History of IHRNA

IHRNA began as a discussion amongst graduates of the Diplomacy Training Program (DTP) at the University of New South Wales.

Between 2005 and 2006, Oxfam Australia supported human rights and advocacy training provided by the Diplomacy Training Program.Participants of the training found a space to learn about human rights and to start a dialogue on the issues they faced as individuals and as communities. After the training course was over, graduates of the DTP courses went back to their jobs and their communities.Some found it difficult to maintain contact with the other passionate Indigenous human rights advocates they had met.

In 2007 a report was commissioned by Oxfam Australia in partnership with the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Diplomacy Training Program to study the development of a framework for a national Indigenous Human Rights Network.

This report revealed that people wanted a network which would:

• allow Indigenous people access to information about human rights;
• improve the education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from all walks of life and with all sorts of literacy levels, about human rights and Indigenous rights, and
• provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the skills and support to more effectively undertake human rights advocacy work.

In 2009, Oxfam Australia funded the set up of the network. With the support of the Diplomacy Training Program and the Australian Human Rights Commission, an Interim Steering Committee was established to create the beginnings of IHRNA.