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WorldLII >> Categories >> Countries >> Australia >> By Subject >> Aboriginals & Torres Strait Islanders >> Reports, Commissions & Parliamentary Committees >> Parliamentary Committees >> Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs

• Humanity Diminished: the Crime of Genocide - Inquiry into the Anti-Genocide Bill 1999 [Search]
  This bill was to incorporate into domestic legislation the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide which Australia ratified in 1949. Bill was introduced in response to Full Federal Court finding that genocide is not a crime recognised by Australian courts, in Nulyarimma v Thompson in 1999 (on Australian Parliament website)
• Inquiry into Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing of Juvenile Offenders) Bill 1999 [Search]
  Bill proposed to override the mandatory sentencing laws in WA and NT, making any state or territory law that requires a court to sentence a person to imprisonment for an offence committed as a child unlawful (on Australian Parliament website)
• Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice (2003- 2004) [Search]
  Inquiry to assess if current arrangements are able meet the community need for legal assistance, includes detailed history of legal services in Australia. Final report's chapter 5 is a review of Indigenous Legal Services (on Australian Parliament website)
• Inquiry into the Crimes Amendment (Bail and Sentencing) Bill 2006 (Cth) [Search]
  This bill results from the COAG decision on 14 July 2006 following the Intergovernmental Summit on Violence and Child Abuse in Indigenous Communities. It seeks to toughen bail provisions in the Crimes Act. It specifies that customary law or cultural practice cannot be considered for Commonwealth offences and it also requires the court to consider the potential impact on victims when assessing bail (on Parliament of Australia website)
• Inquiry into the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 & Related Bills (August 2007) [Search]
  This inquiry had one day of hearings to report on over 500 pages of legislation, 5 bills for the Australian Government's response to the 'national emergency' relating to the welfare of Indigenous children in the NT (on AustLII)
• Inquiry into the Progress Towards National Reconciliation (2002 - 2003) [Search]
  Inquiry into the adequacy of govt response to recommendations for national reconciliation made by Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (on Australian Parliament website)
• Inquiry into the Provisions of the Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing for Property Offences) Bill 2000 [Search]
  This bill, which covers both children and adults, is intended to override the mandatory sentencing laws in WA and NT. It provides that Commonwealth, State and Territory laws must not force a court to sentence a person to imprisonment or detention for a property offence (on Parliament of Australia website)
• Report of the Inquiry into the Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing of Property Offenders) Bill 2000 (Cth) [Search]
  With the intention to repeal the laws, this inquiry examined the WA and NT mandatory sentencing regimes as they applied to adults and juveniles convicted of property offences (on Parliament of Australia)
• Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs [Search]
  Homepage (on Parliament of Australia)
• Stolen Generation Inquiry - Healing: a Legacy of Generations (2000) [Search]
  Report of inquiry into govt implementation of the recommendations made in "Bringing them Home" - the HREOC report in the stolen generations (on Australian Parliament website)
• Two Hundred Years Later: Report on the Feasibility of a Compact or 'Makarrata' between the Commonwealth and Aboriginal People (1984)
  Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs Report, with recommendations for further negotiations and consultations towards a treaty, including recommending constitutional change and statutory protection and funding for the National Aboriginal Conference (on AIATSIS)
• Unfinished Business : Indigenous Stolen Wages (2006) [Search]
  Report of Senate Inquiry - From the 1890s and even until the 1980s, Indigenous people were subjected to Protection Acts in mainland states and in the NT. Governments and “Protectors” controlled all aspects of Indigenous lives, including employment and payment of wages. Many people were forced to have their wages paid into trust accounts, which never returned the money. (on Parliament of Australia)