A human rights framework for contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's well being

Publisher:
Indigenous Law Centre UNSW
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Citation:
Australian Indigenous Law Review, 2008, SPECIAL EDITION, 12 (Special Edition), pp. 68 - 75
Issue Date:
2008-01
Full metadata record
It is a good opportunity on the 10th anniversary of Bringing Them Home and with the election of a new Federal Government to consider a human rights framework for Indigenous children's wellbeing. This paper will discuss Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children's welfare within a human rights framework, and begins with an analysis of what such a framework entails. It then will discuss three matters related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children's contemporary human rights. Firstly, it discusses misconceptions about the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children's welfare and rights which have gained some currency in Australia in the past weeks and months. Secondly, it examines the human rights framework recommended by Bringing Them Home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children's welfare. Finally, it evaluates reform to Australian child welfare legislation that has taken place over the past decade. This paper suggests that a human rights framework offers an opportunity for both an immediate response to Indigenous children's wellbeing and for structuring a longer-term response to Indigenous children's needs.
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