NSWRC Updates

New Resources for the New Year

2009 Social Justice and Native Title Reports
Australian Human Rights Commission Jan 2010
The reports, which are tabled in federal Parliament, analyse the major changes and challenges in Indigenous affairs over the past year. They also include recommendations to government that promote and protect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The war against Indigenous Australia/ns: Foucault, racism and social work education
Tony Fletcher Hawke Institute 13 January 2010
In a series of lectures at the College de France 1975–1976 entitled ‘Society must be defended’, Michel Foucault made the following observation: ‘sovereignty’s old right – to take life or let live ... came to be complemented by ... the power to “make” live and “let” die’. Foucault connected this disposition with socio-political events and concluded that modern societies, though describing their machinations as being in a state of peace, are internally at war with subjects or bodies produced as belonging to an ‘inferior species’. This paper connects Foucault’s understanding of ‘racism’ with the concept of ‘fields of visibility’ to explore the creation of culturally competent practices among social work students when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal spirituality: Aboriginal philosophy, the basis of Aboriginal social and emotional wellbeing
Vicki Grieves Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health 13 January 2010
This discussion paper argues for the centrality of Aboriginal Spirituality in the practice of social and emotional wellbeing and for applications in all areas of Aboriginal development.

Ideology, Evidence and Competing Principles in Australian Indigenous Affairs: From Brough to Rudd via Pearson and the NTER
William Sanders CAEPR Discussion Paper 289 / 2009
This paper tracks the recent rise of ideology and evidence discourse as a way of describing good and bad Indigenous affairs policy. Expressing dissatisfaction with this discourse, it suggests a slightly more complex analytic way of thinking about Indigenous affairs involving three competing principles; equality, choice and guardianship.

The First-Ever Northern Territory Homelands/Outstations Policy
Sean Kerins CAPER Topical Issue Paper Dec 2009
In May 2009, the Northern Territory released its first-ever policy for homelands/outstations, setting out how the Government intends to provide services and much-needed infrastructure to assist communities living on Aboriginal-owned lands. The Government claims that its new approach will improve transparency of service delivery and ‘introduce a new disbursement model based on a more realistic framework for the allocation of limited government resources.’ Part of the much broader Working Future strategy, the Government’s plan hinges largely on the creation of centralised ‘economic hubs’ across the Northern Territory. It is a development that has been widely criticised by Aboriginal people throughout the region. Looking briefly at the history of the homelands/outstations movement and policy responses from various levels of government, this paper examines why the Northern Territory’s announcement has elicited such a negative response from homeland residents.

Social benefits of Aboriginal engagement in Natural Resource management
Janet Hunt, Jon Altman, and Katherine May Working Paper 60 / 2009
This paper examines the social benefits of Aboriginal engagement in natural resource management (NRM) in New South Wales (NSW).

Let's Start: Exploring Together - an early intervention program for Northern Territory children and families
Gary Robinson, and others School for Social and Policy Research 13 January 2010
The Let’s Start project was a trial to implement the Exploring Together Preschool Program (ETPP) in the Northern Territory (NT) for managing behaviour problems in Indigenous and other children.

A better future for Australia's Indigenous young people
Author: Laura Brown with Ken Zulumovski Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) 22 December 2009
Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs' Inquiry into the high level of involvement of Indigenous juveniles and young adults in the criminal justice system
The over-representation of Indigenous juveniles in the justice system has been an issue for many years, and is a particular issue in NSW.

Can home ownership work for Indigenous Australians living on communal title land?
Paul Memmott, and others Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute 26 November 2009
If governments are interested in pursuing more demand driven approaches to housing in indigenous communities, policy-makers need better information about indigenous people's perceptions of home ownership.

Prospects, protocols, progress
Erana Takuira Jumbunna: Indigenous House of Learning 20 November 2009
This report examines the recent advances of ethical guidelines for filming and working with Indigenous content in film. Completed as part of a Work Placement, a final year subject for Communications, Social Inquiry at the University of Technology Sydney. It requires students to collaborate with government or non-government organisations to achieve practical research experience. Students need to negotiate a research project that will benefit the organisation by meeting key objectives.

Reconciling Indigenous peoples' sovereignty and state sovereignty
Paul Chartrand Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies 13 November 2009
The concept of ‘shared sovereignty’ is examined as a contribution to the debate on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada and Australia. The discussion includes some commentary on some common features of the reconciliation debate in both countries. The main focus is on the views of a minority of justices in a Supreme Court of Canada case and their comparison with the analysis of Canada’s 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

Resolving native title issues: travelling on train tracks or roaming the range?
Graeme Neate National Native Title Tribunal 13 November 2009
With most of the apprehension, uncertainty and fear that was associated initially with native title has dissipated, this paper examines the areas in which the legislation and native title processes could be improved.

Study of the expert mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples
Human Rights Council 09 November 2009
Indigenous peoples have historically been among the poorest and most excluded and disadvantaged sector of society. A major factor contributing to the disadvantaged position of indigenous peoples is the lack of quality education - which may be defined as education that is well resourced, culturally sensitive, respectful of heritage and that takes into account history, cultural security and integrity, encompasses human rights, community and individual development, and is designed in a way that is implementable - depriving millions of indigenous children of the basic human right to education.

Protocols for the delivery of social and emotional wellbeing and mental health services in Indigenous communities
Melissa Haswell, and others North Queensland Health Equalities Promotion Unit November 2009
These guidelines have been written to fill a significant gap in resources available to Primary Health Care and Mental Health services.

Social inclusion and social citizenship: towards a truly inclusive society
Matthew Thomas, Luke Buckmaster Parliamentary Library November 2009
Since taking office in December 2007, the Rudd Government has made social inclusion a key theme in its approach to social policy.

National cultural policy: discussion framework
Peter Garrett National Cultural Policy Consultation November 2009
This brief discussion framework lists some of the key points the Australian Government hopes will guide contributions from the public towards the development of a National cultural policy for the next ten years.

ICTs and the spread of indigenous knowledge
John Liebhardt GlobalVoices 12 October 2009
At first glance, the relationship between indigenous knowledge and the Internet seems fraught. Indigenous knowledge provides a distinct set of beliefs, practices and representations avidly tied to place; the internet lauds itself for erasing boundaries and borders.

The Indigenous Resiliency Project: a worked example of community-based participatory research
Julie Mooney-Somers, Lisa Maher New South Wales Public Health Bulletin September 2009
"Aboriginal people have been examined, measured and asked questions ... They have been passive subjects rather than participants." Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is often cited as a suitable methodological approach for academic researchers wanting to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities. This paper describes the Indigenous Resiliency Project currently being conducted in Redfern, Townsville and Perth.

Civilising - A continuing Australian project?
Tim Rowse Australian Review of Public Affairs August 2009
It seems to many historians that Australia was an exception within the story of British colonisation in the extent to which the native presence here was denied, dismissed and, subsequently, degraded. And for many, terra nullius has become the doctrinal summation of Australia's exceptional, and distinctly shameful, history. Many, but not all: Bruce Buchan's Empire of Political Thought is a new work uses the conceptual pair 'civilization' and 'savagery' to explain relations between the colonisers and colonised in Australia.

Restoring identity. Final report of the Moving forward consultation project
Author: Amanda Cornwall Revised edition (June 2009)
The Moving forward national consultation project included a consultation process and research during 2001 and 2002, conducted by PIAC in partnership with Stolen Generations groups, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and other Aboriginal organisations.

NSWRC Annual Report 2008-9

NSWRC' latest Annual Report is now available online. This beautifully layed out document is full of information and images about NSWRC's activities over the past year.

Employment - Project Manager (NSWRC)

The NSW Reconciliation Council is seeking a full time Project Manager to work in its Sydney Office (Job Share Options).To find out more about the position, salary and requirements access the Application Package.

New Videos NSW Reconciliation Conference

Larissa Behrendt speaking on Human Rights and the NT Intervention - View video

NSWRC Launches Small Grants for 2010!

The NSW Reconciliation Council has launched its small grants program for 2010. The small grants program aims to foster reconciliation at the grassroots. Click here for more information.