Amnesty International today welcomed the Australian Human Rights Commission’s latest recommendations for government action to better protect the rights of Indigenous peoples in Australia.

Numerous issues highlighted in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Report echo Amnesty International’s concerns about the human rights of Indigenous Australians.

Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights Of Indigenous Peoples’, the need for a national Human Rights Act that recognises and protects Indigenous rights, a framework for achieving health equality within a generation, an agenda for healing following the Apology and the need to overcome challenges in delivering quality remote education are among the issues outlined in the 2008 Social Justice Report.

On news of the report launch, Amnesty International reiterated its call for the Government to use the principles of the Declaration in reforming law, policy and programs relating to Indigenous Australians.

"Translating its endorsement of the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ into action, should greatly assist the Government in its attempts to bridge the gap between the enjoyment of human rights by Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians," said Amnesty International’s Indigenous Rights Coordinator, Rodney Dillon.

"Recent Government policies, such as the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory, have shown how vulnerable our human rights are if they are not formally protected," said Rodney Dillon

Amnesty International is vigorously calling for the introduction of a Human Rights Act in order to safeguard peoples’ rights and freedoms in Australia.