A/HRC/15/37/Add.4 emotional or behavioural difficulties, conduct problems and hyperactivity and were approximately twice as likely to abuse alcohol and drugs as other children.4 18. By 2003, the Commonwealth Government had committed AUD 117 million to initiatives in response to the Bringing Them Home report. In recent years, the Government has taken renewed steps to provide redress for the victims of removal, who have become known as the Stolen Generations, beginning with the National Apology. In 2007–2009, the Government committed AUD 29.5 million to initiatives for Stolen Generations survivors. It has also announced that it will establish a healing foundation and invest an additional AUD 26.6 million over the next four years, to address trauma and aid healing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, with a strong focus on the needs of the Stolen Generations survivors. 19. The Commonwealth Government has said, however, that it will not provide monetary compensation for the victims where claims could be directed at State governments. Also, significant steps are still needed to implement the 54 recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report and to move towards genuine healing and reparation.5 The Government reports that it continues to work with Stolen Generations representatives in this regard. The Special Rapporteur concurs with the recommendation of the United Nations Human Rights Committee that Australia “should adopt a comprehensive national mechanism to ensure that adequate reparation, including compensation, is provided to the victims of the Stolen Generations policies.”6 IV. Lands and natural resources 20. Another crippling aspect of the history of racial discrimination suffered by indigenous peoples in Australia is their progressive loss of control over and access to traditional lands and natural resources. As stated in the preamble to the 1993 Native Title Act, indigenous peoples “have been progressively dispossessed of their lands. This dispossession occurred largely without compensation, and successive governments have failed to reach a lasting and equitable agreement with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders concerning the use of their lands. As a consequence, Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders have become, as a group, the most disadvantaged in Australian society.” 21. Similar to indigenous peoples across the world, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples maintain a profound connection to their land that forms an essential part of their cultural and spiritual life and material well-being. As noted in the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report, “land ownership may lead to greater autonomy and economic independence, increased commercial leverage and political influence. It can also deliver commercial benefits like increased income, employment and profits”.7 Further, as noted by the Social Justice Commissioner, securing indigenous land rights “is important for the advancement of reconciliation between Australia’s past and present, and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians”.8 4 5 6 7 8 GE.10-13887 Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey, Forced Separation from Natural Family and Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Children and Young People, vol. 2 (Perth, Centre for Developmental Health, 2005), p. 52. See Australian Human Rights Commission, Social Justice Report 2008, chap. 4. CCPR/C/AUS/CO/5, para. 15. Productivity Commission, Report on Overcoming Indigenous Advantage: Key Indicators 2009, p. 511. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Native Title Report 2007, report 7