Rights, not rhetoric: Report calls time on Government inaction

Australian Human Rights Commission Media Release

A major new national report has laid bare the ongoing systemic injustices faced by First Peoples. It calls for urgent structural reform and a decisive shift from rhetoric to action.

‘A Fair and Just Future for First Peoples: Social Justice Report 2025,’ released today by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss, draws on the voices of more than 1,600 First Peoples from across Australia and sets out a comprehensive roadmap for reform.

The report highlights the incredible work Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations are leading and implementing across the country. It also asserts that without comprehensive rights-affirming structures and protections, the tipping point required to close the gap will remain out of reach.

‘Despite decades of recommendations and commitments, First Peoples continue to face systemic injustice,’ said Commissioner Kiss.

‘Our people are actively leading change, with strong cultural foundations, local knowledge, and community-led initiatives producing real, positive outcomes at the grassroots level.

‘If Australia is to leverage the true potential of these efforts, the counterweights of systemic racism, inadequate accountability, and long-standing government inaction on delivering human rights must be addressed. These are the drivers of persistent inequality across all areas of life and of the continuing disadvantage and harm experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.’

Addressing racism and rebuilding trust

The report identifies racism as a major barrier to equality, affecting outcomes across health, justice and social systems.

‘Racism causes real harm and even early deaths. Ending racism needs more than words, it requires stronger laws, honest education and culturally safe systems,’ Commissioner Kiss said.

‘Active representation and participation in decision-making, genuine power sharing and healing, and truth telling are the only way forward.’

The report identifies a range of urgent challenges, including:

• Overrepresentation of First Peoples in the criminal justice system, particularly among young people. 35% of all prisoners in Australia are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, yet First Peoples make up only 3% of Australia’s total population with this rate rising to around 60% for young people.
• Disproportionate child removal and ongoing intergenerational trauma. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 10–11 times more likely to be in out of home care.
• Unequal access to safe housing, healthcare, education and infrastructure. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people face poorer access to education and systemic barriers, increasing disengagement from school and exposure to risk factors, which contributes to their overrepresentation in youth detention.
• Failure to implement previous recommendations and commitments. Over 600 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since 1991, highlighting the ongoing consequences of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody’s unfulfilled recommendations. Five of the 83 recommendations from the Bringing Them Home Report have been implemented. Only 4-5 targets out of 19 are on track from the Closing the Gap Report.

A blueprint for change

At the centre of the report is a national ‘Blueprint for a fair and just future,’ anchored in 5 priorities:
1. Promoting the full enjoyment of rights
2. Strengthening accountability and integrity in government systems
3. Increasing First Peoples’ participation in decision making
4. Ensuring access to justice
5. Rebuilding strong, self-determining communities

The report emphasises that First-Peoples-led solutions already exist and highlights the need for long-term investment, rather than short-term, fragmented funding approaches.

‘When communities design, govern and lead our own solutions, we thrive. Governments must move beyond rhetoric and work in genuine partnership with us,’ Commissioner Kiss said.

The report makes 25 recommendations, including:

• Stronger national action to address racism, including implementation of the National Anti Racism Framework (NARF) and improved media accountability. Over 2 years since its publication, the Australian Government is yet to respond to the recommendations of this framework which it commissioned the Australian Human Rights Commission to develop.
• Introducing a national Human Rights Act and implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). These measures would embed rights in Australian law, give First Peoples greater self determination and ensure governments are held accountable for protecting those rights. They would also align Australia with global human rights standards.
• Establishing a national representative mechanism and Makarrata Commission for truth telling and agreement making. First Peoples currently lack a strong, formal national voice in decision making. For change to be realised law and policy must be underpinned by foundations of truth, justice and agreement making.
• Raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14. Evidence shows that early contact with the justice system and practices such as solitary confinement for children causes long-term irreversible harm. Raising the age of criminal responsibility aims to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in detention and shift the focus from punishment to support, positive development, and healing.
• Creating independent oversight of deaths in custody to ensure investigations are fair, transparent and accountable. This will help avoid preventable deaths, improve implementation of past recommendations, address systemic racism, and rebuild trust between First Peoples and the justice system.
• Providing long-term, needs based funding to Aboriginal community controlled organisations as they provide more effective, culturally safe services and support self determination.Current short term and inadequate funding limits their ability to meet community needs, while long term investment would improve outcomes and prevent ongoing disadvantage.
• Reforming native title laws and strengthening cultural heritage protections. Current laws do not adequately recognise or protect First Peoples’ native title rights and cultural heritage. This is inconsistent with determinations of Australia’s High Court. It also limits self determination allows ongoing harm to Country and people and contributes to the perpetuation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inequality.

‘Governments must demonstrate meaningful action through collaborating with First Peoples, and to uphold the dignity, courage, and determination of First Peoples with structural reform, genuine accountability, and integrity,’ Commissioner Kiss said.

The Commissioner has requested a formal, public response from the Australian Government, outlining how it will act on the report’s recommendations, including timelines and accountability measures.

Read the full report on our website