National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Gathering
Speech
by Elizabeth
Broderick
Sex
Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age
Discrimination
Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
Hobart Function and Conference Centre
Friday 23 May
2008
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land where we meet and pay my respects to the ancestors.
Thank you for your welcome and for allowing me to be here today at this Gathering. I was extremely pleased to accept this invitation, and hope that your deliberations over the last days together have gone well. I will be very keen to hear more in our discussions.
As you may know, last year, in September, I was appointed as the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, with the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. I joined my colleagues Tom Calma, as Social Justice Commissioner and Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes, who is the Human Rights Commissioner and Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner, and John Von Doussa as President. It has been a great honour.
For most of my working life, prior to this role, I had worked in a private law firm. I was a partner at Blake Dawson, and during that time I had a number of opportunities to link up with great Indigenous leaders.
I was really fortunate to be able to go to the GARMA festival, which is where I first met Dr Marika. She was a remarkable woman who taught me many things. I want to pay tribute to her, and express my own deep sadness on her passing and extend my sympathies to those who know and loved her. My time there in East Arnhem Land was truly special, and I shared those days with my young daughter Lucy. I was so struck by the resilience and depth of Indigenous lives, with such richness, colour and warmth.
However, the truth is that, in the busy life I led in the law firm, I mostly learned of Indigenous Australia through the eyes of the media, like most Australians. The news was a constant portrayal of dysfunction and desperation. Almost overwhelming. Where do you start?
Then I came into this job.
As many of you know, as the new Sex Discrimination Commissioner, I began my role with a so-called ‘Listening Tour’. For me, I just felt strongly that I needed to get away from the press, the reports, and the statistics and meet with and really listen directly to the people who are so regularly discussed before I could really get a sense of where I fit, and how best I could fulfil my role.
It has been both a wonderful and personally challenging journey for me.
At the very beginning of the Tour, I went up to the National Family Violence Conference at Coffs harbour. That first event was such a turning point for me. I had expected to feel heavy with the weight of the stories that I was going to hear. We hear so much about the issues of violence and abuse in Indigenous communities and I was ready to hear more.
In fact, it is one of the most inspiring events I have been to for a very long time. I came away with my mind full of the stories – one after the other – that were shared with me of life-changing work being carried out by committed, passionate people working at all levels across communities.
I came away saying, why don’t we hear more about these amazing people? Why don’t we hear more about the positive, determined, life-change work that goes on across the country amongst Indigenous communities, lead by Indigenous people?
Since that first gathering, I have come away time and time again with exactly the same feeling.
When I went to Mudgin-Gal in Redfern, I only had to watch as young woman after young woman came into that safe place - whilst we had our meeting - sharing cups of tea, getting the support they need, learning from each other, looking after each others babies and young ones to know that you and your co-workers have built something very special there. Despite going from funder to funder, patching it together, again and again, the centre is so strong. I could see it before my eyes.
And it was exactly the same when I met with women from the Women’s Legal Service in Canberra. I heard of all the efforts you and your colleagues have put in to building positive initiatives tailored to best meet your communities’ needs. Yes, you have and continue to face many, many obstacles. Yet, your determination to stay the long haul, as our faces – faces like mine – came and go - was striking. You just – quite simply - never give up.
Travelling North, in Fitzroy Crossing, and the many places I was taken, I met woman after woman who had such deep wisdom about how to heal your communities. The way in which you worked together, to stand strong as you called for that alcohol ban, working out what you needed to do, and staying focussed on that change, whilst preparing for the next stage of building positive alternatives for your young people, men and woman, was – and is - deeply and personally inspiring for me. I want to congratulate you and pay tribute to your community for this major achievement. I know it was not easy.
My time in Darwin was also both inspiring and very challenging. I was joined there by Tom Calma and together we met up with men and women personally affected by the Intervention. I was deeply disturbed by how unjust many aspects of it have been. Old women being forced to walk long distances to get their food vouchers, and then suffering the indignity of standing in queues in shops, to be treated so differently from the next person, purely on the basis of their race. I was appalled.
My time in Yirrkala with Dr Marika need not be shared now but her vision, and passion, and the evidence all around of how communities there are also building better futures is a testimony to her incredible life.
Up in Mackay, I met with a large group of her elders, and young indigenous children.
I will not focus now on the issues raised with me over this journey, and the many challenges you face. You know these stories far better than I. I am very happy to share what I heard in more specific terms with you in our discussions later. However, I think it is probably more important – in the time that we have together - to share with you my thinking on what where I may fit, and how I can support the work that you are doing into the future. What I am going to do.
I have reflected deeply on how best I might, in my very specific role, make a positive contribution. I am very mindful that much talking and broken promises litter the path of past journeys for many Indigenous communities.
So, I have decided that, whatever I do, however small, I will endeavour to do it well. And whatever I do will aim to support the positive work that is already being done.
Many of you of course know Tom Calma. I was very honoured to accept this position, knowing that I would have the opportunity to work with Tom as Social Justice Commissioner. I knew from a distance that he has been a steady and determined voice for human rights for Indigenous Australians, sometimes in extremely difficult times.
Tom and I have talked a lot about the ways in which I can be an additional voice in supporting a human rights based approach to Indigenous policy and action in Australia. I am committed to being prepared to add my voice to his, when the issues particularly affect Indigenous women, and we have already collaborated on a number of fronts.
For example, I have spoken out publicly about my concerns on the impact of the NT Intervention on Indigenous women in the Northern Territory and have added my voice to his in my meetings with key Federal Ministers in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, I issued a press release with Tom where we have congratulated the Fitzroy women, and their men and families, for achieving their alcohol ban and we have urged governments to get behind the efforts of the Fitzroy community to work on education, health and housing and the other positive opportunities that the alcohol ban presents.
I am committed to working with Tom and presenting a strong voice of support in his role as Social Justice Commissioner, into the future. We both want to tell Australia about what you are doing, and how you can be supported in that work.
As you know, I come from a business background, and over the years, have come across many wonderful women, and men, in the corporate world who are so keen to help support positive developments in Indigenous affairs in this country. They just aren’t quite sure how to go about it.
Whilst I don’t profess to hold all the answers, I am very keen to do what I can to support the building of bridges between corporate and Indigenous Australians, particularly through fostering relationships between women leaders in these two spheres of Australian life.
In December last year, on International Human Rights Day, I hosted a small gathering of Indigenous women and some of my corporate female colleagues to discuss further how to facilitate these relationships. I will be keen to hear your reflections since that discussion.
We talked about how I might help to support the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Program, with a particular focus on fostering partnerships with corporate women, and I have had preliminary discussions with the federal government on this front.
I also understand that the Office for Women has been working with you in developing a Business Women’s Tool Kit and I am very interested to hear about that this afternoon and how that has developed.
I am particularly interested in your further ideas about how relationships with corporate Australia might be enhanced, particularly between women in business, such as yourselves, and my colleagues in the corporate world.
The third area in which I am keen to take a positive role is helping to support Indigenous women’s leadership in international and regional human rights engagement.
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women or ‘CSW’.
Like the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, CSW is also held in New York. It is an annual intergovernmental meeting. Its function is to prepare recommendations and reports on promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields with the object of promoting gender equality.
The CSW consists of 45 governments elected for a four year period. Other governments also attend, together with an incredible array of non-government and women’s organisations. This year, there were over 5000 delegates!
CSW is the only part of the United Nations intergovernmental processes which is specifically dedicated to promoting the rights of women. It is an incredible opportunity for both government and non-government delegates to share experiences, challenge each other, and to commit to future action to promote women’s human rights.
This year, at CSW, Australia had a large representation of Australian women both from government and non-government groups. It provided us with a great opportunity to reflect on what is happening domestically, to networking with women from other parts of the world, and to return to Australia with a clearer agenda of what needs to be done at home if Australia is to take leadership role domestically in promoting women’s human rights.
CSW highlighted again for me the crucial role of women as leaders in society.
Yet, this year at CSW, once again there were no Australian Indigenous women represented. Not one. This seemed extraordinary to me.
Indigenous women, committed to real changes in your communities must be supported as major leaders in driving our discussions about human rights including on the international stage. We must learn from you and enable you to share your experiences and learning with your sisters from around the world.
I am very hopeful that 2008 will be the last occasion upon which Indigenous women are not strong participants in CSW as the major United Nations meeting about women in the world.
I am actively working with the Federal Office for Women on this front.
I am also hoping that, next year, at CSW, Australia will host an event where it provides the opportunity for Indigenous women to show case the positive work that is being done in community health and development. This is the theme of the meeting in New York next year.
Once again, I am working with the Federal Office for Women on how this might be done.
Perhaps we can discuss that further today.
I have worked out that these international forums do matter. What happens in New York, affects us back here. We can use these international forums to help promote Australian government leadership on human rights at the domestic level, and to achieve commitments internationally for real changes at home.
Once again, I am keen to hear your thoughts and views.
How can I help to support Indigenous
women’s leadership?
How can I help
to foster your links with corporate
Australia?
How can I help to share the
great work that is being done?
I want to be a voice which supports Indigenous women’s voices for change and to share your successes both domestically and in the international arena.
If there is one thing that I have learned from this Listening Tour, it is that there is enormous strength and determination amongst Indigenous Australia. Whilst my formal Listening Tour has ended I hope that you will continue to share with me the examples of how Indigenous women and men and families are being forces for change so that I can share this and continue to support and advocate for your work, and how it can be supported, both by government and the corporate world.
This afternoon provides me with such a great opportunity to regroup. I have talked with some of you over the last few months, but I am very keen to have an open discussion with you all.
I am also really keen to hear how your discussions have gone over the last few days.
I do meet regularly with the Federal Minister for Women and other Ministers, and if there issues you would like to share with me this afternoon, so that I might add my voice in the promotion of Indigenous human rights, I am keen to hear how that might be done.
As said earlier, in my role as Sex Discrimination Commissioner, whatever I do, even if it is small, I want to endeavour to do it well, and in what I do, I want to particularly support the positive work that is already being done.
Thank you for inviting me to come this afternoon. I know that this gathering, only once a year, is very precious time for meeting at a national level.
I hope that we can spend the rest of our time in useful discussions exploring some of the ideas that I have shared with you, and helping to refine how I can best go forward from here.
Thank you.
