countries in which there are significant Indigenous rights issues: Australia is one of those countries. As recognised in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, economic, social and cultural rights cover many of the necessities of life for health, social and cultural well-being and an adequate standard of living: the right to food, clothing and housing, physical and mental health, education, work, rest and leisure, the right to form and join trade unions and strike, to social security, and to scientific and cultural life. It is a matter of public record that although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up only a small proportion of Australia's total population, they are one of the most disadvantaged groups in Australia, especially in comparison to non-Indigenous Australians.