Archives November 2014

The deaths of Indigenous people in custody in Australia has worsened, Not for Profit representatives, including disability advocates, have told the United Nation's Committee Against Torture. The hearing was told that there are many concerns for indigenous peoples in relation to Australia's compliance with the Treaty including the rate of incarceration of Indigenous people and secondly, the continuation of deaths of Indigenous people in custody.

The planned closure of more than 100 of WA's remote communities will have severe consequences, the Premier Colin Barnett said, but added his hands were tied. Barnett said this after a backlash was sparked in some of the First Nations communities, with elders leading a protest outside state parliament over the plans. His talk of high rates of suicide, poor education, poor health, no jobs are references to the economic, social and health issues that he will use as a tool to dump people on the streets.

Nigel Scullion acknowledges there may be no future for some remote indigenous communities in WA as Premier Colin Barnett yesterday revealed he plans to close up to 150 of the state's 274 tiny settlements. Fred Chaney has sent an open letter to Mr Barnett, Senator Scullion and Tony Abbott warning that if governments simply "let things rip" by withdrawing services and driving people out of remote communities without careful preparation, the outcomes for indigenous Australians "will be shameful".

With all VCE history courses under review this year, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has indicated that Koorie history will be cut due to declining enrolments. This leaves the one-year Australian history course as the only way for Victorian students to study Australian indigenous history in their final two years of secondary school. Given that the assessment of this body largely determines students' admission to university, teachers are under enormous pressure to adhere to the Study Design.

Remote Australia is in the grip of a suicide epidemic that is taking the lives of children as young as eight years old, with Aboriginal towns in the Kimberley now suffering the highest rates of suicide in the world.As the West Australian port city of Geraldton buried 11-year-old Peter Little, who was found hanging from a tree in nearby bush by another child, indigenous leaders called for urgent action to address a growing crisis that will see as many as one in 12 Aboriginal deaths caused by suicide.

A new report says Mental health services for Aboriginal Australians are "both inadequate and inappropriate", and immediate changes are needed to address growing rates of suicide, depression and other mental health issues among Indigenous youth. The report also highlighted several shortcomings in efforts to improve mental health among Indigenous Australians and cited "dramatic" increases in recent years in Indigenous rates of youth suicide, anxiety and depression and other related illnesses.

Plans by Hanson Construction Materials to expand its quarrying operations could affect Aboriginal heritage sites, including a camp where iconic warrior Yagan is said to have had his last meal. Hanson, a subsidiary of German-based Heidelberg Cement, submitted an application to impact Aboriginal sites so it can expand its Red Hill Quarry, which could destroy areas sacred to Nyungar people.
- 'Can't you feel the sacredness of that stone. You don't need to touch it; just being near it is enough.'