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Recent Submissions
Implementing disability policy reform: Challenges and opportunities
(Canberra, ACT: Australian National University, POLIS Centre for Indigenous Policy Research, 2024) Dillon, Michael; Australian National University. Centre for Indigenous Policy Research
This paper assesses for Indigenous interests the risks and opportunities embedded in the recommendations of the recent independent review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). To provide essential context, the paper begins with an overview of the mainstream policy issues emerging from the NDIS Review, before addressing the distinct issues relevant to Indigenous interests. The proposed reforms create significant opportunities to remove the structural and system constraints inhibiting equitable access by Indigenous people to disability support by governments. However, each opportunity also entails risks, and the risks of policy failure are substantial. The paper argues that the NDIS Review’s recommendations are both essential to the long-term sustainability of the NDIS, and in the public interest. Yet for Indigenous interests to grasp the opportunities and avoid the risks embedded in the Review’s complex policy architecture and implementation processes, they will need to develop a comprehensive and proactive response focused on implementation of the proposed reform agenda, and engage in sustained advocacy across all jurisdictions in order to ensure the reform momentum is maintained.
Wetlands and future change-Implications and opportunities with the Ramsar Convention
(Elsevier, 2023) Gell, Peter A; Davidson, Nick C.; Finlayson, C.M.; Herb, Andy M.; McInnes, Rob J.; Pittock, Jamie; Pritchard, Dave; Gell, Peter A.; Davidson, Nick C.; Finlayson, C. Max
In the face of global-scale decline in the extent and state of the world's wetlands, the Ramsar Convention has mobilised most of the world's nations to support the conservation and wise use of wetlands. Whilst wetlands continue to be lost and their condition overall continues to decline, the Convention has played a significant part in assisting nations to mitigate pressures and preserve values and ecological assets. The pressures on wetlands will continue, and the Convention could continue its valuable contribution by increasing the awareness of the value of, and risks to wetlands, assisting Contracting Parties to plan for and accommodate change in wetland state, including that driven by climate change, recognising wetlands as socio-ecological systems, and refining the practice of wetland restoration. There remains much opportunity to extend the technical and management capacity that can be catalysed by the Convention to all nations to address the conservation and wise use of wetlands across the globe.
Diversity and its Discontents: An Overview of Minority-Majority Relations in Indonesia
(ISEAS Publishing, 2019) Fealy, Greg; Ricci, Ronit; Fealy, Greg; Ricci, Ronit
Indonesia has always perceived itself as being a tolerant, diverse and pluralist nation. As one of the most ethnically, religiously and culturally complex societies on earth, Indonesia has cast acceptance of difference and equality of rights and opportunities as a cornerstone of its existence. The nation's motto is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, an Old Javanese phrase typically translated as ‘Unity in Diversity’ but perhaps more accurately rendered as ‘Out of Many, One’. The motto implies that Indonesia not only embraces but also celebrates diversity. Founding president Sukarno set the tone in a speech in 1955 when he declared: ‘This country, the Republic of Indonesia, does not belong to any group, nor to any religion, nor to any ethnic group, nor to any group with particular customs and traditions, but is the property of all of us from Sabang to Merauke! [i.e., from the further-most northwestern to southeastern points of the archipelago]’ (quoted in Vatikiotis 2017: 157). In essence, he was claiming that all who lived within Indonesia's borders were owed the same rights and no single group had preference. More recently, presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004–14) and Joko Widodo (2014–) have made terms such as ‘moderation’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘multiculturalism’ central to their nation's international diplomacy. Yudhoyono, for example, declared at a Harvard address in 2009 that Indonesia was a ‘bastion of freedom, tolerance and harmony’ (Yudhoyono 2009) and stated at a high-level event in New York in 2013 that ‘[Indonesia] will always protect our minorities and ensure that no one suffers from discrimination’ (Parlina and Aritonang 2013). In addition, and reflecting a broad sentiment, public opinion surveys have repeatedly shown that an overwhelming majority of Indonesians believe their country to be tolerant and respectful of the rights of minorities (Fealy 2016: 120; Mietzner and Muhtadi in Chapter 9 of this volume).
But is this self-perception justified? In recent years Indonesia's reputation for tolerance and inclusivity has come under growing scrutiny from domestic and overseas civil society and human rights groups, the international media and the diplomatic community. Much of this scrutiny relates to the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities and of the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. They have variously been subject to condemnation or denigration by other sections of society and political leaders, and in some cases have been the target of violent attack.
Reflection [Encounters with Constitutional Interpretation and Legal Education: Essays in Honour of Michael Coper]
(The Federation Press, 2018) Coper, Michael; Stellios, James
Editors' Introduction
(Cambridge University Press, 2022) Cane, Peter; Ford, Lisa; Mark McMillan, Mark McMillan; Peter Cane; Lisa Ford; Mark McMillan
The editorial project we set for ourselves was to assemble a legal history of Australia. As this continent has been occupied by human communities for more than 60,000 years,