Australian bishop expresses concern over indigenous council

Published: 2004-06-09

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- An Australian bishop expressed concern over the disbanding of a government commission protecting indigenous rights. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, an elected group of indigenous people, is to be replaced by a government-appointed indigenous council that will serve as an advisory board. Services provided by the council will be transferred to other government agencies. Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome, chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, said he was concerned that the proposal to transfer the commission's programs to mainstream government agencies "could be a retrograde step." The bishop said, "The existing mainstream agencies have hardly delivered on promised improvements in the past." The move has sparked a national debate in Australia over how best to serve Australia's indigenous people, who only after 1967 were constitutionally recognized, the council said in a statement released in early June.

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