For too long now, we have heard it argued that a focus.on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights.takes away from a focus on addressing Aboriginal and.Torres Strait Islander peoples’ disadvantage..This approach is, in my view, seriously flawed for a.number of reasons. It represents a false dichotomy—as if.poorer standards of health, lack of access to housing,.lower attainment in education and higher unemployment.are not human rights issues or somehow they don’t relate.to the cultural circumstances of Indigenous peoples..And it also makes it too easy to disguise any causal.relationship between the actions of government and any.outcomes, and therefore limits the accountability and.responsibilities of government..In contrast, human rights give Aboriginal and Torres.Strait Islander peoples a means for expressing their.legitimate claims to equal goods, services, and most.importantly, the protections of the law—and a standard.that government is required to measure up to..The focus on ‘practical measures’ was exemplified by.the emphasis the previous federal government placed on.the ‘record levels of expenditure’ annually on Indigenous.issues..As I have previously asked, since when did the size of.the input become more important than the intended.outcomes? The... government never explained what the.point of the record expenditure argument was—or what.achievements were made.....And the fact is that there has been no simple way of.being able to decide whether the progress made through.‘record expenditure’ has been ‘good enough’. So the.‘practical’ approach to these issues has lacked any.accountability whatsoever.....If we look back over the past five years in particular....we can also see that a ‘practical’ approach to issues has.allowed governments to devise a whole series of policies.and programs without engaging with Indigenous peoples.in any serious manner. I have previously described this as.the ‘fundamental flaw’ of the federal government’s efforts.over the past five years. That is, government policy that is.applied to Indigenous peoples as passive recipients..Our challenge now is to redefine and understand these.issues as human rights issues..We face a major challenge in ‘skilling up’ government.and the bureaucracy so that they are capable of utilising.human rights as a tool for best practice policy.development and as an accountability mechanism..... In March this year, the Prime Minister, the Leader.of the Opposition, Ministers for Health and Indigenous.Affairs, every major Indigenous and non-Indigenous.peak health body and others signed a Statement of Intent.to close the gap in health inequality which set out how.this commitment would be met. It commits all of these.organisations and government, among other things, to:.- develop a long-term plan of action, that is targeted.to need, evidence-based and capable of addressing.the existing inequities in health services, in order to.achieve equality of health status and life expectancy.between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.peoples and non-Indigenous Australians by 2030..- ensure the full participation of Aboriginal and.Torres Strait Islander peoples and their.representative bodies in all aspects of addressing.their health needs..- work collectively to systematically address the social.determinants that impact on achieving health.equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.peoples..- respect and promote the rights of Aboriginal and.Torres Strait Islander peoples, and.- measure, monitor, and report on our joint efforts,.in accordance with benchmarks and targets, to.ensure that we are progressively realising our.shared ambitions..These commitments were made in relation to.Indigenous health issues but they form a template for the.type of approach that is needed across all areas of.poverty, marginalisation and disadvantage experienced.by Indigenous peoples..They provide the basis for the cultural shift necessary.in how we conceptualise human rights in this country..Issues of entrenched and ongoing poverty and.marginalisation of Indigenous peoples are human rights.challenges. And we need to lift our expectations of what.needs to be done to address these issues and of what.constitutes sufficient progress to address these issues in.the shortest possible timeframe so that we can realise a.vision of an equal society.Q: One central theme of the passage is that Answer Choices: (A)expanding legal rights of citizens will not necessarily improve national health outcomes. (B)human rights initiatives should generally receive more funding than health initiatives do. (C)human rights should be used as a framework for government policy on indigenous issues. (D)focusing on indigenous peoples’ rights detracts from the more practical concerns of indigenous communities.
A: Among A through D, the answer is
(A)expanding legal rights of citizens will not necessarily improve national health outcomes.
(B)human rights initiatives should generally receive more funding than health initiatives do.
(C)human rights should be used as a framework for government policy on indigenous issues.
(D)focusing on indigenous peoples’ rights detracts from the more practical concerns of indigenous communities.
Answer: 2