Transcript of the 1393rd, 1394th and 1395th Meetings held during the Fifty-Sixth Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination during its consideration of Australia's Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Periodic Reports and its continuing consideration of the matters considered by the Committee at its 54th and 55th Sessions in 1999.

(Chairman)
The 1393^rd meeting of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is called to order. The first item on our agenda this afternoon is the consideration of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth periodic reports of Australia, to be found in document CERD/C/335/Add.2 with Mrs McDougall acting as country rapporteur. I take particular pleasure in welcoming the presence amongst us with a view to having what I look forward to, a constructive dialogue, of a delegation headed by the distinguished Australian Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, the Honourable Philip Ruddock, Member of Parliament. I take pleasure in welcoming you sir, in this Committee, and we look forward to having as I said a constructive dialogue with you and with the members of your delegation. Let me say how much we appreciate the fact that you took the trouble to come from what you call 'down under' in order to hold this dialogue with our Committee. I welcome all members of the delegation, and especially the distinguished Ambassador of Australia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, to whom I understand I should give the floor in order to introduce the members of the delegation of Australia, and thereafter I shall refer to the leader of the delegation to introduce his country's report. The distinguished Ambassador of Australia has the floor.

(Ambassador)
I thank you indeed Mr Chairman, and thank you for handing the floor to me so that I might introduce the Australian delegation and also say how much we have been looking forward to this occasion, to come and address Australia's periodic report. I recall very well the time I spent with the Committee in August and how much I appreciated the opportunity to get to know members of the Committee, dealing at that time as we were with the Urgent Action procedure, and I recall only too well as if it was yesterday the time that we decided to leave that behind and put things into the context of the periodic report which is something as I said we very much look forward to doing, which will give us an opportunity to address only those, not only those issues which we know are of concern and interest to the Committee but a broader set of issues which underline Australia's performance in this important area. You've already introduced the Minister, I might add that the Minister is also the Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Reconciliation. That's another one of his formal responsibilities. Accompanying the Minister is a very senior Australian delegation from a number of departments with relevant responsibilities nationally for these issues. On my right I have Mr. Peter Hughes, who's the First Assistant Secretary of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Division of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Also present are Mr Peter Vaughan, the First Assistant Secretary, Office of Indigenous Policy, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Ms Philippa Horner, First Assistant Secretary of the Native Title Division of the Attorney General's Department. I mention those three because they will be speaking to you in the course of this presentation. We also have with us Mr Bill Farmer who of course is the Head of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs in Australia and who is accompanying the Minister on his current visit here and to other capitals on government business. So with those short remarks and that opportunity to introduce the delegation I would now hand over to our Minister.

(Chair)
I would like to thank the Ambassador of Australia and I now call on the distinguished leader of the Australian delegation to introduce his country's report. Mr Minister you have the floor, sir.

(Minister)
Well thank you very much Mr Chairman and to the distinguished Members of the Committee. First may I congratulate you, as I understand you've only just assumed your position, and it's obviously a very important one for the Committee and one which we value because we've always had a close cooperative relationship with your predecessors and I'm sure we'll be able to continue to work closely with the Committee under your Chairmanship. I would like to extend my greetings to your former Chair, Mr Abuol-Nasr, whom I had the privilege of meeting earlier, whom we commend for his professionalism and his dedication and his leadership while he was Chairman, and I am sure that that will be exemplified by you as you continue in this very important role. Now, I do appreciate the opportunity to present Australia's tenth, eleventh and twelfth periodic report at this 56^th session of the Committee, and I do so with a great deal of personal pleasure because some of the areas about which I will speak are areas for which I have Ministerial responsibility in Australia today.

You might ask why I am here and what is my interest in the issues that you are addressing. I've been a Member of the Australian Parliament for almost 27 years, 26 and a half I guess, and in that time there are a number of areas of public policy in which I have taken a personal and a continuing interest. Firstly in relation to human rights issues generally, and I've done that in a number of personal capacities as distinct from official positions that I hold. As Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs I have been involved in the area of immigration as a shadow minister and now for four years as the Howard Government Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and immigration is something in Australia that we don't just see in the context of the movement of people, but rather in terms of our human rights obligations, particularly in relation to refugees where we have been over a long period of time one of the most significant contributors to the UNHCHR's work in resettling people where the only durable solution is in fact the opportunity to go to another country in order to be safe and secure. And in addition we have some economic migration and family migration. But ultimately if you have people coming to a new country to settle the policies and programs under which they are ultimately able to develop their own future and their own lives is crucial to their success. And so for me, the management of our settlement programs for what is in fact a culturally diverse society is one of my very important responsibilities.

But over the time I've been in public life, when I first was elected to Parliament I was asked to serve on our House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, and I served with some very distinguished Australians over a long period of time, later becoming the Chairman of that Committee between 1975 and about 1982 or 83, and I served on the Institute of Aboriginal Studies. I've also been involved in some committees that reviewed land rights issues, and while I've had some, I suppose, periods when I was not so involved, more recently I was asked by the Prime Minister when I became a member of cabinet to assist him in relation to the reconciliation task. And that is the very important effort in which we Australians, all of us, are involved, of trying to look at those aspects of our shared history which have not always been as satisfactory as we would like, and to see how we can move forward together. And the process of reconciliation is a very live issue in Australia today and in which we are all very much involved. And so I come to you today on what I understand you have celebrated and we are celebrating in Australia, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and I might say that at home today we are celebrating this day as our 'National Harmony' day. And that was a special program that we have initiated based upon reinforcing the concepts and practice of fairness and tolerance, humanity and mutual respect, the very principles upon which this Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination which you work to, are embodied. And so as part of our education program in Australia to address these very issues, and that is our 'Living in Harmony' program, today is very much the focal point of those activities as a national day for celebrating and reflecting upon Australia as a harmonious and culturally diverse nation.

Now this periodic report which I am honoured to discuss with you underlines our commitment to these principles. The report will outline to you in detail the programs and policies that we have in place in Australia to promote an inclusive and multicultural society, one for all Australians and one in which we address the issues of racial discrimination and inequality very, very directly. Now while the report can only ever be a snapshot of those policies and initiatives between the period of 1992 and 1998, our commitment to implementing these policies and combating racial discrimination is a continuing one. We pursue it very actively through a process of consultation and policy development that seeks to redress long term issues, to change outmoded and unacceptable perceptions and attitudes, and to resolve the wrongs of the past. Now this process can only be summarised I think in the report and represented abstractly by facts and figures, but what I want to do in making this presentation to you today is to emphasise our commitment as a peoples, as a nation, to combating racism, because we do see racism as being an evil and our approach to dealing with it is substantial, genuine and ongoing. And we have in Australia acknowledged the need to address outstanding issues and established processes and mechanisms to ensure that that progress is achieved. Now this report is not simply a reflection of the Government's commitment to racism, … or to combating racism, it's because we are a federal state, and I know that not all of you would be perhaps experienced of what a federation is and involves, but in Australia we have a number of states and territories who, like the Commonwealth make significant contributions to dealing with these issues. And so what we've sought to do in this report is to put before you details of what Australia's states and territories are also doing in this area. And the report also reflects the views of Australian non-government organisations that were consulted during the preparation of the report and who provided to the representatives of the Prime Minister's Department who coordinated the preparation of this document and they contributed to it, and so we've got a comprehensive approach which embodies as I say state and territory governments, non-government organisations who of course will follow-up on the results of this meeting in addition. So the Government's view in Australia is that racial discrimination can not be tackled by government policies alone but by extensive consultation and involvement of the broader community and this report is therefore a comprehensive record of Australia's commitment to the principles underlying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Now Australia has always taken its obligations under the Convention, and indeed under all of the human rights instruments very seriously. And our commitment to protecting and advancing human rights is not just contained in our domestic policies but also in our international actions. And only recently I am sure all of you would be aware that Australia led an international force in East Timor to assist in regaining stability after violence and abuse of human rights that ensued after a vote of independence. And it was not only in terms of leading that force but also in our humanitarian response, which in the case of East Timor when UN personnel were evacuated we took some 1,800 people who were then in the UN facility in Dili, evacuated them to Australia under safe haven arrangements to ensure that they were not the subject of any unfortunate reprisals as a result of their being linked with that very important UN presence at that time. We've also acted in times of other humanitarian need, and that was demonstrated by our commitment notwithstanding the fact that we were so far away from the Balkans region, we nevertheless took some 4,000 Kosovo Albanian refugees to Australia, and that was in addition to our normal humanitarian and refugee response which involves some 12,000 people at risk or of concern annually. So during this last year in response to those particular emergencies we took, if you look at our 12,000 annual contribution we took another 6,000 people in addition &emdash; a 50% increase &emdash; and I think that demonstrates the commitment that Australians generally feel about human rights issues and their desire and aspiration to be involved in working in support of the principles of universal human rights and to be doing so in a very practical and demonstrable way. And during his recent visit to Australia, your Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, noted that Australia was a model member of the United Nations, that Australia is justifiably proud of its international record and close cooperation with the United Nations. And we do continue to support strongly the international principles that are embodied in the United Nations documentation. And our appearance before this Committee today and the importance that we attach to it with this presentation is another demonstration of our commitment. My presence, the senior representation is here, I mean I am here, they are here because we do see your work as important and we attach a great deal of importance to working with you.

Now let me turn to highlighting some of the key initiatives dealing with combating racial discrimination. Firstly, can I speak about multicultural Australia. Australia is a society that is drawn of many cultures. It's built upon the foundations of our first peoples, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, some of the oldest in terms of civilisation in the world, and there has been of course over time, relatively recently, successive waves of migrants from something of the order of 130 or so different countries that have settled in Australia and made Australia their home. Now when we're looking at our history over the longer term it's clear that in our social attitudes Australians have not always fully appreciated the benefits of cultural diversity and government policies and practices have not always adequately reflected such diversity, and if you look at the early part of this century there were policies and programs in place which I as a Minister today, if they were proposed, could never be associated with and could never be, in my view, sustainable. However, the fact is that as the Australian society and our culture changed very rapidly after World War Two successive governments moved to adjust our legal and social infrastructure in a way which reflects the culturally diverse society of today. And if you look at Australia over the last twenty five years for instance under the banner of the title 'multiculturalism', successive governments have sought to build a social infrastructure which fully reflects our cultural diversity and which optimises the benefits for all Australians and promotes social harmony amongst the many different cultural groups that we do have in Australia today. And by using the public policy of Australian multiculturalism to address the challenges and opportunities of our cultural diversity, we promote a very positive ideal in our society, one that respects and one that is inclusive of people of all cultural backgrounds, and where there is no place for racist attitudes and behaviours. And to renew and forward multicultural policy the government recently adopted a new agenda for multicultural Australia. And it was about all Australians and the emphasis on the things that actually unite us, our desire for social harmony, the benefits of our diversity, our respect for other cultures, and the ideal of social equity which seeks equal opportunity for all Australians regardless of background. And our plan of action does involve the Commonwealth Government giving leadership to and cooperating with other spheres of government, the private sector and the wider community in relation to diversity management. And of course, it includes facilitating partnerships by means of 'Diversity Australia', we used the internet and the internet homepage and have implemented government public information and education strategies to raise awareness and understanding of our cultural diversity. And to assist the Government to implement the plan of action we've established, newly, a 'Council for a Multicultural Australia', which will have the responsibility of promoting harmonious community relations, assisting in coordinating policies and programs and raising awareness and understanding of the economic and social benefits of cultural diversity. And also reflecting Australia's commitment to multiculturalism has been the successful implementation of our national anti-racism campaign. That's the campaign I referred to earlier, the campaign known as 'Living in Harmony'. And it's a community-based education program which has associated with it a number of initiatives and community grants programs. And it's designed particularly to reinforce community harmony amongst individuals and different groups in our culturally diverse society, those from different cultural and racial backgrounds, including our first peoples, our indigenous Australians. And these programs underlie the significant government commitment to promoting cultural diversity and addressing racial discrimination in a positive way. In fact we did a great deal of market research before we implemented the program in order to ascertain the way in which you can actually try and influence people's attitudes. And what we found was that by building on those elements of value in your society, of tolerance and harmony, you can bring a greater acceptance to a wider group of people. And our research suggested that those people who have entrenched attitudes are very likely to resist campaigns which don't build upon positive values that have broad acceptance. And Peter Hughes, who is here with me today, will provide you with further elaboration on these programs and the results that we've achieved. But one of the aspects that I as the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs was particularly pleased, occurred in the implementation of the community grants programs was that more than ten percent of the grants that we provided to those who were going to be involved at a community level in promoting harmony went to indigenous organisations. One of the things that pleased me enormously was that, on the advice that I received, their applications were very competitive and in many cases far superior to grants that were sought or applications that sought grants from many other types of broadly-based organisations within the Australian community.

And that brings me to the issues relating to our first peoples, indigenous Australians. Now without any doubt one of the greatest blemishes in Australia's history has been the treatment of our indigenous peoples. I don't think you would find many Australians who would look back at our history who would say that it was always appropriate. The doctrine of terra nullius for instance denied indigenous land rights while indigenous peoples suffered injustices under many practices that past generations were involved. Now it is impossible to undo the wrongs of the past, but the Australian Government has committed itself firmly to address what it sees as today's unacceptable level of disadvantage suffered by Australia's indigenous peoples. And the fact is that indigenous disadvantage in Australia has been long-standing and it will not be corrected overnight. But as I often tell people at home, if we cannot acknowledge that there has been some progress then the support for the efforts, which are considerable, to address these issues in the community as a whole will not be there. And so we have seen some beneficial improvements, they're outlined in the report before you, but we don't see those improvements as enough. We believe that the practical measures that we are implementing, leading to practical results to improve the lives of our indigenous peoples can, over time, incrementally, produce better results than we have today. And we are, through the implementation, systematically, of special programs and policy initiatives, seeking to improve economic independence for our indigenous peoples to overcome inequalities which we know continue to exist in some areas, and we have targeted those areas of greatest need, particularly health, education, housing, employment, and economic development opportunities as areas in which we can move forward. Now despite some claims to the contrary, the fact is that government funding, total funding on indigenous support programs has increased. In this financial year the Government's indigenous-specific funding across all portfolios including health, housing, education and employment will be 2.2 billion Australian dollars. Now if I remember rightly from my reading of the brief which was earlier, prepared for earlier periods in time, that's a significant increase on the figure of 1.8 billion that is referred to in the report. So you can see that increased commitment by that simple demonstration. Now I must stress that disadvantage will not be solved or remedied by money alone. We recognise that communities and individuals need to take some responsibility for their personal well-being as well. And they need to have the chance to claim success or to learn from failure, and we have therefore been involving and empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to overcome the legacy of our past, to eliminate need for welfare support, and we're improving indigenous Australians' access to health, housing, education, employment, economic wealth of our country in addition. In fact I would say that one of the tangible demonstrations of that empowerment is the very presence of such a large number of Australian indigenous people before your Committee in the audience today and making efforts to be heard in other ways, as I know they have. That reflects, I think, the greater self-confidence, the tremendous support that they receive, and their undoubted capacities to be able to put arguments strongly in their own cause &emdash; whether I accept them all or not is another matter &emdash; but to put them in their own cause. The government support for services remain but our aim of course is to create opportunities for indigenous Australians to be able to create their own future.

Now I mentioned to you earlier that my role as a cabinet minister is in assisting the Prime Minister on reconciliation, and a vital element in promoting the unity of the Australian nation is in achieving an effective and lasting reconciliation between indigenous Australians and other members of our Australian community. And I would like to draw to your attention the fact that the Australian Parliament in August last passed a motion on the question of reconciliation that reaffirmed the whole-hearted commitment to the cause of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians as an important national priority for all Australians. And that resolution of course was a sincere effort on the part of the Government as well as the members of the Parliament to genuinely empathise with the sense of alienation that many indigenous Australians have felt and many continue to feel in our society today. And the Prime Minister in his Federation Address on the 28^th of January this year renewed the government's commitment to the goal of achieving a lasting national reconciliation between all Australians. And the government does stand by its commitment to make a maximum contribution towards achieving conditions of reconciliation with indigenous Australians. And Mr. Vaughan, who will speak to you later will provide the Committee with the further details of the specific government programs that are addressing indigenous issues and the process of reconciliation. But I would want to say very firmly that while people have talked about specific timeframes and with goodwill people have aspirations to achieve reconciliation sooner rather than later, it is a process which involves the meeting of people's hearts and minds in which you need to effect change, and it's a process that's going to be ongoing and one in which we are going to have to continue to work on over time.

Now there are some issues in relation to native title which I'd like to briefly mention to you today. The Australian Government does note that the Committee in August last year reaffirmed its concerns about amendments to an enactment of our Australian Parliament, the Native Title Act. Now I wish to reiterate to the Committee that the Australian High Court in its decision known as Wik did, in 1996, create a situation of some uncertainty, as that decision extended the possible existence of native title to a large proportion of the Australian continent, that was in the minds of many, and in other cases effectively, privately owned. And the Australian Government was placed in a very difficult position as a result of that legal decision. Now the fact is that when the High Court made its momentous decision in Mabo which changed laws in Australia effectively, implementation of the court's decision could not be effectively implemented by the court making decisions on a case by case basis. It would be naive to believe that every issue that needed to be resolved could be run up to the Federal Court each time a claim was to be pressed in relation to a native title issue, a common law title as it was seen. And if there hadn't been native title legislation enacted by the Parliament you would never have had a workable scheme. Now that legislation was the subject of further consideration by the High Court in the Wik decision. And it of course changed the rules and it placed the government in a very difficult position, one where essentially in a parliamentary democracy competing interests needed to be addressed and balanced to resolve the impact of the court's decision. And to solve that problem there was, if you actually sat in Australia at that time and listened to the debate that was ongoing, it engaged the Australian community in a very, very significant way. There was of course a great deal of debate. But in order to try and achieve a resolution there were very significant consultations, negotiations and discussions with all interested groups, including our indigenous peoples. And the Prime Minister was personally engaged in those discussions. The consultation process was comprehensive. It was transparent, and the result, which was some amendments to our Native Title Act, was the culmination of that process of consultation and negotiations. The Act was ultimately passed after one hundred hours of parliamentary debate and it was passed, not only in our House of Representatives, but also in our Senate, which is a requirement for legislative change, where the Government doesn't have the numbers, where the Government was in a minority. The Amendment Act, in the end, represented a delicate balance between all of the interests, the interests of our states and territories, the interests of miners, the interests of pastoralists, and the interests of our indigenous peoples. And it was the outcome of a democratic process which was rigorous and one which not all I might say legislation that goes through our Parliament are subjected. Furthermore, the Native Title Amendment Act needs to be considered as part of a whole, it needs to be considered in the context of the principles which have underpinned the original Native Title Act. And of course those principles which were then enacted, remain in place, intact. Now to address the perceptions that there has been some regression in indigenous land rights I would like to put before you some facts. First, in Australia indigenous Australians now own or control some 15% of the Australian continent. Now this is an area equivalent to the size of Spain and France combined, just to give you some idea of the enormity of land involved. In many instances such as our territory, the Northern Territory where 42% of the land is Aboriginal owned, it also includes the right to control any mining development. We also have in addition to these matters a national program of land purchases for indigenous Australians, begun over a quarter of a century ago which is ongoing and for which there are very very considerable amounts of money committed, not only at a Commonwealth level but also in some of our states. And we have the fact also that the native title legislation about which you will hear a good deal more, leaves something of the order of 79% of the Australian continent potentially subject to claim.

Now the Amendment Act has now been in operation for over a year and recent evidence which will be provided to you in further detail by Ms Philippa Horner demonstrates that the provisions of the Act are working effectively and fairly. Now the government recognises that the close connection indigenous Australians have with the land and our overall approach to indigenous issues reflects this awareness.

Now I've provided a brief overview of our periodic report to you and some of the measures that Australia is implemented to respond to the challenge of addressing racial discrimination, advancing multiculturalism, and resolving indigenous issues, but I have to say it's really only a snapshot. Members of our delegation will provide you with some more detailed presentations in their fields of expertise and they will outline the particular programs that we have implemented and the results that we have achieved. Now we have Mr Peter Hughes, he's a First Assistant Secretary in my department, that is Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, we have Peter Vaughan who is a First Assistant Secretary of the Office of Indigenous Policy in the Prime Minister's Department and Cabinet, and we have Ms Philippa Horner who is the First Assistant Secretary of the Native Title Division in our Attorney General's Department. Now Mr. Chairman, to you and your Committee members this concludes my presentation but I would like now to invite Mr Hughes, followed by Mr Vaughan and Ms Horner to be able to complement my presentation.

(Chair)
Mr Minister I thank you very much for your introductory remarks, detailed and eloquent as they were. As per your wish I shall now call on your colleagues to continue the introduction to the report of Australia, bearing however in mind the procedures of the Committee and the time element involved because after the introduction by all members of the delegation, well at least those you indicated, the country rapporteur and then members of the Committee will comment and then you will again be given the floor to respond and then possibly there will be other comments on your response and again you will be given again the floor to respond to those comments.

(Minister)
Well, I'm looking forward to hearing from you and your colleagues.

(Chair)
Mr Minister, don't worry, you will hear (laughter…). So with these clarifications I call now on the First Assistant Secretary as you suggested, Mr Peter Hughes to take the floor. Mr Hughes you have the floor sir.

(Hughes)
Thank you Mr Chairman. The Minister outlined in his presentation how Australia has pursued a policy of multiculturalism, with appropriate supporting programs, and the relevance of that approach in reducing racism in Australia. The Minister made the point that by reducing, by using the policy of Australian multiculturalism to address the challenge of our cultural diversity we are trying to promote a positive ideal of our society as we want it to be, one that respects and includes people from all cultural backgrounds. I'd like to elaborate briefly on this point, as well as on our efforts to build a social infrastructure which gives reality to the ideal of multiculturalism.

You will have seen in our periodic report the high degree of diversity of origin of the Australian population, with 20% of our population born overseas, 40 to 50% of our population with at least one parent born overseas, and a wide range of cultures and religions sourced from Australia's indigenous people and from migrants from over 130 countries. We have doubled our population over the last fifty years based largely on overseas migration, from every continent. A variety of policies have been pursued since the Second World War to ensure equitable participation of migrants in Australian society. But it's under the banner of multiculturalism over the past 25 years that we have sought to pursue a vision for the whole of the Australian population based on respect for, and full appreciation of, our peoples' cultural diversity. The policy of multiculturalism means that within an overriding and unifying commitment to Australia, all Australians have the right to express and share their cultural heritage, and to equality of opportunity, without barriers of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, culture, language or religion. The policy of multiculturalism has been supported by an institutional framework at the Federal Government level. For example, we have a 'charter of service for a culturally diverse society', which aims at ensuring equitable delivery of government services to people of all languages and cultural backgrounds. We have comprehensive migrant and refugee settlement programs, including an extensive national program of English language tuition for all newly arrived migrants, who lack English language skills; a national 24 hour interpreting and translating service to assist non-English speaking migrants with their communication needs in settling in Australia; a major program of funding to community organisations which provide migrant settlement services and support; and we also provide intensive, specialised services to humanitarian entrants who we bring to Australia to assist them with their very particular and more difficult settlement problems. We also have national multi-language television and radio broadcasting services. We pursue programs to encourage community appreciation of our social diversity and the benefits that can flow from it. For indigenous people, Australia has a number of specialised structures and services that reflects our multicultural approach. For example the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission is a unique structure in being the equivalent of government department but controlled by an elected Aboriginal board. It manages half of the Federal Government's Aboriginal-specific programs. There are special laws to protect indigenous culture and heritage and to enable indigenous communities to claim or purchase land. There are special Aboriginal housing, health, education, employment and justice programs, most of which are delivered through the network of more than 2,000 Aboriginal community-controlled organisations throughout Australia. Reflecting the fact that Australia is a federation, in addition to Federal Government programs, state, territory and local governments in Australia have also committed themselves to policies of multiculturalism. Those governments have also developed institutional frameworks and programs that support and extend the idea and reality of multiculturalism throughout the Australian community. Our positive approach towards multiculturalism is of course backed up by anti-discrimination legislation and mechanisms, as detailed in our periodic report. In other words, Australia aims to promote a vision of society which reduces the scope for discrimination, but at the same time, to have mechanisms to deal with it when it unfortunately occurs.

I will now focus briefly on a couple of recent developments that illustrate Australia's continuing commitment and process of renewal to building a harmonious and inclusive multicultural society. The Federal Government has recently renewed its commitment to multiculturalism in the form of a new agenda for multicultural Australia. I believe that this document is available to members of the Committee. The new agenda was launched by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Mr Ruddock, in December 1999. The Federal Government in the new agenda commits itself to four principles of Australian multiculturalism. I would like to read out to you the four principles. Firstly, civic duty: all Australians are obliged to support the basic structures and principles of Australian society: our constitution, democratic institutions and values, which guarantee us our freedom and equality and enable diversity in society to flourish. Secondly, cultural respect: subject to the law, all Australians have the right to express their own culture and beliefs and a reciprocal obligation to accept the right of others to do the same. Thirdly, social equity: all Australians are entitled to equity of treatment and opportunity, enabling them to contribute to the social, political, and economic life of Australia, free from discrimination on the grounds of race, culture, religion, language, location, gender, or place of birth. Fourthly, productive diversity: the significant cultural, social and economic dividends which arise from the diversity of our population should be maximised for the benefit of all Australians. Now Mr Chairman, this agenda, an ideal, is being implemented through a practical plan of action which will ensure that the government deals effectively with the issues arising from Australia's cultural diversity. A new 'Council for Multicultural Australia' is being appointed to assist with the implementation of the plan of action. It will have broad, community-based membership and it will report to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs on implementing the plan of action for Australian multiculturalism.

I'd also like to say a little bit more about the, another initiative that the government has been pursuing in parallel with the new agenda, and that is the 'living in harmony' initiative mentioned by the Minister. This is a $10 million program which is a major component of Australia's approach to building a harmonious and inclusive society. The key approach of the living in harmony initiative is to engage Australians in a positive way to help in recognising and promoting community harmony. The living in harmony initiative is more than simply a campaign against racism. It challenges Australians to lead by example by showing that we can live in harmony despite our cultural, social and religious diversity. The living in harmony program is implemented through three broad avenues: a community grants program, a partnerships program, and a public information strategy. The community grants program forms the core of the living in harmony initiative. It's designed to give community organisations all over Australia a chance to design projects to address specific relevant community harmony issues within their local areas. There are some 100 community harmony grants currently operating. As the Minister said 10 % of these grants have specifically gone to indigenous organisations. But over 50 % of the grants in some way address indigenous issues. In view of time Mr Chairman I won't go into detail in all of the other aspects of the living in harmony program, but I would like to draw attention to the fact that our living in harmony initiative intends to bring the private sector and major business organisations into the process of appreciation of our cultural diversity and promoting the benefits of cultural diversity and a number of very large businesses in Australia have actively supported and become involved in this project.

As the Minister mentioned, one of the key focuses of our living in harmony program is the concept of the national harmony day, commenced for the first time last year, and being implemented today for the second time. Harmony Day was initiated by the Australian Government to coincide with United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The government is promoting harmony day as a time for Australians to reflect on and celebrate Australia's success as a culturally diverse and harmonious nation. To support harmony day today, community organisations in Australia and our business and commercial partners have been holding events all around Australia in which Australians can participate. Overall this living in harmony initiative has been received very positively and strongly in the community and we are finding growing interest in the concept of a national harmony day, as it becomes better known.

In summary Mr Chairman, I've highlighted that Australia's multicultural policy gives us a very positive and constructive framework for dealing with residual racism and bigotry in our society. It's supported by a social infrastructure to help us meet the diversity challenges we face, and we are making continued and renewed efforts to build a harmonious, tolerant society and to minimise the scope for racist attitudes, views and behaviours.

(Chairman)
Well, I should thank Mr Hughes for his statement, I believe that the Minister expressed the wish that I should now call on Mr Peter Vaughan I believe, who is going to be the last speaker on behalf of the delegation by way of introduction. (…)

(Minister)
No, there are two…

(Chairman)
You mean Mr Vaughan and two more?

(Minister)
No, one more.

(Chairman)
And one more. All right, …

(Minister)
Unless you think the native title issue shouldn't be addressed.

(Chairman)
No, Mr Minister (laughter), I don't want to decide which issues your delegation will address. I'm sure they are all important, I only invite attention to the time frame, that's all. Mr Peter Vaughan you have the floor, sir.

(Vaughan)
Mr Chairman, distinguished Members of the Committee, I will be brief. The Aboriginal …. (…. microphone for speaker please, could the speaker please press the button …)

… and 70% of that population lives in regional and rural areas of Australia. It's a very rapidly growing population, growing at double the rate of the general population. And one of the factors driving that very rapid population increase is the extent of inter-marriage between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The children of such unions are entitled to identify or be identified as Aboriginal, if they so choose. And among two parent Aboriginal families, two out of three include a non-indigenous partner. The level of disadvantage experienced by this population is a legacy of colonial history, as with similar populations elsewhere in the world. The socio-economic status of the indigenous population and the extent to which Australia is making progress on the road to equality is summarised at paragraph 60 of Australia's periodic report. Australian governments, past and present, Commonwealth and State, have been working determinedly since the 1970s in particular, to address the extent of Aboriginal disadvantage within the Australian community. The range of measures include laws outlawing all forms of racial discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity and treatment and special laws to establish indigenous decision-making structures within government itself, such as ATSIC, to protect indigenous culture and heritage, and to enable indigenous communities to access and claim land. For its part, the Federal Government alone has in place an array of special legislation and programs. For example the total amount of federal spending on such programs is at present the highest on record in real terms, that is a total of 2.2 billion Australian dollars or the equivalent of 21,000 Australian dollars per Aboriginal household or 13,000 dollars US, for those of you who are unacquainted with the value of the Australian dollar. Half of those programs are delivered through ATSIC, an Aboriginal controlled body.

Just briefly to note the extent to which we are making progress, in the area of health for example. Indigenous mortality used to be twenty times the non-indigenous rate, it has now since been cut by over 90%. The prevalence of trachoma has substantially reduced, male death rates from cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, injury and homicide have been declining since the 1980's. In the area of housing, the level of overcrowding has been reduced from 4.4 persons per household to 3.7 in the past fifteen years. The proportion of indigenous families who own their own home has increased from 24% to 33% in that time. In the area of education, the proportion of indigenous children who complete secondary schooling has increased four fold since the mid 1970s, from 8.6 to 33 %. The proportion of indigenous people with post secondary school qualifications has doubled in the last decade. Higher education enrolments have tripled. In the area of employment, the two main causal factors of the very high rate of Aboriginal unemployment are location and educational qualifications. Although these will remain important determinants in the future, in the immediate future there is clear evidence of an improving situation. For example, about one quarter of indigenous Australians in the labour force are now involved in special community development employment programs, acquiring skills and experience for future employment. The proportion of indigenous Australians participating in vocational training courses has increased six fold in the past decade. The proportion of indigenous Australians employed in professional occupations has increased from 14% to 22% in the last decade. In the area of law and justice, you may be aware of the very high Aboriginal incarceration rate in Australia. Although those custody rates remain unacceptably high, the level of Aboriginal over-representation relative to that of non-Aboriginals has fallen over the past five years. The rate of Aboriginal deaths in custody is now lower than the non-Aboriginal rate. And Aboriginal Australians are receiving shorter custodial sentences than non-Aboriginal Australians for most criminal offences.

Finally, in the area of land, it is not well understood that native title which has formed, taking much of the Committee's time in recent times, is only part of a long standing and elaborate policy and legislative framework under which indigenous Australians can secure ownership of land and land rights. In fact, 15% of the Australian continent is already indigenous owned or controlled and that proportion was secured under policies that predated and are quite independent of the common law concept of native title that has been recognised only since 1992. Federal governments first started purchasing land for Aboriginal people in the 1970s. Subsequently state and federal governments handed over existing Aboriginal reserve land to indigenous people, and allowed claims to other Crown land, resulting as has been noticed in the fact that 42% of the Northern Territory is now Aboriginal owned or controlled. That's an area about twice the size of the United Kingdom. With that has often gone the right to control development on that land and that is reflected for example in some of the major mining arrangements that have been concluded in recent years. The Jabiluka mine in the Northern Territory provide 230 million dollars to indigenous people. The Century Zinc mine, over 90 million dollars. This, as a result of land rights.

Chairman, in deference to the Committee's time, I will conclude my remarks there.

(Chairman)
I Thank Mr Vaughan for his remarks and I now call on Ms Philippa Horner, First Assistant Secretary, Native Title Division, Attorney-General's Department, who will conclude the remarks by way of introduction of the Australian report. You have the floor madam.

(Horner)
Thank you very much Mr Chairman, I will be quick but I think it's important to make some comments both about the CERD Committee's 1999 findings and some developments under the Native Title Act since that time since it's clear the Committee members are very interested in those developments. In its decision in March 1999 the Committee expressed its concern over what it saw as the winding back of protections in the 1993 Native Title Act. The lack of effective participation by indigenous communities in the formulation of the amendments was also a concern. The Australian Government is committed to meeting its Convention obligations and recognises that the unique circumstances of indigenous people require particularly careful consideration. Building on the principles in the 1993 Act, the Amended Native Title Act contains extensive provisions that recognise the unique nature of native title rights and which go beyond the requirements of formal equality. Very briefly, these kinds of measures are of three types. The first are measures that provide for the recognition and protection of native title. I'll just mention a couple of those. There's a prohibition, and continues to be a prohibition, on the extinguishment of native title except by agreement or by non-discriminatory compulsory acquisition where just terms compensation is paid. Secondly there's a rule that in any other case native title can only be temporarily affected by government acts, again for which compensation is paid for that temporary period. Thirdly, the Parliament has created and the government has funded special tribunals to deal with native title matters and of indigenous organisations to assist native title holders to establish and deal with native title.

The second type of provisions which are still in the Amended Act are measures that address the special features of native title. Those include special national procedural rights that are not available in relation to any other form of property in Australia to ensure that there is consultation about mining and other activity on native title land. Secondly, those procedural rights are available to people who claim native title as well as those who have established in the courts that they in fact have native title. And thirdly, there's an emphasis on agreements through negotiation and mediation. Those agreements have special statutory status and provide legal certainty and protection for native title holders.

The first type of provisions are very important and were the subject of comment by Committee members in the last period last year. They are measures that address the historical extinguishment of native title rights, including the restitution of native title rights where native title has historically been extinguished. This was a provision newly included in the amendments. And secondly a rule that native title is only suspended by the granting of a mining lease, notwithstanding that under the common law native title would be extinguished by such a grant. Further, the Indigenous Land Corporation set up by the Commonwealth Parliament and funded by the government continues to acquire land for indigenous Australians. These measures of which there are well over forty in the Amended Act are described in more detail in an attachment to this presentation. In the government's view, it had to act in response to the High Court's decision in Wik as the Minister mentioned. The 1993 Native Title Act did not provide for the possibility that native title could exist on pastoral leases. Failure to respond would have been irresponsible and led to further uncertainty for indigenous and non-indigenous alike. Leaving the issues to be determined by the common law would have resulted in extensive litigation where certainty would have taken years to achieve and left native title more vulnerable to extinguishment than is the case under the amended Native Title Act. In the government's view the four provisions mentioned by the Committee in the March 1999 finding were in the particular circumstances justifiable in pursuit of purposes that were not inconsistent with the Convention. Those four of course were the validation and confirmation provisions, the primary production provisions, and the changes to the right to negotiation. Those changes were not arbitrary or unreasonable. Those provisions and changes pursued a legitimate aim and were a proportionate response to the changing circumstances. I might mention those relevant circumstances are firstly, the historical fact that the … sorry, pardon me… the fact that historical acts of the Crown were being considered, in other words the settlement of Australia over 200, in the first 200 years, before native title had been recognised by the common law, and secondly the necessity following the Wik decision to create rules about the relationship between indigenous interests, recognised for the first time in 1992, and the then-existing non-indigenous interests. In relation to the confirmation provisions in particular, it is important to mention that earlier this month there was a decision earlier by the full Federal Court in Australia in the Miriuwung/Gajerrong case, which upheld the legal basis on which those confirmation provisions were formulated in the 1998 amendments. Based on this very recent decision, there is no evidence to support the suggestion that the confirmation provisions go further than the common law. Moreover there clearly was effective participation by indigenous representatives leading up to the enactment of the amendments in July 1998. This participation consisted of both direct consultation with the government, mentioned by the Minister, and negotiation with parties who had a substantial influence on the amendments as finally enacted. These amendments were the subject of eighteen months of extensive public scrutiny, three separate parliamentary inquiries in relation to which indigenous representatives made submissions and gave evidence and as the Minister mentioned over 100 hours of consideration by the Parliament.

I want to say something about the operation of the Amended Native Title Act. It's been in operation now eighteen months, and many of the concerns that were expressed at the time the amendments were debated have not proven to be warranted. The strengthened registration test, while imposing a higher threshold to access negotiation rights, has reduced the incidence of contested native title claims. As at the 10^th of March 2000, 95% of native title applications made since the amendments came into operation in September 1998 and that have been tested have passed the new registration test. Even if the claim is not registered it will still be determined in the courts. There are currently 563 native title claims active nationally that are now under management of the Federal Court and subject to mediation by the national Native Title Tribunal. There have been ten native title determinations to date, importantly, five of which have been decided by agreement between the government involved and the various other interest holders affected including pastoralists and miners. The Amended Act emphasises a non-adversarial, practical approach to resolving native title issues. The reduction of 21% in the number of native title applications point to more considered and credible claims being submitted and to the consolidation of applications by the Federal Court. It also points to the number of voluntary combination of claims made by native title applicants themselves. I should mention this reduction of 21% is not necessarily a reduction in the area covered by the applications so much as a reduction in the number of overlapping claims. The amendments have strengthened the capacity for indigenous land use agreements to be developed as an alternative to the statutory regime. Land use agreements are proving popular. As of February there were six such agreements lodged for registration, another six being registered, and many others under negotiations. Since the Committee's meeting in August, discussions have also commenced between the South Australian government and indigenous representatives about the possibility of a regional agreement between that government, indigenous representatives, and the pastoral and mining industries. This agreement would be made under the Indigenous Land Use Agreement provisions of the Native Title Act but operate in parallel to the Act's provisions. It is open for the Commonwealth to participate in these discussions.

Finally on native title an issue of concern to the Committee was the possibility of extinguishment of native title rights under the Amended Act. In the eighteen months since it's come into operation there has been no evidence that the validation provisions have resulted in any permanent extinguishment. Neither has there been any evidence by example by claims for compensation or judicial pronouncement that the confirmation provisions have resulted in extinguishment. During those eighteen months extensive submissions have been provided by many indigenous representatives about aspects of the operation of the Amended Act. Two senior ministers, the Attorney General and the leader of the government in the Senate have met with indigenous representatives in Queensland and the Northern Territory in the last six months and discussed these issues. Discussions with representatives in other states is likely in the near future. Commonwealth officials have also had extensive discussions with indigenous representatives and ATSIC on a range of matters relating to the operation of the Amended Act. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Native Title which has the statutory function of reviewing and reporting to the Commonwealth Parliament on the implementation and operation of the Act has had its mandate extended for five years under the 1998 amendments. Along with information from ATSIC, the Federal Court and the national Native Title Tribunal, the information and advice from indigenous representatives in the Parliamentary Joint Committee is facilitating the ongoing monitoring by the government of the operation of the Act.

The 1998 amendments were the outcome of a difficult but careful consideration of often competing rights necessitated by an unexpected court decision. The Australian Government remains of the belief, that given a reasonable chance to work, that the Amended Native Title Act can achieve a fair result. The initial evidence supports this view. Thank you very much Mr Chairman.

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