Slide 1

Indigenous Australia

Aboriginal peoples have lived on the Australian continent for over 50,000 years. Today they make up 2% of the population- officially - although the number is probably closer to 5%. Life expectancy remains 17 years less than non-Indigenous Australians

1788 The First Fleet arrived in Sydney There were around 300 Indigenous clans and language groups and just under 1 million people living in Australia. By 1901 this population had been reduced to 100,000

Some Key Dates and Issues

Key Dates and Issues

1938 - Struggle for Land Rights

1967 - Referendum

1980's - Deaths in Custody Royal Commission

1988 National Reconciliation Council

1992 - The Redfern Speech

1990 and 1997 - Native Title Rights

1998 Stolen Generations Report

Key Dates and Issues

1998 - Reconciliation Convention and Patrick Dodson's call for a peoples' movement to emerge

2008 - Apology to the Stolen Generations

2011-12 Constitutional Recognition Process

The ANTaR Campaign

A Peoples Movement

The Peoples Movement for Reconciliation

Multiple strategies

AustraliaRegionallyInternationally

ANTaR worked in partnership with National Indigenous Working Group

Australian Citizens Statement

Coalition building around the nation

Sea of Hands

Sorry Books

Bridge Marches

Olympics

Lobbying and Media

International networks

UN

NGO's

Lets Talk/80:20 (Olga's 5 Principles)

South Pacific Forum

UN Conventions

Sea of Hands UK, Durban Racism Conference,

Media

Indigenous Leaders

Principles of Reconciliation

Acknowledgement of Indigenous Peoples as First Peoples of Australia

Recognition of the unique rights of Indigenous people flowing from that recognition

A commitment to social justice that is both formal and substantive

Negotiations in good faith

A fundamental change in power relations

About the Sea of HandsThe first Sea of Hands was held on the 12 October 1997, in front of Parliament House, Canberra. It was created as a powerful, physical representation of the Citizens Statement on Native Title.

The Citizens Statement was a petition circulated by ANTaR to mobilise non-Indigenous support for native title and reconciliation. Plastic hands in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, each one carrying one signature from the Citizens Statement, were installed in front of Parliament House in what was then the largest public art installation in Australia.

The Sea of Hands has become a symbol of the Peoples Movement for Reconciliation. Over 300,000 Australians have signed their names on one of 120,000 plastic hands that make up the Sea of Hands, to show their support for Native Title and Reconciliation.

The Sea of Hands has been installed in every major city and many regional locations throughout Australia and internationally, and continues to gather signatures everywhere it appears.

Today, the hands symbolise community support for reconciliation, rights and respect, particularly with regards to the need for Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Peoples.

First GenerationRelief and Welfare

Second GenerationCommunity Development

Third GenerationSustainable Systems Development

Fourth GenerationPeoples Movements

Problem Definition

Shortage

Local Inertia

Institutional and Policy Constraints

Inadequate Mobilising Vision

Time frame

Immediate

Project Life

Ten to Twenty Years

Indefinite Future

Scope

Individual or Family

Neighbourhood or Village

Region or Nation

National or Global

Chief Actors

NGO

NGO plus Community

All Relevant Public and Private Institutions

Loosely Defined Networks of People & Organisations

NGO Role

Doer

Mobilizer

Catalyst

Activist / Educator

Management Orientation

Logistics Management

Project Management

Strategic Management

Coalescing and Energising Self-Managing Networks

Development Education

Starving Children

Community Self-Help

Constraining Policies and Institutions

Spaceship Earth

Strategies of Development Oriented NGOs Four Generations

Lessons and Observations

The lessons of history 50,000 years you probably got something right

Multiple strategies are essential:

Political advocacy; education; media; new technology; ; coalition building; strategic campaigning

Lessons and Observations

Civil society can inspire state action but is not limited by it

Don't wait for Govt to act

International Human Rights structures provide civil society with leverage for change. Geneva very important

Lessons and Observations

Change happens when loose and shifting coalitions come together to take action around shared values and aspirations - through peoples movements

To be effective activism requires skills

Think and Act Locally and Globally Keep media on tap not on top

Lessons and Observations

Make the connections, see the links don't become issue focused but human rights and change focused movement

Change happens. The evidence is in the womens movement, the peace movement, anti-nuclear movement, anti-apartheid movement.