Inquiry into the Progress Towards National Reconciliation

Inquiry into the Progress Towards National Reconciliation

On 27 August 2002, the Senate referred the following matter to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee for inquiry and report by March 2003. The current reporting date is 8 October 2003.

The Terms of Reference for this inquiry are :

  1. Progress towards national reconciliation, including an examination of the adequacy and effectiveness of the Commonwealth Government's response to, and implementation of, the recommendations contained in the following documents :

    (a) Reconciliation: Australia's Challenge: Final Report of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation to the Prime Minister and the Commonwealth Parliament;

    (b) the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's Roadmap for Reconciliation and the associated National Strategies to Advance Reconciliation; and

    (c) the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner's social justice reports in 2000 and 2001 relating to reconciliation.

  2. That, in examining this matter, the committee have regard to the following :

    (a) whether processes have been developed to enable and require government agencies to review their policies and programs against the documents referred to above;

    (b) effective ways of implementing the recommendations of the documents referred to above, including an examination of funding arrangements;

    (c) the adequacy and effectiveness of any targets, benchmarks, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that have been put in place to address Indigenous disadvantage and promote reconciliation, with particular reference to the consistency of these responses with the documents referred to above; and

    (d) the consistency of the Government's responses to the recommendations contained in the documents referred to above with the needs and aspirations of Indigenous Australians as Australian citizens and First Nation Peoples.

In addition to the Terms of Reference and links to documents above, the following documents are provided for your information:

  • Members of the Committee (PDF format)
  • Notes to assist in the preparation of submissions (Word 44KB)

Public Hearing

Friday, 4 April 2003 (Word 28KB) - Sydney.
Proof of Hansard April 4, 2003 (PDF 507KB) (Word format)

Wednesday 14 May 2003 - Canberra (Word 20KB)
Official Hansard May 14, 2003 (PDF 178KB)

Thursday 15 May 2003 - Canberra (Word 24KB)
Official Hansard May 15, 2003 (PDF 254KB)

Monday 19 May 2003 - Melbourne (Word 32KB)
Official Hansard May 19, 2003 (PDF 442KB)

Wednesday 11 June 2003 - Darwin (Word 28KB)
Proof of Hansard June11, 2003 (Word 254KB)

Wednesday 18 June 2003 - Canberra (Word 20KB)
Official Hansard June 18, 2003 (PDF 98KB)

Tuesday 24 June 2003 - Canberra (Word 26KB)
Official Hansard June 24, 2003 (PDF 98KB)

Tuesday 22 July 2003 - Canberra (Word 24KB)
Proof of Hansard July 22, 2003 (Word 130KB)

Submissions

The closing date for the lodgement of submissions is 15 November 2002.

Submissions become Committee documents and are only made public after a decision by the Committee. Unauthorised release of submissions is not covered by parliamentary privilege. Further assistance can be obtained by phoning the secretariat on (02) 6277 3560.

Report - Tabled 8 October 2003

For further information

    The Secretariat
    Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee
    Room S1.61, Parliament House
    Canberra ACT 2600
    AUSTRALIA

    Telephone: (02) 6277 3560
    Fax: (02) 6277 5794

    E Mail: legcon.sen@aph.gov.au