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Mr Mick Gooda will be the next Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, replacing Tom Calma who has been in the position since 2004. Mr Gooda’s five-year appointment will begin in February 2010.

Attorney General Robert McClelland formally named Mick Gooda as the new commissioner on 16 December 2009. Mr McClelland said “Mr Gooda has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians and will make a valuable contribution to the work of the commission in protecting and promoting human rights, particularly with respect to Indigenous issues”.

Mr Gooda is a descendent of the Gangulu people of central Queensland and has worked for 25 years on Indigenous policy issues. A former ATSIC chief executive, he presently serves as the chief executive of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health. He was also a member of the Western Australian Premier’s Advisory Council on Racial Discrimination and is a valued member of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet Advisory Board.

• Further information:
  • New Social Justice Commisioner named
    View news item: ABC News (15 December 2009)
  • View website: Australian Human Rights Commmission
• Contact details:
  • Australian Human Rights Commission, Level 8, Piccadilly Tower, 133 Castlereagh Street, Sydney NSW 2000, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001, ph: (02) 9284 9600, general enquiries and publications, ph: 1300 369 711, TTY: 1800 620 241, fax: (02) 9284 9611.

Tom Calma has announced that a new national Indigenous representative body will be called the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. Continue reading →