An approach that centres First Nations sovereignty and truth-telling would refocus the responsibility for these harms on the structures and institutions responsible. It would also acknowledge the agency of First Nations communities in determining where their own best interests lie. First Nations peoples’ distinct, complex culture and worldviews7 are integral in addressing the needs of First Nations communities. Solutions determined without consulting the appropriate group are inevitably ineffective and unsuitable. Traditional western approaches have not worked and ‘sit at the very heart of why attempts by governments to address disadvantage over the past several decades have continued to fail’. 8 Only through First Nations peoples’ engagement and direct participation can the aspirations and realisations of their unique and collective rights be achieved and maintained. Taking this kind of strengths-based approach has important implications across the work of anti-racism initiatives, including data collection on racism and anti-racism, and service responses to redress harms. These are discussed further in relevant sections of the Report. During the National Anti-Racism Framework project initial scoping phase, the Commission also consistently heard about the integral part measures to strengthen the legislative framework for the right to self-determination of First Nations peoples must play in the recognition of First Nations sovereignty and truth-telling. There was strong support from participants, including government agencies, that a national anti-racism framework should support and align with the recommendations of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The EOC encourages government backing for the Uluru Statement to recognise historical and institutional racism, its intergenerational impact and as a tool for building an anti-racism structure that ensures the truth-telling process and gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians a voice in systems from which they have long been excluded. — submission from Western Australia’s Commissioner for Equal Opportunity, NARF project, May 2021 – April 2022 ANTAR recommends the Human Rights Commission … ensure that a National Anti-Racism Framework upholds what is outlined in the demands and definitions within documents such as; the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and the Racial Discrimination Act. It must also pay considerable attention to processes that have previously been deemed successful or unsuccessful by First Nations peoples and communities. — submission from Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR), NARF project, May 2021 – April 2022 National Anti-Racism Framework Scoping Report 2022 | 51