LAUSR

Indigenous people’s health and health rights have been harmed and undermined by racism globally. There is substantial evidence that interpersonal and structural racism contributes to Indigenous people’s physical and mental ill health1 and reduces access to health services. In Australia, the racist violation of Indigenous human rights since colonisation has a profound impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of individuals, families and communities across generations.2 This has resulted in an unacceptable health equity gap, which the 2007 Closing the Gap strategy sought to address.3 Recognition of the urgent need to address the health and wellbeing impacts of racism guided The Boatshed Racism Roundtable Declaration4 in 2009, which called on the Prime Minister and First Ministers of Australia to initiate constitutional, policy and practice reforms underpinned by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) — particularly Article 3 (the right to selfdetermination) and Article 42 (calling on United Nations signatories to implement the Declaration) — to ensure protection against racial discrimination.5