Over 30 years later, in June 2017, the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) and the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) partnered on a national conversation to elevate the voices of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander women and girls.

 

Led by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar AO, the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women's Voices) project set out to capture what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls consider to be their strengths, challenges and aspirations. 

 

This culminated in the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices): Securing our Rights, Securing our Future 2020 Report and accompanying Community Guide. 

 

Informed by the lived experiences of over 2,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls, Wiyi Yani U Thangani provides a well overdue gender-lends to all apects of life from health to justice, employment, safety, land and country, child protection and education. In each chapter, on every page are the stories of the strengths and depth of knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls, as well as the profound inequalities they experience. 

 

Wiyi Yani U Thangani provides the evidence that the inequalities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls are perpetuated and entrenched by mainstream systems and structures that have margianlised the voices of women and girls for generations. Wiyi Yani U Thagani sets out a comprehensive plan for large-scale structural change needed to combat and overcome these inequalities. 

 

We are articulating this as a need to embed First Nations gender justice and equality. You can read more about our Stage Two work here.