Our goal
We want a community in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are empowered to have a say on issues that affect them.
-
Aboriginal Australians are amongst the State’s (and Australia’s) most disadvantaged people. Successive government policies have failed to make significant in-roads to reduce the disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people across almost all wellbeing measures.
-
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 3% of the Australian population, making it difficult for their voice – and for their proposed solutions to tackling disadvantage and other issues that affect them – to be heard in Parliament.
-
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as the first Australians, are not recognised within the Australian constitution and there are limited requirements to defer to their views.
At present, Aboriginal representative bodies can only be set up administratively or through legislation, and as such can be easily abolished by governments according to changing priorities, slowing down progress and damaging relationships.
The Commonwealth has law-making power that has been historically used to make laws on Aboriginal and Torres Strait issues such as land rights and cultural heritage laws, without consultation with Indigenous people. Such practice ignores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s right to self-determination, set out in Article 19 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
-
Governments and organisations must respect the knowledge and expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by listening and deferring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices on issues relating to Indigenous matters.
-
As a community, we need to acknowledge the voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as expressed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and support the call for a First Nations Voice to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution. We also need to support the establishment of a Makarrata Commission to enable a fair and truthful relationship between all Australians.
-
-
Governments and organisations must look for ways to empower Aboriginal communities, for example by:
-
Providing adequate funding and culturally appropriate services to reduce the economic, social and political disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in WA.
-
Supporting Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) to take leadership roles in provision of these services and focusing on place-based, community led solutions.
-
Undertaking mutual capacity building and knowledge sharing activities with ACCO partners
Anglicare WA provides services to 6,800 people each year who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
We are implementing our Reconciliation Action Plan to embed cultural security into all aspects of our work and to improve retention and employment opportunities and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We believe we can have the biggest impact on addressing Aboriginal disadvantage by supporting Aboriginal clients with our services and supporting the Aboriginal community through our advocacy. We seek guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including our Aboriginal Advisory Group, on issues relating to our services, Aboriginal engagement and in our advocacy work.
We work independently and in collaboration with others to raise awareness on issues that matter and to seek policy change.
Campaigns we support:
-
Uluru Statement from the Heart and the formation of the Makarrata Commission.
-
Being a member of the Social Reinvestment WA network that works for systemic change and ‘smart’ justice to end the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody in WA.
Learn more about our other Advocacy Priorities
 | Creating Economic Justice and Fairness |
 | Freedom from Family and Domestic Violence and Abuse |
 | Ensuring Everyone Has a Home |