Calls for constitution revamp to combat discrimination
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Greens candidate Barbara Shaw says the Federal Government continues to ignore criticism by the United Nations. (ABC TV)
A human rights commissioner says he will use a damning report into discrimination against Indigenous Australians to push for a change to the constitution.
The United Nations human rights panel released a report overnight which says discrimination has become "embedded" in the Australian way of life.
A member of the panel, Patrick Thornberry, also says the Northern Territory intervention in Indigenous communities has lead to structurally-embedded discrimination.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice commissioner Mick Gooda says he agrees with the findings.
"I wouldn't go as far to say it's a way of life, but I think it's something we have to address on a daily basis," he said.
"That's a challenge facing us as we go arguing the legal changes in the constitution, whether it's around discrimination or whether it's just about recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
Barbara Shaw, a resident of an Alice Springs town camp who ran as a Greens candidate in the recent election, is calling for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People to be embedded in the Constitution.
"I actually support the declaration being embedded into the constitution and not Aboriginal people just being written into the preamble," she said.
"At the moment Aboriginal people in the constitution have got a right to vote and a right to religion and that's not enough for us.
"We are peoples of the land. We are caretakers of our land."
She says the Federal Government continues to ignore criticism by the United Nations.
"I've actually presented statements on racial discrimination and how the governments of Australia treat Aboriginal people and Indigenous people that don't come from Australia, they're shocked and amazed at how the Australian government can treat their first peoples," she said.
The Racial Discrimination Act is expected to be restored in December this year.
The UN report welcomed the Labor Government's national apology to Indigenous Australians, but said that concrete steps to increase life expectancy or improve the rate of deaths in custody had not yet been demonstrated.
The committee's recommendations were issued in a report following a regular review of Australia's compliance with an international treaty of 1969 prohibiting racism.
The report also raised concerns about the handling of refugees and asylum seekers, as well as anti-terrorism measures; discrimination against newer, mainly Muslim, ethnic communities; and assaults on foreign students.
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