ANTaR's work focuses on a range of issues impacting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These issues have been listed separately, however many of them are complex, interrelated and have multiple causes.

Why are these issues important? Because unless they are resolved, we will never achieve a just and reconciled Australia.

Constitutional Recognition

The Australian Constitution is currently silent on the history, status and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It also contains a number of racially discriminatory provisions. ANTaR aims to rectify this situation through our campaign for Constitutional recognition of the specific status and rights of Australia's First Peoples and the removal of all racially discriminatory elements from our Constitution at the proposed 2013 national referendum.
Take a look at:
* ANTaR's submission to the Expert Panel
* A letter to the Expert Panel from the National NGO Network on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
* ANTaR's blog on Open Forum
* The YouMeUnity website
* Some more info on Constitutional reform and our campaign click here

Click here to take action to support the Expert Panel's historic recommendations for constitutional reform!

Reducing Imprisonment Rates

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people comprise 2.5 per cent of the Australian population, but make up 26 per cent of the total prison population. They are imprisoned at a rate 14 times higher than non-Indigenous people. ANTaR is currently campaigning to change this unacceptable situation.
On April 15, to mark 20 years since the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, ANTaR launched a National Call to Action for federal, state and territory governments to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system.
ANTaR is now working to ensure Government adopts measurable justice targets to 'Close the Gap'. You can support this campaign by emailing Federal, State and Territory politicians.
For more info, click here!

The NT Intervention / A Better Way

On 22 June, the Federal Government released the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Discussion Paper and held consultations in Aboriginal communities to determine ways forward in the Northern Territory. In response to this paper, ANTaR published a submission, calling on both major parties to learn from the international development experience and work with Aboriginal people, within a community development framework, to plan the transition from intervention to sustainable futures.
This submission built on ANTaR's
A Better Way: Success Stories in Aboriginal community-control in the Northern Territory publication, released in 2010, which calls on governments to empower Aboriginal organisations and communities to drive solutions to the challenges they face.
The Government has introduced new legislation into Parliament, which has been referred to a Senate Committee. Submissions are due on January 12, 2012.
Click here to access a wide range of resources, documents, and information about the Northern Territory Intervention since its inception.

Health

An Aboriginal child born in 2009 will still, on average, live for 17 years less than a non-Aboriginal child. Closing the Indigenous life expectancy gap is one of ANTaR's priority campaign areas. We have been working in this area for over 5 years.
* Racism Makes Me Sick campaign
* Success stories in Indigenous health
* Close The Gap campaign
* COAG's closing the gap approach
Find out more here

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is a process where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, non-Indigenous Australians and Australian governments forge a new relationship based on mutual understanding, recognition and respect.
Ten years after the historic bridge walks and Corroboree 2000, ANTaR launched a year of recommitment to reconciliation. In 2010, we asked Are we there yet?, to celebrate how far we have come on the reconciliation journey, but also to remind governments and the community that the journey is not over.
ANTaR's Respect campaign calls on individuals to commit to a new relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The Sea of Hands is ANTaR's long-running reconciliation campaign. Over 300,000 Australians have added a hand since 1997.
Find out more here

Human Rights Protection

ANTaR supports a Human Rights Act to provide a comprehensive framework for the protection of human rights. Although Australia is a signatory to several Human Rights Treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights UDHR and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNDRIP, it has not wholly incorporated theses treaties into domestic law. Australian governments have in the past and continue to behave in a way that contravenes the Declarations and other human rights treaties signed by Australia.
Read on

Treaty

ANTaR supports a Treaty to establish an enduring foundation for the relationship between Australia and its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Though ANTaR recognises that a treaty is not a panacea, it does offer Australia a document for a renewed society, which can speak to our past, present and future. More information

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Eliminating violence and abuse

ANTaR considers that Australian Governments have a responsibility to intervene to protect their citizens in danger from violence and abuse. This is particularly the case in relation to Aboriginal children, who have been found by numerous reports to have a greater risk of being abused than non-Aboriginal children.
Read on

Stolen Generations

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered a national apology to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Federal Parliament on 13 February 2008. While ANTaR whole-heartedly welcomed this apology, we are campaigning the government to implement all the recommendations of the Bringing Them Home report. Photo: The Sea of Hands and Sorry Skywriting
Read on

Stolen wages

For decades, state and federal governments in Australia did not pay the wages and entitlements of Aboriginal people who were under their care and protection. In most parts of Australia, Aboriginal workers and their descendants are yet to be paid these "stolen wages". The unresolved issue of stolen wages remains one of the nation's greatest barriers to reconciliation and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Read on

Native Title and land rights

ANTaR believes that the Native Title and the Northern Territory Land Rights Acts should be reformed to restore land justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the timely resolution of claims.
We also support the introduction of a social justice package as promised by former Prime Minister, Paul Keating in his response to the High Court's Mabo decision on Native Title. Following the election of the Howard government, this social package was abandoned. Photo: land rights plaque which can be purchased from ANTaR
Read on

Self-determination

ANTaR believes that self-determination - or the ability of Aboriginal people to freely determine their own political, economic, social and cultural development - is essential to overcoming Indigenous disadvantage. The effective exercise of Indigenous self-determination depends on more than just political change. To succeed, communities need a sustainable economic base as well as strong leadership and governance structures.
Photo: Descendance by Perecca
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Employment and economic development

Meaningful jobs and economic development are essential to Aboriginal self-determination. Employment is also crucial to overcoming poor health, homelessness and family violence. Aboriginal children who's parents are employed also have a far greater chance of succeeding at school.
Read on

Education

ANTaR believes education is vital to overcoming Indigenous disadvantage and achieving reconciliation in Australia.
Photo: Remote Education, Arnhem Land, Australia Rusty Stewart
Read on

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Housing

ANTaR believes that ensuring first world standards of housing for the first Australians is one of the nation's greatest challenges. A much higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in overcrowded conditions than other Australians. Poor housing is a contributor to poor health, poor educational outcomes and family violence. Photo: Yaruman5 Find out more