QueenslandGovernment

Premier of Queensland

For reply please quote: MN133319/AK18/Socia! Policy

1 4 MAY 2007

Mr Tom CalmaAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice CommissionerHuman Rights and Equal Opportunity CommissionGPO Box 5218SYDNEY NSW 2001

Dear Tom

Thank you for your letter of 2 April 2007 requesting information on Queensland's currentprogrammes and events to assist the Human Rights and Equal OpportunityCommission to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 'Bringing Them Home' report.

The November 2003 'Evaluation of Responses to the Bringing Them Home Report'

highlighted the achievements of the Queensland Government in delivering legislation,policies and programs to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Theevaluation report also noted Queensland's focus on partnerships between government,

the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the broader community, non-government organisations and business, to address the needs of people affected by theforcible removal policies of the past.

In September 2005, the Queensland Government launched Partnerships Queensland,an initiative designed to drive coordination and cooperation between governments and

Indigenous communities to enable sound decision-making and effective service deliveryat all levels. Partnerships Queensland demonstrates this Governments commitment toimproving social, health and economic outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people with an emphasis on actions that deliver results.

An updated overview of Queensland's legislation, policies and programs consistent withthe 'Bringing Them Home' report has been provided at Attachment 1. Details of eventscommemorating the 10th anniversary of the tabling of the report are available atwww.datsip.qld.qov.au/news/events.cfm

Executive Building100 George Street Brisbane

PO Box 15185 City EastQueensland 4002 Australia

Telephone +61 7 3224 4500Facsimile +61 7 3221 3631EmailThePremier@premiers.qld.gov.auWebsite www.thepremier.qld.gov.au

Thank you for providing Queensland with an opportunity to contribute to this importantinitiative.

Yours sincerely

ANNABLIGHMPACTING PREMIER AN

*Encl

ISTER FOR TRADE

Page 2 of2

ATTACHMENT 1

Overview of the Queensland Government's current programs and response to thereview recommendations of the 'Bringing Them Home' Report including legislativereforms, programs or policies affecting those who were subject to forcible removalpractices.

Economic Loss

The Queensland Government acknowledges the discrimination suffered by Indigenouspeople under successive State Government Protection Acts (Protection Acts). In recognitionof this, and to help progress reconciliation between all Queenslanders, in 2002 theQueensland Government established a reparations process. The process comprises fourelements including:• a statement made in Parliament publicly recognising past injustices on the basis of

race;• the development of a protocol for commencing official Government business with an

acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land;• the provision of a written apology from the Government to people who had their

wages and savings controlled under the Protection Acts and who were eligible tomake a claim for reparation; and

• individual monetary payments of between $2000 and $4000 for eligible claimants.

The reparations process maintains the rights of individuals to choose between accepting themonetary component of the offer and exercising their right to take legal action. In thisregard, the Government separately funded the provision of independent legal advice to alleligible claimants seeking any monetary amount under the reparations process.

The reparations process closed on 31 January 2006 with over 5000 claimants havingreceived individual reparations payments.

Social Justice - Addressing Social and Economic Disadvantage

Partnerships Queensland -to meet its obligations under the 2004 Council of AustralianGovernments1 new approach to Indigenous affairs, Queensland launched the PartnershipsQueensland Policy Framework and associated Performance Framework in 2005. The firstoutcomes reports under this performance framework were the Partnerships QueenslandBaseline Report and corresponding Implementation Progress Report which were tabled inthe Queensland Parliament in early February 2007. The Baseline Report provides acomprehensive datasetto inform future policy and program development in Queenslandand can be accessed online at: http://www.datsip.qid.gov.au/partnerships/partnersnips-baseline-report.cfm. The Partnerships Queensland Implementation Progress Report 2006 is

also publicly available and can be accessed at:http://www.datsip.gld.qov.au/partnerships/partnerships-progress-reDort.cfm

The Implementation Report provides information on recent government action and whole-of-Government activity currently being undertaken to address this disadvantage of IndigenousQueenslanders. Due to the entrenched and inter-generational nature of Indigenousdisadvantage, a major emphasis has been placed on initiatives aimed at children and youngpeople.

Child Care and Family Support Hubs have been established in 26 locations across theState including in six Indigenous communities. A hub is a multi-functional service or a "onestop shop" to provide families with childcare, parenting support, child heath, and educationservices. In addition, the Government has provided $1.6 million under the Remote AreaAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Care Program (RAATSICC) to support 35services to provide culturally appropriate child care and family support services in north andfar north Queensland and a further $1 million to upgrade facilities and equipment. More than$1.2million has been invested in delivering child care training to workers in numerous childcare services in Queensland's Gulf, Cape and Torres Strait Island areas to assist servicesin meeting their qualification requirements under the Child Care Act 2002.

Strong Indigenous Communities Chief Executive Officers' Committee - this high-level,interagency Government Committee has recently been established to develop andcoordinate the Partnerships Queensland Five Year Action Plan to focus Government actionon priority reforms and service improvements.

A Government Coordination Office has also established to better coordinate the servicedelivery activities of Government agencies in remote Indigenous communities. Key roles ofthe Office are to:

• identify and document service gaps or overlaps and monitor agency activities to addressthese;

• generate creative and innovative approaches to service delivery;

• facilitate a whole-of-government collaboration on addressing blockages to effectiveservice delivery in these communities and to

• address community and leadership capacity and capability and government capacity.

•

Service Delivery Interventions to address child well-being, substance abuse and familyviolence interventions are currently being developed with 19 remote Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander communities facilitated by the Government Coordination Office. It isanticipated that these interventions will be incorporated into Local Indigenous PartnershipAgreements that will identify specific priority areas for each community together withspecific actions to be undertaken by individual communities and Government. The

parameters for these localised agreements will be provided for by an overarchingIndigenous Partnership Agreement.

Council of Australian Governments

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG), of which Queensland is a delegate,has met at least once per year since 1992, with Indigenous issues featuring in severalof these meetings. Recent outcomes include the establishment of a process for ongoingcooperation, negotiation and joint planning between the Queensland andCommonwealth Governments through the Bilateral Agreement on Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Service Delivery 2005 -2010.

The Council of Australian Government's decision of 14 July 2006 supporting continuedbilateral negotiations on Indigenous issues reinforces the need for this approach. Theoutcomes of COAG meetings are contained on the COAG website and incommuniques released after each meeting.

Cultural Competency - Professional Training and School Education

The Government has recognised and sought to address a number of key issues in theprovision of culturally responsive services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.In 2005 the Queensland Government launched Engaging Queenslanders: A guide toworking with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, to assist service providersto effectively engage and consult with communities. The need for more cultural training forstaff of service agencies and the need to train more Indigenous people to work withGovernment in providing services is also being addressed.

Mura Ama Wakaana - People Working Together has been developed in consultation withrepresentatives from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and public sectoragencies across Queensland. It is a core, accredited Aboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderCultural Awareness training course for the Queensland Public Sector delivered through theAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Public Sector Employment Development Unit. Thecourse aims to identify specific issues and barriers that may exist with current servicedelivery arrangements with a focus on improved service delivery. It has been developed inresponse to the Royal Commission Report into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody(recommendation 210), and is just one resource available to assist public sector agencies indelivering their services to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people. Since 2005,the training has been provided to 757 public sector employees across Government.

A mandatory cultural competency program has also been introduced for all Department ofChild Safety staff, while initiatives such as the Murri Court and Recognised Entities havesought to ensure culturally sensitive processes operate in relation to magistrate courts andchild protection matters (see below for further information on these initiatives).

Combating Racism in Queensland Schools is a program including modules relating tostudies of the stolen generation delivered by the Queensland Department of Education,Training and the Arts in Queensland schools. Students develop understandings of theimpacts of policies and practices of removing Indigenous children from their families andcommunities. Students reflect on their own knowledge, experiences and understandings ofthe stolen generation and critically analyse information they have collected about the stolengeneration to assist in their learning.

Murri Court

Murri Court is a Magistrates Court designed specifically for Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander offenders. It was established in 2002 as a means of:• reducing the over-representation of indigenous offenders in prison;• improving attendance rates in court; and• decreasing the re-offending rate and number of court orders breached by indigenous

offenders.

The Murri Court enables Indigenous elders, respected persons and the family of thedefendant to be involved in the Court process through:• informing the Magistrate of cultural issues;• assisting the offender to understand events in Court;• assisting the Magistrate in determining the most appropriate sentence; and• acting as a conduit between the Court and local Indigenous communities.

Further information about the Murri Court including the proposed review of the Murri Courtis available at the website - www.iustice.qld.gov.au/courts/MurriCourtReview.htm

Records Preservation and Access and Tracing Services

Since 1992, the Community and Personal Histories Branch of the Department ofCommunities has been assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to accessGovernment and a variety of non-government records. Over 7000 requests have beenresponded to since the Branch was established. This is a free service and in keeping withthe Bringing Them Home recommendations, operates as a 'first stop shop' for peopleseeking access to Government and non-government records. In the last 12 months thenumber of staff in the Branch has been increased to keep up with the demand fromindividuals and families wishing to trace their family history,

The Branch works closely with Link-Up Queensland, Link-Up agencies in other States andTerritories and stolen generation counsellors to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people were removed from their families gain access to records to assist them toreconnect to their families and traditional country. The Branch also provides genealogicaltraining to Indigenous staff in Link-Up agencies.

State Library of Queensland and Indigenous Knowledge Centres - the Community andPersonal Histories Branch also collaborates with the State Library of Queensland's

Indigenous Library Services Unit and with Indigenous Knowledge Centres in Cape York andthe Torres Strait to promote access to information relating to Indigenous people. TheCommunity and Personal Histories Branch has undertaken and continues to undertakemajor indexing and digitisation projects to enable easy access to family history information.The Branch is currently creating a one-stop-shop Indigenous family history website inpartnership with the State Library of Queensland.

Indigenous Child Placement Principle

In May 2006, further amendments were made to the Child Protection Act 1999 to assist theDepartment of Child Safety ensure that services provided to Indigenous children under thechild protection system are culturally appropriate. The new provisions relate to theAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, Indigenous recognisedentities; and foster and kinship carers.

The amended Act strengthens the requirement for an Indigenous child to have contact withthe child's community or language group.

Prisoner Services

In terms of Prisoner Services, Queensland Corrective Services recently conducted alegislative review which identified a number of issues. As a result a new Act, enacted inAugust 2006, is based on the principles of providing for the safe and humanecontainment, supervision and rehabilitation of prisoners and ensuring the safety of thecommunity and the staff who work in the correctional system.

Significantly, the Act contains several new provisions regarding Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander people. A summary of some of these provisions include:• recognition of the special needs of some offenders through taking into account an

offender's age, sex or cultural background, or any disability an offender has;• services and programs must be established to help prisoners reintegrate into the

community, acquire skills, for the religious welfare of prisoners and to initiate, keepand improve relationships between offenders and their families. These services andprograms must take into account the age, sex, cultural background or any disabilityan offender has;

• particular provisions relating to the notification of an elder, respected person orIndigenous spiritual healer (who has been appointed to a centre), or an Indigenoushealth worker, in relation to the making of a Safety Order;

• the Corrective Services Regulation clarifies that an elder, respected person orIndigenous spiritual healer appointed to a corrective services facility must beallowed to visit a prisoner at a corrective services facility if the elder, respectedperson or Indigenous spiritual healer is culturally or spiritually relevant to theprisoner.

Reconciliation Queensland

The Reconciliation Awards for Business recognise and reward businesses, communitiesand individuals in Queensland that support reconciliation and acknowledge our Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander histories.

The awards are now in their fifth year and continue to provide businesses, organisations,projects or initiatives with an opportunity to showcase their achievements and success, anddemonstrate how they have contributed to reconciliation in Queensland.

The 2007 Reconciliation Business Forum will again focus on important aspects inproviding impetus to Indigenous economic development. The previous forums have led tothe development of partnerships between Indigenous communities and business andbetween Indigenous communities who are involved in similar business operations.

The 2007 Reconciliation Business Forum will build on the progress and networksestablished at the 2004, 2005 and 2006 forums. It will bring together community, businessand government representatives to discuss the economic and social benefits ofreconciliation.

The Young Indigenous Leaders' Forum 2007 brings together 20 young Indigenouspeople from across Queensland. The forum will be held from 28 May to 31 May 2007.Forum participants will: learn about leadership and how to connect to resources; developnetworks with other young leaders and potential mentors; discuss specific communityissues and gain knowledge of business within the private, public and community sector.