The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, is currently conducting a country visit to Australia to assess how well the Commonwealth is promoting and protecting the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Dr Barume will discuss his preliminary findings and recommendations at a media conference in Sydney at 1pm on Friday 13 November at the offices of the Australian Human Rights Commission at Lv 20 175 Pitt St in the Sydney CBD. To ensure journalists from regional and remote communities can participate, the media conference will be a hybrid event. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.
During his 2-week visit to Canberra, Adelaide, Broome, Darwin, Torres Strait Islands, Townsville and Sydney, Dr Barume is meeting with First Peoples organisations, representatives and communities, government officials, civil society and academics.
Dr Barume is focussing on human rights issues affecting Australia’s First Peoples, including domestic implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the right to self-determination and redress of historical injustices, and the right to lands, territories and resources.
Dr Barume has expressed regret that meetings with government officials in the Northern Territory and Queensland, as well as his planned visits to the Holtze youth detention centre outside of Darwin and the Cleveland youth detention centre in Townsville, will not take place, due to refusal by respective state and territory governments to engage with the UN’s mandate.
Dr Barume will present a report on the visit to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2027.
For more information, please visit: https://www.ohchr.org/en/media-advisories/2026/10/un-expert-indigenous-peoples-rights-visit-australia
UN Special Rapporteur for the rights of Indigenous Peoples media conference
- Friday 13 November, 1pm
- Australian Human Rights Commission, Lv 20 175 Pitt St, Sydney
- Access will be strictly limited to journalists.
- To register to attend in person or receive an online link, or for more information, please contact: [email protected]
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If you are attending in person, please aim to arrive no later than 12:45pm. Commission staff will be in the lobby to greet you and provide you access from the lobby to Lv 20.
ENDS | Media contact: [email protected] or 0457 281 897