Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2000, publiée 89ème session CIT (2001)

1.  The Committee notes the Government’s detailed report and the voluminous documentation attached. It notes with interest such publications as the Guide to Preventing Race Discrimination and Racial Harassment in the Workplace published by the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity of Western Australia, and the different initiatives taken at state and federal levels to combat discrimination on the grounds covered by the Convention.

2.  In its 1997 direct request, the Committee expressed its concern over the replacement of the Commonwealth Employment Service with the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency (operating as "Centrelink") and the restructuring of the Office of the Status of Women. The Committee notes the information provided in the report concerning women’s policy development, consultation, improvements for women in employment and vocational education and training, women in decision-making, women’s wages, employment assistance, and workplace relations. The Committee also takes note of the information provided on the participation rates of Aboriginal women and women from non-English speaking backgrounds in employment and vocational education and training. Regarding action to eliminate gender discrimination, the Committee had expressed concern about reductions in funding for the Office of the Status of Women and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission; the weakened role of national machinery in providing policy advice on equality issues and in monitoring the effective implementation of such policies; and the continuing adverse situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and of migrant women, whose situation was further compounded by an apparent rise in racism and xenophobia. The Committee also notes the stated intention of the Government to rename the Affirmative Action Act as the Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Act and to emphasize merit, replace the union consultation requirement with a general statement of support for consultation and emphasize a facilitative rather than a punition approach to compliance. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information regarding what, if any, impact these measures are having on the effective elimination of the discrimination experienced by women in general, and by indigenous and migrant women in particular, in all of the areas covered by the Convention.

3.  The Committee takes note of the different programmes that the Government has implemented to improve educational and employment opportunities for indigenous Australians, including the ABSTUDY income assistance scheme; the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP); the Indigenous Education Direct Assistance Program (IEDA); the measures directed at indigenous Australians through the National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training; and the Community Development Employment Projects Scheme (CDEP). The Committee notes that the indigenous population is growing by more than 2 per cent per annum while the indigenous employment rate is growing at a rate less than 1 per cent per annum, and that lack of job skills and of local employment opportunities are two of the main causes of indigenous unemployment. The Committee requests the Government to provide information concerning the practical impacts and achievements of these educational, training, and employment programmes, especially in light of the unprecedented expansion that the Government acknowledges must take place in indigenous employment. The Committee expresses its concern over the continued high unemployment rate for indigenous Australians (23 per cent compared with 9 per cent for the total population) and notes from the Government’s recent report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) that without CDEP, the current indigenous unemployment rate would be about 40 per cent. (CERD/C/335/Add.2). The Committee notes also from the same report that the objective of the CDEP scheme was changed on 1 July 1998 to focus more on the provision of work and skills acquisition, and requests the Government to provide information on how this change is affecting employment opportunities for indigenous Australians. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the progress made in achieving more equality in opportunity and treatment for indigenous Australians.

4.  In this connection, the Committee notes the Federal Government’s announcement of its intention to restructure the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission by replacing five of the six existing commissioners with three deputy presidents. One of these deputy presidents will have general responsibility for the areas of race discrimination and social justice, but the position of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner would no longer exist (CERD/C/335/Add.2). Please evaluate the impact this decision might have on the employment and occupational opportunities of indigenous Australians.

5.  In its 1995 direct request, the Committee expressed the hope that future reports would indicate progress concerning the Government’s initiative for implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The Committee notes the establishment of the Vocational and Educational Guidance for Aboriginals Scheme (VEGAS), which provides grants to conduct projects for indigenous Australian prisoners which foster positive attitudes towards participation in education, and the Employment and Training Transition Project (ETPP), which aims to make employment, education, and training opportunities more accessible to indigenous offenders in the immediate post-release period (CERD/C/335/Add.2). Nevertheless, the Committee expresses its concern over what the Government itself has described as the continuing disproportionately high representation of indigenous Australians in the criminal justice and penal systems and how this may negatively impact on their prospects for employment. The Committee also notes the Government’s acknowledgement that the serious socio-economic disadvantage suffered by indigenous Australians is a major factor in their over-representation in the criminal justice system, and that this increasing over-representation needs to be addressed with an integrated and sustained effort by all Australian governments. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information concerning the development and implementation of policies and programmes to address the high incidence of indigenous Australians in the criminal justice and penal systems, and the practical effects of measures taken to reintegrate indigenous offenders into society through education, training, and employment programmes. The Committee expresses particular concern, in this connection, over the concluding observations made by CERD in its March 2000 report, which found that the minimum mandatory sentencing schemes with regard to minor property offences in Western Australia and the Northern Territory appear to target offences that are committed disproportionately by indigenous Australians, especially in the case of juveniles. The Committee expresses its serious concern over the negative impacts that these mandatory sentencing schemes may have on indigenous youths’ opportunities for education and employment.

6.  The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on other points.