SYDNEY – Cases of Indigenous women shackled while giving birth and growing numbers of children in detention are “embarrassing” to Australia, the UN’s special rapporteur on Indigenous rights said on Nov 13.
UN Special Rapporteur Albert Barume said he visited Australia because he saw Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s attempt to recognise First Nations people in the constitution as a sign of progress, despite a national referendum failing to pass in 2023.
Barume ended his two-week visit on Nov 13 with a bleak message that Indigenous people’s rights are “unsafe” in Australia because they are controlled by states and territories, not the national government.
“The state of protection of Indigenous people’s rights is a bit embarrassing. I heard the story of women giving birth shackled – I couldn’t believe it,” he told a news conference in Sydney.
Rights groups say the practice used for some women prisoners disproportionately impacts Indigenous women who experience higher rates of incarceration.
An Indigenous lawmaker sought to introduce a bill to stop the practice in the federal Parliament in August.
Australia’s international reputation was at stake, Barume said, after he was denied access to youth detention centres in Queensland state and the Northern Territory, which have the highest rates of Indigenous youth incarceration.
Officials in these states also refused to meet him.
