The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released a landmark report on Australia’s First Nations women and girls with a female-led plan for structural reform.
Social Justice Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander at AHRC, June Oscar said the report, Wiyi Yani U Thangani—(Women’s Voices)—Securing Our Rights, Securing Our Future Report 2020, was a comprehensive, whole-of-life document and the result of over a hundred engagements with thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls of all ages.
“The Report calls for the urgent establishment of a National Action Plan, an advisory body and targets and benchmarks for women and girls to lead in all areas of life,” Commissioner Oscar said.
“What we have here today, is not a report for the shelves; it’s a call to action,” she said.
“It’s a strengths-based message for all Australians to see, to hear, to learn of the remarkable resilience and capabilities of our women and girls, who have the solutions but lack a seat at the table.”
Commissioner Oscar said she and her term had been moved by the sheer resilience of Australia’s First Nations women and girls, who despite ongoing disadvantage across all areas of life, continued to hold their communities and families together.
She said the Report included principles to guide change, seven overarching recommendations and a series of priority actions to enable communities to thrive and overcome profound disadvantage.
“Wiyi Yani U Thangani has been supported by a multi-year partnership with National Indigenous Australians Agency,” she said.
“It is the first national engagement project of its kind since the Women’s Business Report in 1986,” Commissioner Oscar said.
The AHRC’s 575-page Report can be downloaded at this PS News link.
