Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations and Human Rights brings together articles by the world's leading authorities. It provides Aboriginal people and other interested individuals and organisations with a hands-on guide to the United Nations and human rights.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: The significance of international law - Sarah Pritchard
CHAPTER 2: Linking international standards with contemporary concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - Mick Dodson

PART TWO: THE UN CHARTER-BASED HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM
CHAPTER 3: The UN Charter-based human rights system: an overview - Garth Nettheim
CHAPTER 4: Working Group on Indigenous Populations: mandate, standard-setting activities and future perspectives - Sarah Pritchard

PART THREE: THE UN TREATY-BASED HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM AND INDIVIDUAL COMPLAINTS
CHAPTER 5: The UN treaty-based human rights system: an overview - Hilary Charlesworth
CHAPTER 6: Individual complaints: an overview and admissibility requirements - Hilary Charlesworth
CHAPTER 7: Individual complaints: historical perspectives and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Philip Alston
CHAPTER 8: Individual communications under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - Elizabeth Evatt
CHAPTER 9: Individual communications: the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - Michael O’Flaherty

PART FOUR: THE UN TREATY-BASED HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM AND PERIODIC REPORTING
CHAPTER 10: Periodic reporting: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child - Philip Alston
CHAPTER 11: Periodic reporting: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - Elizabeth Evatt
CHAPTER 12: The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: non-governmental input and the early warning and urgent procedure - Michael O'Flaherty

PART FIVE: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND SOME RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS
CHAPTER 13: Substantive provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - Michael O'Flaherty
CHAPTER 14: The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Indigenous peoples - Sarah Pritchard

Select bibliography

APPENDICES
Model communication
Example of Secretariat reply to an individual communication
Extract from Rules of Procedure of the Human Rights Committee
Extract from Rules of Procedure of the Committee against Torture
Extract from Rules of Procedure of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

"The essays edited by Sarah Pritchard prove that you don’t have to have a law degree to understand recent developments in Indigenous rights and how the UN can help protect the human rights of all people. . . . This is a much needed and enormously practical guide to knowing your Indigenous rights."

-- Patricia Turner, Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

"[A] sort of recipe book on human rights, a 'do-it-yourself' guide to using the UN to safeguard human rights – and it will be a valuable tool for Aboriginal peoples and organisations..."

-- Tracker Tilmouth, Director, Central Land Council, Northern Territory, Australia