Australian Human Rights Commission Information for List of Issues on Australia, 29 September 2017 http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/I nquiry_into_surrogacy/Report (viewed 11 September 2017). The Committee’s 10 recommendations concern improving access to well-regulated and lawful domestic surrogacy arrangements so that there is less need for Australians to travel overseas to engage in surrogacy (Recommendations 1-6), and to promote better protection of the human rights of birth mothers and the children they carry on behalf of Australian citizens involved in international surrogacy arrangements (Recommendations 7-10). If the recommendations are adopted, it will be a step towards more uniform domestic laws that provide increased access to well-regulated surrogacy arrangements in Australia, and increased scrutiny of the practices in other countries which should lead to better human rights outcomes. 61 The focus on the project is to:  Elevate the voice of and effectively empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls to take part in a human-rights-based process which is accessible and relevant to their lived reality.  Capture the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls with respect to their cultural, socio-economic and personal security, their key priorities, and the principles that they believe underpin effective policy and practice.  Provide robust evidence and set out clear guidance for governments to improve their capacity to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls as active citizens and positive change makers, and the best-practice considerations that need to be deployed throughout government policies and programs. 62 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Prisoners in Australia, 2016 (data tables) in Over-represented and overlooked: the crisis of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s growing over-imprisonment, Human Rights Law Centre and Change the Record, 10. It is also important to note that 80% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in prison are mothers: Over-represented and overlooked: the crisis of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s growing over-imprisonment, Human Rights Law Centre and Change the Record, 5. 63 Dr William Jonas AM, Social Justice Report 2002, Australian Human Rights Commission, (2002) 136. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are still imprisoned and still die in prison at unacceptable rates. Current efforts around diversion must be strengthened so that women are not imprisoned for offences such as, but not limited to, fine default, public drunkenness, substance abuse and traffic offences. Consideration must be given to the need for a national Indigenous Women’s Legal Service in order to address the chronic disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their access to justice - Commonwealth of Australia, Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Access to Justice (2009) 8.124-8.126. Organisations such as the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services should be strengthened to increase the access of culturally appropriate services to Indigenous women across regional, metropolitan and remote areas - Sisters Inside, Submission 69 to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Parliament of Australia, Inquiry into the value of a justice reinvestment approach to criminal justice in Australia, (2013) 23. 64 Change the Record, Blueprint for Change, Change the Record Steering Committee (2015). 65 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Child protection Australia 2014-15’ Child Welfare Series No. 63 (2016) 48, 53. Also, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Child protection Australia 20152016’ Child Welfare Series No. 66 (2017) 51-52. 66 The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, Prime Minister, and the Hon Sen George Brandis QC, ‘Royal Commission into the Child Protection and youth detention systems of the Northern Territory’, (Media release, 28 July 2016). At https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2016-07-28/royal-commission-childprotection-and-youth-detention-systems-northern-territory (viewed 11 September 2017). 67 Australian Human Rights Commission, Social Justice and Native Title Report 2015, 48-61. At: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-socialjustice/publications/social-justice-and-nati-1 (viewed 28 September 2017). Australian Human Rights Commission, Social Justice and Native Title Report 2016, 70-98. At: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-socialjustice/publications/social-justice-and-nati-2 (viewed 28 September 2017). 68 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, Parliament of Australia, 2016 Review of Stronger Futures measures (2016), [4.104]-[4.105]. At: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Human_Rights/Committee_Inquiries /strongerfutures2/Final_report (viewed 27 September 2017). 69 Australian Government Department of Social Services, Cashless Debit Card Trial Evaluation: Final Evaluation Report, August 2017, 36. At: https://www.dss.gov.au/families-and-children/programsservices/welfare-quarantining/cashless-debit-card-trial-evaluation-reports (viewed 21 September 2017); Australian Government Department of Social Services, Cashless Debit Card Trial Evaluation: 24