A/HRC/15/37/Add.4
Appendix A
Details of the visit to Australia of the Special Rapporteur
from 17 to 28 August 2009
1.
In Canberra, the Special Rapporteur held meetings with various members of the
Government, including the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA); the Attorney-General; the Minister for Indigenous Health,
Regional and Rural Health, and Regional Service Delivery; and representatives of the
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, the Department of Health
and Ageing, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Special Rapporteur also
met with various members of Parliament from diverse political parties. Additionally, he met
with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner of the
Australian Human Rights Commission. In other parts of Australia, he met with
representatives of state governments, including in Western Australia, New South Wales,
and Queensland, and he also met with representatives of the Northern Territory
government.
2.
The Special Rapporteur held consultations with indigenous individuals and groups,
including traditional owners, in Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Alice Springs, Darwin, Cairns,
and Brisbane. Indigenous communities visited included those at Swan Valley (Western
Australia), La Perouse (New South Wales), Yarrabah (Queensland), Angurugu (Groote
Eylandt, Northern Territory), and Bagot, Yuendumu, Yirrkala, Gamgam and Raymangirr
(Northern Territory). The Special Rapporteur also consulted with representatives of the
Goldfields Land and Sea Council, Central Land Council, Anindiyakwa Land Council,
Northern Land Council, North Queensland Land Council, New South Wales Aboriginal
Land Council, and Cape York Land Council, as well as with the Torres Strait Regional
Authority, Yarrabah Shire Council, and Tangentyere Council.
3.
The Special Rapporteur met with representatives of various indigenous peoples’
organizations and non-governmental organizations, including the Foundation for Aboriginal
and Islander Research Action (FAIRA), National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health
Organizations (NACCHO), Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, National Native Title
Council, Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, Coalition of Aboriginal Peak
Organizations (Sydney), Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council, Ngaayatjarra
Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council, and several other community
organizations, church groups and indigenous support agencies at various locations during
the Special Rapporteur’s visit. In Perth, Western Australia, the Special Rapporteur met with
representatives of extractive industries and the Chamber of Minerals and Energy.
4.
During the visit, Professor Anaya also participated in an academic symposium at the
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra, and in a
conference of the United Nations Association on the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Brisbane.
5.
The Special Rapporteur expresses his appreciation to members of the indigenous
peoples’ organizations of Australia for their indispensable support in organizing and
carrying out the visit, and to the Government of Australia, especially FaHCSIA, for the
support provided before, during, and after the visit. The Special Rapporteur would also like
to thank the United Nations Information Centre, for their support in the preparation and
execution of the visit, and the Support Project for the Special Rapporteur, at the University
of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, for its help in all aspects of
preparation of the visit and this report.
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