TSRA News Column

March 2009
I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of Kaiwalagal on whose land I am writing from and all other traditional owners and elders throughout our region.

National Indigenous Representative Body
The Australian Government is working towards closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life outcomes. As part of this process, the Government is looking at establishing a National Indigenous Representative Body to enable improved participation of Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people at the national level.

In December 2008, the Australian Government requested the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mr Tom Calma, to head and convene an Independent Indigenous Steering Committee to participate in consultations and work together toward establishing this new National Indigenous Representative Body. I have been invited to be one of 10 members of this Steering Committee.

Together, the Committee will consult and consider recommendations from Indigenous people to develop a preferred model for a new Body to present to the Australian Government later this year.

The Committee organized its first round of consultations on the Body from 10 to 13 March 2009. A workshop involving representatives from the Torres Strait as well as Aboriginal communities was held in Adelaide. Through a public nomination process conducted prior to this workshop, 100 Indigenous participants in total, from all over the country were selected to take part.

The aim of the workshop was to review the submissions and outcomes of Government consultations about the Body completed thus far, identify key features which can be used to develop preferred models for the new National Indigenous Representative Body and look at a how further consultations can be conducted to create interim arrangements until the Body is established.

Discussions held at the workshop were constructive. A report on this workshop is currently being finalised and will be released in the near future. In the meantime, the Steering Committee is planning a second workshop. Details of this will be released shortly.

Mr Tom Calma visited Torres Strait recently, meeting with myself at the TSRA as well as some government agencies and Native Title Prescribed Bodies Corporates (PBC) groups on Badu Island to talk about the recent workshop as well as the work he is involved in at the Australian Human Rights Commission. Mr Calma and I also conducted an interview with the local radio station to update the community on the processes involved in establishing a National Indigenous Representative Body.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Calma for traveling to the region to provide an update on the work underway and I hope he had an enjoyable stay.

Human Rights Consultations
For the first half of 2009, the Federal Government is conducting a National Human Rights Consultation to ask Australians about their views on human rights.

An Independent Committee will conduct these consultations, headed by Father Frank Brennan, a Jesuit Priest and lawyer. Father Brennan will be assisted by Ms Mary Kostakidis (a former television news presenter), Ms Tammy Williams (an Indigenous Barrister) and Mr Mick Palmer (a former Australian Federal Police Commissioner).

The Committee will travel around Australia to ask communities three key questions:

1. Which human rights (including corresponding responsibilities) should be protected and promoted?
2. Are these human rights currently sufficiently protected and promoted?
3. How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?

Members of the public are encouraged to make submissions either online or through the post, based on the three questions. Written submissions are welcome any time before 15 June 2009.

The Consultation Committee plans to visit Thursday Island in the week beginning 17 May 2009. For full details about the National Human Rights Consultation, including how to make a submission, you can visit the consultation website: www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au or call the Secretariat on 1800 086 134.
The Committee is expected to report to the Government by 31 August 2009.

Draft Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area Regional Plan Available for Comment
I wish to advise you that the Draft Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area Regional Plan is now available for public comment.

The Regional Plan outlines the regional vision, based on the needs of our people, identified during the community consultations held in September and October 2008. The Plan also outlines ten goals and specifies how these goals are to be achieved.

It has been developed by elected representatives to address the need for a whole of government plan that will guide the development of the region into the future and assist to reduce the potential for gaps and duplication in service delivery.

The Plan has a 20 year timeframe and is a live document, which will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in order to remain relevant and to meet changing regional, national and international circumstances.

Community Councillors will soon be informing their individual communities about the draft Plan and I encourage community members to contact their respective Councillor for more information and to discuss the Plan.

Should you wish to obtain a copy of the draft Plan, please see your local Councillor/TSRA Member or contact Mrs Corrine Billy, Program Planning Support Officer at the TSRA by telephone (07) 4069 0700, toll free 1800 079 093 or email info@tsra.gov.au .

If you would like to provide feedback or make a submission on the Plan, you can do so by writing to myself using the contact details provided at the end of this Column, or you can express your opinion to your community Councillor, who will bring it to the next Elected Leaders Forum, planned in May. Closing date for feedback/submissions is 24 April 2009. This is your opportunity to further contribute to the Plan and it is very important that you make your opinion known.

Any feedback on this column can be sent to:

Mr John. T. Kris
TSRA Chairperson
PO Box 261
Thursday Island, Qld 4875

Alternatively, feedback can also be sent through the TSRA website via the media contact in the 'contact us' segment of the site. Until the next column, may God bless you all and keep you safe.