GENEVA – The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, will conduct a country visit to Australia from 2 to 13 November 2026.
The expert will focus on human rights issues affecting Indigenous Peoples, including domestic implementation of UNDRIP, right to self-determination and redress of historical injustices, and the right to lands, territories and resources.
The expert will visit Canberra, Adelaide, Broome, Darwin, Torres Strait Islands, Townsville and Sydney.
He will meet with government officials, the Australian Human Rights Commission, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and communities, civil society, and academics.
Barume expressed regret that meetings with Government officials in Darwin, the Torres Strait and Townsville, and visits to youth detention centres in Holtze and Cleveland, will not take place due to refusal by state governments of Northern Territory and Queensland, to engage with the mandate.
The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference to share his preliminary findings and recommendations on 13 November at 1:00 p.m. at Level 19, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney (Australian Human Rights Commission). Access will be strictly limited to journalists.
Barume will present a report on the visit to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2027.
Albert K. Barume is the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples
Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.
Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/
UN Human Rights, country page – Australia
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