The fifth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, declared by the United Nations as an event in Year 2014, should be seen as a time for important reflection.

This significant occasion will mark the end of the Second Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

The World Conference will offer an opportunity for States and indigenous peoples alike to examine the endeavors, achievements and shortcomings over two decades to realise the rights of the indigenous peoples of the world.

In Australia over the past five years, there has been a turn around in the commitment by the State to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In 2009 the Government of Australia announced its support for the Declaration, having voted in 2007 in the General Assembly against the adoption of the Declaration.

The Government has given tangible support to the establishment of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, a body created in accordance with Article 18 of the Declaration.

The Government has also commissioned a review of the Constitution of Australia to provide recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the First Peoples of Australia.

As a third initiative, the Government has established the ‘Human Rights Framework’ as a policy of government.

This framework includes, inter alia, training of government officials in international human rights obligations undertaken by Australia and the establishment of a parliamentary standards committee to review the laws of the national parliament for compliance with human rights standards.

Following examination of human rights in Australia in 2011, under the Universal Periodic Review provisions of the UN Human Rights Council, Australia is considering the ratification of ILO Convention No. 169, an international treaty which addresses the rights of indigenous peoples.

These specific initiatives are yet to achieve tangible benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but have serious potential.

Australia has yet to describe its overall government pertaining to indigenous issues in terms of the Declaration (apart from perfunctorily claiming overall compliance with the standard).