A/HRC/15/37/Add.4 97. The Northern Territory government should reform its policy that school activities be conducted in English only for the first four hours of each school day and provide bilingual and culturally appropriate education to Aboriginal children. Employment and income 98. In recent years, the Government has taken noteworthy steps to promote economic development and employment opportunities for indigenous peoples. As part of this process, the Government should work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and their organizations to determine goals and priorities for economic development and should build the capacity of indigenous peoples to take control over their own economic development. 99. The Government should ensure that adequate and, at a minimum, equivalent funding and employment opportunities are in place before reforming or abolishing existing welfare and social security programmes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Any reforms to welfare and social security programmes should be carried out in consultation with indigenous peoples and their organizations. Housing 100. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the Government’s long-term funding commitments on housing and essential infrastructure. However, Government initiatives to address the housing needs of indigenous peoples should avoid imposing or promoting housing arrangements that would undermine indigenous peoples’ control over their lands. Housing programmes for the benefit of indigenous communities, especially within indigenous territories, should be administered by indigenous community-controlled institutions. Women, children, and families 101. The Special Rapporteur commends the Government for attaching urgency and priority to the issue of protecting vulnerable groups and abating violence against women and children. However, efforts should be made to intensify consultations with indigenous women at the community level to amplify and adapt services and solutions to violence and other problems in their own communities. Special emphasis should be placed on providing access to culturally appropriate, community-based legal and support services to victims of domestic violence in remote areas. Administration of justice 102. The Government should take immediate and concrete steps to address the fact that there are a disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, especially juveniles and women in custody. 103. The Government should take further action, in addition to action already taken, to ensure the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody are being fully implemented. 104. Additional funds should be immediately provided to community-controlled legal services to achieve, at a minimum, parity with mainstream legal aid services. In particular, culturally appropriate legal services should be available to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including those living in remote areas, and interpreters should be guaranteed in criminal proceedings and, where necessary, for a fair hearing in civil matters. 22 GE.10-13887

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