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PRELIMINARY findings that part of the proposed Brighton Bypass project near Hobart is far older than previously thought and contains undisturbed archaeological material have prompted renewed calls for greater community consultation over the project. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Land and Sea Council reports archaeological findings that the Jordan River levee could be up to 40,000 years old, which would make it the oldest site in Tasmania.

 THE Deaths In Custody Watch Committee (WA) will rally at Parliament House in Perth today to protest the State Government's failure to compensate the family of Mr Ward, a Goldfields Elder who died in the back of a prison van in 2008. The rally will also protest the failure to terminate a government contract with the transport firm involved or lay charges against its officers.

THE new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda has started a consultation process to help him learn more about the most pressing concerns for Indigenous people and communities. Mr Gooda was on Cape York on the weekend and will visit other Queensland locations this week, followed by most other capital cities during the next few months.

THE Queensland Folk Federation has announced WA artist and artsworker Sam Cook as the new Programming Director of the International Indigenous festival, The Dreaming, following the departure late last year of long-time artistic director Rhoda Roberts. The annual festival is held at Woodford, an hour north of Brisbane, and this year will be held from 11-14 June.

THE Federal Government says it will support the establishment of a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Alliance, to enable Indigenous women to bring forward the concerns and issues from their communities, 'in their own words, with their own agendas, and their own solutions'. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin made the announcement today at the Straight Talk Summit in Canberra.

ABORIGINAL and Torres Strait Islander women of all ages and backgrounds from across the country are gathering at Parliament House in Canberra for Oxfam's annual Straight Talk Summit, which starts tomorrow. The women will meet with female politicians to find ways of working together to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.

A NEW inquest into the 2004 death of Mulrunji Doomadgee began on Palm Island this morning. The inquest was ordered last year after a Townsville District Court Judge set aside earlier coroner's findings that Snr Sgt Chris Hurley caused Mulrunji's death as he lay on the Palm Island watchhouse floor. Snr Sgt Hurley was acquitted of Mulrunji's manslaughter in June 2007. The inquest will move to Townsville on Wednesday.

FOURTEEN sites across the country will receive a total of $10.7 million under a federal program aimed at cutting smoking rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon, who announced the funds, said half of Indigenous adults are smokers, about twice the rate of the non-Indigenous population.

MUCKATY Station traditional owner Amy Lauder has welcomed last week’s tabling of the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill in Federal Parliament. The bill, which will restore procedural fairness, will also ensure that the nomination of land at Muckaty Station, 120km north of Tennant Creek, is preserved as a possible site for a radioactive waste repository.

NEW centres aimed at increasing the number of Indigenous doctors, nurses and other health professionals will be established in Adelaide and Alice Springs, thanks to a $10 million donation from philanthropist Greg Poche to Flinders University. The centres will network with another one established at the University of Sydney in 2008 with a separate $10 million donation from Mr Poche. 

BOODEREE National Park in NSW has taken out the top prize for Indigenous tourism at the National 2009 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards in Hobart. The national park is jointly managed by the area's traditional owners, the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community and the Australian Government, and more than half of its staff are Indigenous.

NSW Aboriginal activist Michael Anderson has called on Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal welfare recipients to set up a 'welfare camp' in Canberra. Mr Anderson has condemned as 'cowardly' Federal Government plans to roll out NT Intervention-style compulsory welfare quarantining across the country, and says welfare recipients should picket the offices of their local MPs over the issue.

THE Federal Government has announced $172.4 million over three years for Indigenous training and work-readiness activities. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says the funds will enable 63 CDEP providers Australia-wide to employ community development officers, mentors and coaches, and pay for the fit-out of training facilities, accommodation for visiting trainers, and some new training centres.

THE Rudd Government has released for public comment its draft national curriculum for students from Kindergarten to Year 10. The draft curriculum incorporates Indigenous perspectives on early contact experiences, the national apology and Sorry Day, and Indigenous Australians’ contribution to the nation. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says it represents neither a 'black armband' nor 'white blindfold' view of Australian history.

THE Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today opened the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Redfern, New South Wales, describing the state-of-the-art facility as part of a renaissance of the inner city suburb, and a great thing for Australia. The centre has been developed with $50 million funding from the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC).
 

COMPANIES tendering for government contracts valued at more than $5 million, or $6 million for infrastructure projects in regions with big Indigenous populations, must show how they will offer Indigenous jobs and training, or use Indigenous suppliers, under new changes to take effect on 1 July.

ABORIGINAL and Torres Strait Islander people will be recognised in a preamble to the Queensland Constitution, which also marks the state's 150th anniversary. The Constitution (Preamble) Amendment Bill 2009 was passed late on Tuesday night, with the Liberal National Party (LNP) opposing it.

ASPECTS of the NT Intervention are racist and breach Australia's international human rights obligations, according to a United Nations envoy who toured Indigenous communities last year. In his final report, James Anaya singled out compulsory income management, compulsory land acquisition, and grog and porn bans, and said the Australian Government must 'fully purge' the NTER of discrimination immediately.

THE largest native title agreement in Australian history has been signed in the Kimberley town of Broome. Under the 25-year deal, Yawuru native title holders behind the Rubibi claim are said to have agreed to allow land in and around Broome to be developed in exchange for a $197 million land, social housing, culture and heritage preservation, and economic development package.
 

THE Federal Government says it will spend $4.7 million to help Kimberley and Geraldton families including those subject to welfare quarantining to balance their budgets, save money and manage debt. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says the money will go to money management organisations for services delivered, wherever possible, by local Aboriginal staff.

THE Northern Land Council has welcomed Federal Minister Martin Ferguson's announcement that the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010 will be tabled in Parliament this week. The NLC also confirmed that the Ngapa nomination of land at Muckaty station would be preserved, and the existing site nomination deed honoured.

WORK has started on the first of 85 houses that the Federal and NT Governments say they’ll build in Alice Springs town camps under the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program. The three-bedroom house is at Larapinta Valley town camp. The Governments say wheelie bins will be delivered to 230 town camp houses this week and regular rubbish collection started next month.

THE Federal Government has committed $250,000 for a two-year, community-based project to tackle the problem of binge drinking among young people in the Northern Territory. Barkly Shire Council will work with the Central Australian Youth Link Up Service to implement a youth binge drinking prevention and intervention program in the Alpurrurulam community on the NT-Queensland border.

EFFORTS to close the life expectancy gap has received a boost with Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon announcing 83 Indigenous outreach worker placements across Australia. The new workers will account for more than half of 160 such positions funded under a $42 million COAG commitment to build the capacity of the Indigenous health workforce over four years.

ABORIGINAL singer and songwriter Ruby Hunter has died overnight at home in Victoria's western district. Born in 1955, the Ngarrinderi woman from South Australia was a member of the Stolen Generation, forcibly removed from her family at age eight. She was the lifelong partner and musical soulmate of Archie Roach.

STOLEN Generations Victoria (SGV) has been defunded after an audit found nearly $100,000 unaccounted for. State Aboriginal Affairs Minister Richard Wynne said the Government had referred the matter to police and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission but would establish a new company, staffed by SGV employees, to take over support for the state's Stolen Generations.

THE Federal Government has appointed former Indigenous Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma as the inaugural National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking. Smoking is believed to be responsible for 20 per cent of Indigenous deaths, and Mr Calma will help to shape, steer and evaluate policy and programs under COAG's $100 million Tackling Smoking initiative.

THE NSW Government says a new state registration system for Aboriginal community housing providers will deliver better housing and more professional housing management. Approved providers will be able to access operating subsidies, repairs and maintenance, and business development under the Build and Grow Aboriginal Community Housing Strategy.

DAN Christian's selection today in the Australian squad for the upcoming KFC Twenty/20 matches against the West Indies makes him the second cricketer of Aboriginal heritage to be selected for Australia in the modern era.

THE peak body for NT Aboriginal medical services has told a senate inquiry examining the impacts of the NT Emergency Response (NTER) that the already poor health of Aboriginal Territorians will worsen unless the Racial Discrimination Act is reinstated immediately in NTER communities. AMSANT CEO John Paterson told a hearing in Darwin that 40,000 Aboriginal people in those communities currently had fewer legal and civil rights than any other Australians, including prisoners.

INDIGENOUS families in the Kwinana-Rockingham region in outer Perth should have better access to health, employment and education programs through a new unique community bus service. The eyecatching bus is fitted out with a mobile office to link Indigenous people with health programs and provide help with literacy, numeracy and basic pre-employment assistance as well as training and employment services.

PROTESTERS whose Aboriginal flag police removed from the fence outside Parliament House in Brisbane on Saturday say they'll now hold a further demonstration there next Tuesday. The group are angry that Parliamentary Speaker John Mickel MP asked police to remove the flag during Saturday's national 'Day of Action' to oppose government racism, and say they'll present Mr Mickel with a petition if he won't meet with them over the issue on 23 February.

THE Law Council of Australia has launched a landmark policy statement aimed at developing more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lawyers. The statement, launched in Darwin, will require the Council to working with Indigenous associations, Australian law schools, law practices and the state and territory law societies and bar associations to develop pathways for Indigenous people into legal practice.

RESIDENTS of Redfern are seeking an interim heritage order to stop the proposed demolition of the fence upon which a local Aboriginal teenager became impaled after a police chase six years ago. TJ Hickey died from the injuries he sustained but was remembered on Sunday by more than 300 people who attended a rally in the inner Sydney suburb.

THE New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) has called for greater cooperation by the NSW Government in unclogging the State's land claims process, which it says is wasting money in the courts and not delivering what the Government claims.

THE 2010 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras got off to a rousing start as thousands of revellers flocked to the streets to celebrate the annual event. The Indigenous contingent, marching behind a 'First Australians' banner with Elders leading the way in a bright red convertible received a massive roar of approval from the crowd. 

 THE draft Australian Curriculum attempts to move beyond, rather than entrench, a 'black armband' view of history, according to Aboriginal educator Chris Sarra. Unveiled by the Government last Monday, the draft will now be subjected to a three-month period of public comment and 'road tested' by 150 schools across Australia.

OPPOSITION is mounting against a proposal to site a national radioactive dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory despite the Northern Land Council (NLC) insisting it has the support of traditional owners. Traditional Owner Amy Lauder said the Ngapa clan was united, but a later meeting revealed none of the 100 attendees supported the proposal.

YANKUNYTJATJARA Elder and Aboriginal leader Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue recently became the patron of new research body, the Lowitja Institute. Launched by Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon, the new institute aims to improve Indigenous health through research and the development of a stronger Indigenous health workforce.

THERE are hopes that the new National Centre for Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) marks a new era in Indigenous education. Opened recently by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern, the new education, sports, arts and cultural facility aims to nurture talent in young Indigenous Australians. It's philosophy? To be Indigenous is to be excellent and successful. 

A NEW preamble will be inserted into the Queensland Constitution recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first Queenslanders. Premier Anna Bligh said the preamble was not only about acknowledging the significant contributions of Indigenous Queenslanders but a celebration of culture.

A NEW inquest into the death in custody of Cameron 'Mulrunji' Doomadgee started on Palm Island on Monday. The inquest was ordered last year after a Townsville District Court Judge set aside Coroner Christine Clements' findings that Snr Sgt Chris Hurley had caused Mulrunji's death by punching him as he lay on the watchhouse floor.

WESTERN Force star Matt Hodgson is just one of 11 Aboriginal players to represent the Wallabies and the rugby union star continues to prove himself as one of the best flanker’s in world rugby.
Just three players of Aboriginal heritage are playing in the four Australian provinces of the Super 14 competition.

SHAUN Burgoyne, one of the premier recruits during the Australian Football League (AFL) trade period last October, found his way onto the Hawks’ list for the 2010 campaign after eight years and 157 games with the Port Adelaide Football Club.

GREATER Western Sydney inaugural coach and Australian rules icon Kevin Sheedy has been marketing the game to Aboriginal teenagers throughout NSW. His success with Indigenous players is unprecedented and many other AFL coaches and clubs have followed in his footsteps, having large Indigenous representation in recent squads.

EVERGREEN Australian 100m record-holder Patrick Johnson has set a blistering benchmark for the rest of the nation’s sprinters, clocking an A-qualifier in stunning fashion at Perth’s new athletics stadium. On 19 February, the 37-year-old Queenslander scorched the fresh surface in 10.18 seconds (wind +1.5m/s), his fastest run since 2007.

HE was one of the hottest players in the National Rugby League (NRL) last season, but St George Illawarra star Jamie Soward isn’t expecting to have a new contract handed to him for his 2009 form.
Instead, the five-eighth says he must continue to shine for the Dragons if he wants coach Wayne Bennett to offer him a deal when his current contract ends at the end of the season.
 

THE Northern Allies (Sydney/ACT) were declared the inaugural Jack Atkinson Indigenous Carnival Australian Football champions after a solid grand final victory over the home team, South West Magic at Maher Oval, Wagga Wagga on 27 February.

ALMOST 27,000 footy fans, including thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, packed into Skilled Park on the Gold Coast for the much-anticipated inaugural Indigenous All Stars versus the NRL All Stars game. The result of the 13 February showdown didn’t disappoint either, with the Indigenous line-up fighting back to snatch a thrilling 16-12 win in the final minutes.
 

SOUTH Australian Aboriginal leaders have met with State Government ministers at an inaugural Leaders with Leaders meeting. Leaders from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands discussed issues such as housing, economic development and the concept of a family responsibilities commission with Government ministers.

NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) Wiradjuri Regional Councillor Craig Cromelin says recently upgraded water and sewerage facilities in Murrin Bridge have the potential to save lives. The work, which will help prevent effluent from overflowing from a pump station into the surrounding environment, was carried out under a 25-year $200 million partnership between NSWALC and the NSW Government.
 

A GROUP of traditional owners from the Kimberley coast of Western Australia travelled to Sydney last week to protest against a book opposed to a proposed gas hub near Broome. Representatives of the Jabirr Jabirr people, traditional owners of James Price Point where the LNG plant is proposed, said the book by former judge Murray Wilcox ignored their land rights and misrepresented their views.

ABORIGINAL women in Perth have expressed support for the Mungullah community of Carnarvon and have called on the State Government to back a push for alcohol to be banned in the community. The Djidi Djidi Aboriginal Corporation also called for more experienced police officers to be stationed in rural and remote areas of Western Australia.

AT least two remote Aboriginal communities will receive $250,000 each for two-year projects to tackle binge drinking. Yarrabah in north Queensland and Alpurrurulam in the Northern Territory are among 19 projects worth $3.5 million announced by the Federal Government.

INDIGENOUS leaders have slammed the Federal Government’s progress in closing the gap following a yearly report from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd delivered his Close the Gap report card last week in Parliament, admitting that more needed to be done to tackle Indigenous disadvantage.
 

The Alyawarra people of the Northern Territory and their guests gathered on 13 February at Honeymoon Bore at a half-constructed ‘protest house’, built with union muscle over a matter of weeks to draw attention to the needlessly long delays getting proper housing in Ampilatwatja and elsewhere.

BOXER Danny Green hopes defeating one of the men that beat ‘The Man’ will smoke his arch-rival Anthony Mundine ‘out of his rabbit hole’ and into a rematch. Green has announced a 14 April title defence against Puerto Rican Manny Siaca at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

IT has been building for the past couple of years and finally it has happened ... the Imparja Cup has gone west. The West Australians were methodical during the week-long Imparja Cup cricket tournament in Alice Springs. They emerged as the only undefeated side during the qualifying matches and in the final against NSW.
 

Dan Christian’s selection in the Australian Twenty/20 squad to face the West Indies has made the 26-year-old the second player of acknowledged Indigenous heritage to represent the national side in modern times.Christian has family links to the Wiradjuri tribe in south-central New South Wales.