Urban outcasts

• governments should develop specific economic policies that stimulate employment opportunities in urban areas through vocational training, supporting Indigenous enterprise, and access to credit and loans;
• governments should provide health services that are culturally appropriate in consultation with Indigenous leaders; and
• government should also ensure access to education that is culturally appropriate including Indigenous languages, cultures and histories, in consultation with Indigenous organisations.

Housing:

• governments and housing providers must take steps, to the maximum of their available resources, to achieve the full and progressive realisation of the right to adequate housing. Effective housing delivery for the members of Indigenous peoples should be developed, including promotion of rental housing that meets the needs of Indigenous urban dwellers.

Government should also invest in the development of Indigenous expertise in the full range of technical capabilities for effective housing program design, delivery and management. In this connection, it is important that the development and use of Indigenous materials and technologies be supported. To ensure that housing is culturally adequate for Indigenous peoples, they must be included in the design, development and implementation of housing projects.

And the lessons to be learnt? That Indigenous people must not live in despair because governments of all persuasions wish to violate their basic human rights.

After returning home from the successful conference in Santiago I took the initiative of inviting senior members of the UN-HABITAT and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, to visit Australia and tour major cities to speak to Indigenous leaders on the impact of the government’s draconian policies.

It is my hope that the UN report card on the government’s handling of Indigenous issues will be released in time for close scrutiny by voters before the federal elections at the end of this year.