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ADEC

Action on Disabilities in Ethnic Communities

AGIMO

Australian Government Information Management Office

AIATSIS

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

ALP

Australian Labor Party

APF

Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions - a member-based organisation that supports the establishment and strengthening of independent human rights institutions in the Asia-Pacific region.

APS

Australian Public Service

ARA

Australasian Railways Association

ASTRA

Australian Subscription Television Association

ATSIC

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

AusAID

Australian Agency for International Development

Auslan

Australian Sign Language, the language of the deaf community in Australia.

Action Plan

A voluntary mechanism for organisations to structure their own compliance efforts.

Amicus curiae

'Friend of the court' - The role of an amicus curiae is to provide special assistance to the court in resolving issues raised by a case, and to draw attention to aspects of the case that might otherwise have been overlooked.

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C

CDS

Commonwealth Disability Strategy

CEDAW

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

CHS

Complaint Handling Section

CLE

Community Legal Education

COAG

Council of Australian Governments

CSIRO

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

CSW

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

Commission, the

The Australian Human Rights Commission

Consultancy contract

A contract that typically defines the nature, purpose and duration of the task to be performed, but not (in any detail) the manner in which the task is to be performed by a consultant. The consultant is usually paid on completion of milestones or in a lump sum.

Consultancy service

A particular type of service delivered under a contract for services, distinguished from other contracts by the nature of the work performed. Consultancy services involve the application of expert professional skills to: investigate or diagnose a defined issue or problem, carry out defined research, reviews or evaluations; or provide independent advice, information or creative solutions to assist the agency in management decision making.

Consultant

An entity (whether an individual, a partnership or a corporation) engaged to provide professional independent and expert advice or services. Consultants are not employees of the department and are not paid wages or other employee entitlements.

Corporate Social

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is

Responsibility

generally understood to mean that corporations have a degree of responsibility not only for the economic consequences of their activities, but also for the social and environmental implications. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘triple bottom line’ approach that considers the economic, social and environmental aspects of corporate activity.

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D

DDPA

Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

DFAT

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

DIAC

Department of Immigration and Citizenship

DIMIA

Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

DPO

Disabled people’s organisations

Disability Convention

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

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E

EEO

Equal Employment Opportunity

EL

Executive Level

Expert Mechanism

Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Composed of five experts (from Congo, Malaysia, Norway, Costa Rica and the Philippines), the Expert Mechanism provides thematic expertise on the rights of indigenous peoples to the Human Rights Council, the main human rights body of the United Nations.

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F

FaHCSIA

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

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G

GST

Goods and Services Tax

General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly - one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the United Nations, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports from other parts of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions.

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H

HREOCA

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986

HRTC

Human Rights Technical Cooperation Program

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I

IDLO

International Development Labour Organization - dedicated to bringing decent work and livelihoods, job-related security and better living standards to the people of both poor and rich countries.

IPO

Indigenous Peoples Organisations Network of Australia - an association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations that promotes and protects the human rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

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K

KARG

Key Agencies Reference Group on Age Discrimination

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N

NGO

Non Government Organisation

NHRI

National Human Rights Institution

NPM

National Preventative Mechanism

National Action Plan

National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security

Native title

A pre-existing property interest, held communally or individually by Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, which is capable of being recognised by Australia's common law. Native title can exist over land and waters where Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders maintain traditional laws and customs that give them a connection to the specified area. Native title rights are not granted by governments or courts. Native title is not an underlying title, but rather a bundle of rights that can be extinguished by inconsistent acts of government.

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O

OPCAT

Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - an international agreement which establishes a two-tiered system of inspections of places of detention, with the aim of preventing torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Operations

Functions, services and processes performed in pursuing the objectives or discharging the functions of an agency.

Outcomes

The results, impacts or consequence of actions by an agency on the Australian community.

Outputs

The goods or services produced by agencies on behalf of government for external organisations or individuals. Outputs include goods and services produced for other areas of government external to an agency.

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P

Pacific Disability

The peak non-government organisation in the Pacific which represents

Forum

Pacific Islanders with disabilities, their rights and entitlements. Its purpose is to promote and facilitate Pacific regional cooperation on disability-related concerns for the benefit of people with disabilities.

Permanent Forum

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - An advisory body to the United Nations Economic and Social Council with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.

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R

RAP

Reconciliation Action Plan - A self-generated plan that helps organisations build positive relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, through engagement within their sphere of influence, in the national effort to close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and other Australians.

REX

Regional Express Airways

RMIT

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University

RSS

Really Simple Syndication - a means of distributing changing web content to different users and other websites e.g., distributing news headlines.

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S

SES

Senior Executive Service

SMS

Short message service - text messaging on a mobile telephone.

Sex files

Sex files: the legal recognition of sex in documents and government records (the Sex and gender diversity project).

Service charter

Public statements about the service that a department or agency will provide.

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T

TTY

Text Telephone - a special device that lets people who are deaf, hearing impaired, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another, instead of talking and listening.

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U

UN

The United Nations

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNPFII

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Unique visits

The presence in a website of a user with a specific IP address who has not visited the site recently (typically, anytime within the past 30 minutes). The number of these user sessions (unique visits) per day is one measure of how much traffic a website has. A user who visits a site at noon and then again at 3:30 pm would count as two user visits.

Universal Declaration

Adopted unanimously by the members of the United of Human Rights

Nations on 10 December 1948, the Universal Declaration is the foundation on which much international law has been based. It sets out the fundamental rights of all people, including the right to life; freedom from slavery, torture and arbitrary arrest; freedom of thought, opinion and religion; the right to a fair trial and equality before the law; the right to work and education; and the right to participate in the social, political and cultural life of one’s country.

UTS

University of Technology Sydney

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W

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium

WAI

Web Accessibility Initiative

WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Workplace diversity

The central principle of workplace diversity is the creation of workplaces free from discrimination, harassment and bullying.

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Y

Yogyakarta Principles

Adopted in March 2007, these Principles provide guidance on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Principles affirm binding international legal standards with which all states must comply.