I am pleased to announce the reappointment of Ms June Oscar AO as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner in the Australian Human Rights Commission. Ms Oscar’s reappointment will be for a period of two years and commenced on 3 April 2022.
Ms Oscar is a Bunuba woman from Fitzroy Crossing. She has long been a champion for Indigenous social justice, women’s issues, addressing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and the preservation of language. Ms Oscar was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2013 and was awarded the Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Fellowship for significant achievements in contributing to acts of Global Reconciliation in 2016.
Since her appointment in 2017, Ms Oscar has led the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) multi-year initiative, which has focused on what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls consider to be their strengths, challenges and aspirations.
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices): Securing our Rights, Securing our Future Report and Community Guide was released in December 2020. Stage 3 of this project commenced in 2022 and is the final implementation stage and includes a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s leadership summit and a research project to identify effective strengths based programs and approaches for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls.
Ms Oscar’s reappointment will provide important continuity for this work.
On behalf of the Australian Government, I congratulate Ms Oscar on her reappointment.
