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A human rights-based approach to native title reform
It was notable that in Wiyi Yani U Thangani consultations, women did not go into very much
detail about land justice and associated processes in the way they did for this Report. Several
women in their interviews for this Report mentioned that the complexity of the native title
system and especially the intra-community conflicts associated with it, mean that group
consultations are not conducive to frank, open conversation about native title.
With the benefit of the subsequent Native Title Project interviews and submissions, it is clear
that, in many ways, women were only scratching the surface in their discussions about land
justice in Wiyi Yani U Thangani . Nevertheless, the themes which came from those consultations
did present a picture of the way that land justice (or lack thereof) has impacted First Nations
women and communities, and their priorities going forward in that respect. That picture has
been dramatically built upon by the women who provided their expertise and experience for
this Report.
In Wiyi Yani U Thangani the interconnectedness of the experience of enjoying (or otherwise)
human rights such as the right to culture, the right to adequate housing, the right to education,
the right to health, and so on, were identified by First Nations women and girls.49
As I noted in the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Report:
Girls and young women in Juvenile Justice settings identified the protective element of
– and therefore the need for – learning about culture and including culture in schools.
Women discussed the need for access to Country in order to maintain and teach culture.
Women raised the intra-community disputes associated with claiming recognition of rights to
Country, and the associated identity issues and disputes.
Women raised the ongoing problems with appropriate, secure housing of a decent, liveable
standard.
Women recognised the impact that the lack of land justice we experience has on our
health outcomes.
Women raised the dispossession of country and the ongoing removal of children as
contributing to the inability to pass down culture and knowledge.
In Wiyi Yani U Thangani, I also discussed how a human rights‑based approach recognises that
First Nations women experience rights and violations of those rights differently from First
Nations men.
Within the native title system, the role of women has been discussed over the last few decades
with no consensus, but with common themes around participation, discrimination and
equality, decision-making and governance rights and responsibilities, and empowerment and
self‑determination.50
These themes all also stand out in the stories women told of their experience in native title for
this Report.
Australian Human Rights Commission
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