SWT3 Memory/Delivery Task

Part 1: INTRO PARAGRAPH

Following on from the amazing Four Corners expose of the brutal slaughter of Australian live export of cattle to Indonesia, there has been an amazing public response and outcry against the treatment of these cattle. When our community response is so strong and so unanimous on animal rights issue like this – why aren’t we just as vocal on human rights issues within our own country? It seems bizarre and even rather offensive to talk about asylum seekers and Australian cattle in the same sentence. But by a strange twist of events, Australia faces a similar problem with Asian neighbors in dealing with each of these issues. For understanding the unbalance responses from the public, it is necessary to put forward more evidence and cultural references.

Part 2: BODY PARAGRAPH

In recent years, differences have emerged in Australian ruling circles over the policy of compulsorily detaining asylum seekers, sometimes for years, until they exhaust their avenues of appeal against denial of refugee status. Violent repression, including the use of mass arrests, water cannon, tear gas and solitary confinement, has failed to quell the growing unrest in the overcrowded camps—expressed in hunger strikes, mass breakouts and increasingly determined protests—and this has fuelled concerns within the media and political establishment that damage is being done to Australia’s international reputation. Back in January, three key issues topped the international community's concern: Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, the disadvantage and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the lack of a Human Rights Act or Charter.

This information sheet talks about some of the human rights issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (or Indigenous peoples). It also highlights how a federal Human Rights Act could help deal with these issues. Which human rights are we talking about? Human rights are about everyone, and they are very important for Indigenous peoples. We are all entitled to the enjoyment of human rights without discrimination of any kind, including on the