Parliamentary Inquiry into Truth and Justice Commission Bill: submissions due 6 September

The Australian Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (JSCATSIA) is conducting an Inquiry into the Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024. Submissions are due by 6 September.

The Bill is intended to establish a Commission to inquire into and make recommendations to Parliament on particular matters relating to historic and ongoing injustices against First Peoples in Australia and the impacts of these injustices on First Peoples. It was introduced recently by Greens Senators Dorinda Cox and David Shoebridge.

Details of the Inquiry and the Bill. While this is a Private Members Bill and is unlikely to lead to legislation the Inquiry is important in the context of the recent controversy about the status of Makaratta following last year's Referendum. It provides an opportunity for interested folks, blackfellers and whitefellers, to make submissions.

It is important for people making submissions to follow closely the JSCATSIA instructions on making submissions: be relevant to the terms of reference. General rants don't cut it and will be ignored by the Committee.

Submissions must address any or all aspects of the Bill. The guts of the Bill are in clause 8, which sets out what the Commission, if established, is to cover:

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(1)  The Commission must inquire into and make recommendations to the Parliament on the following in relation to historic and ongoing injustices against First Peoples in Australia and the impacts of these injustices on First Peoples :

                    (a)  historical injustices perpetrated by the Commonwealth government, Commonwealth government bodies and non-government bodies against First Peoples since pre-colonial times, including, but not limited to:

                             (i)  cultural violations such as breach and denial of First Peoples’ law and lore;

                            (ii)  theft, misappropriation and destruction of cultural knowledge and property;

                           (iii)  eviction, displacement and dispossession;

                           (iv)  massacres, wars, killing and genocide or other acts of a similar gravity;

                            (v)  protectionist and assimilationist policies, including forced removal of children and attempts to eradicate language, culture or identity;

                           (vi)  unfair labour practices, including treatment of returned soldiers;

                          (vii)  unfair policies and practices relating to policing, youth and criminal justice, incarceration, detention, and the broader legal system;

                         (viii)  unfair policies and practices relating to child protection, family or welfare matters;

                           (ix)  unfair policies and practices relating to health and healthcare;

                            (x)  invasion of privacy and the collection, possession and use of information and data about First Peoples;

                           (xi)  practices of structural and systemic exclusion of First Peoples from economic, social and political life;

                    (b)  ongoing injustices perpetrated by the Commonwealth government, Commonwealth bodies and non-government bodies, including, but not limited to the following areas:

                             (i)  policing, youth and criminal justice, incarceration, detention and the broader legal system;

                            (ii)  child protection, family or welfare matters;

                           (iii)  health and healthcare;

                           (iv)  invasion of privacy and the collection, possession and use of information and data about First Peoples;

                            (v)  economic, social and political life;

                           (vi)  any other ongoing injustices considered appropriate by the Commission;

                    (c)  the causes and consequences of historical injustice, including a historical analysis of the impact of colonisation and an evaluation of the contemporary relationship between First Peoples and the Commonwealth government and the impact of contemporary policies, practices, conduct and laws on First Peoples;

                    (d)  how historical injustices can be effectively and fairly acknowledged and redressed in a culturally appropriate way;

                    (e)  how ongoing injustices can be addressed or redressed, including recommended reform to existing institutions, law, policy and practice and considering how the Commonwealth government can be held accountable for addressing these injustices and preventing future injustices;

                     (f)  how best to raise awareness and increase public understanding of the history and experiences of First Peoples before and since the start of colonisation;

                    (g)  any matter reasonably incidental to a matter mentioned in the above paragraphs.

            (2)  In inquiring and advising in accordance with subsection (1), the Commission may give priority to matters which, in the Commission’s opinion, have (or had) greater potential for harm.

            (3)  Despite subsection (1), the Commission is not required to inquire, or to continue to, into a particular matter to the extent that it is satisfied that the matter has been, is being, or will be, sufficiently and appropriately dealt with by:

                    (a)  another inquiry or investigation; or

                    (b)  a criminal or civil proceeding.

            (4)  The Commission must observe the principles of cultural safety in all of its dealings with First Peoples.

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Defending Country will be making a submission.

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Media on the Inquiry/Makaratta/the future: Eva Cox; National Indigenous Times; PS News; Henry Reynolds.

Essential Research Poll on Makaratta: 'more than half of respondents (59%) said the government should “continue to work with First Nations communities to find solutions to the issues they face"'.

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Picture credits: Senator Dorinda Cox, Greens WA (left), who introduced the Bill (WikimediaCommons/adendagostino/Creative Commons);

Senator Jana Stewart, ALP Vic, Chair of JSCATSIA (supplied)