need to address racial prejudice, because special programmes often attract racially prejudiced opposition. Exclusion is when members of minority ethnic groups are not able to participate in decision making, are under-represented in employment, are unable to engage with the wider community and are marginalised by the media. Adequate settlement support for migrants and refugees is vital, barriers to employment need to be broken down, minority communities need to be supported to share their cultures, and we need to increase the participation of Māori and ethnic minorities in all aspects of Government, business, and community. To overcome exclusion, both racial prejudice and racial inequalities, which underpin it, need to be addressed. Forty years of race relations legislation 2011 saw the 40th anniversary of the passing of the Race Relations Act, which established the Office of the Race Relations Conciliator. The Act came into force 40 years ago this year, on 1 April 1972. The Office was merged with the Human Rights Commission 30 years later by the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001. Human Rights Amendment Bill The Government introduced a Human Rights Amendment Bill into Parliament in September 2011 which among other things proposes to replace the present position of Race Relations Commissioner with a generic Human Rights Commissioner who will have a lead responsibility for race relations in the Commission under the direction of the Chief Commissioner. The Bill will be considered by a Select Committee in 2012. Top ten priorities for 2012 Each chapter of this report identifies priorities for the coming year. Of these, ten are identified as having particular importance in the context of 2012: 1. The safety and wellbeing of our children: focusing on the rights of children, including through the Māori Affairs Select Committee inquiry into the wellbeing of Māori children, and the Government responses to the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children and the Early Childhood Education report. 2. Reducing social and economic inequalities: addressing entrenched inequalities across different sectors, with a focus on structural discrimination. 6