CQUniversity academic Sandra Creamer is one of the Australian delegates participating in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) from May 20 - 31...
CQUni academic Sandra Creamer

The Forum is an advisory body to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with a mandate to discuss Indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. The Permanent Forum will also undertake preparatory work in the lead up to the World Conference on Indigenous People to be held in New York in 2014.

Sandra, who holds a Bachelor of Laws, is the Co-Chair of the Global Indigenous Women's Caucus (GIWC) for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which has had a preliminary meeting in the lead up to the Permanent Forum. She and June Lorenzo (Native American) were selected from the Global Indigenous Women's Caucus to prepare a paper focusing on policy, law and human rights and their impact on women. June has dedicated her life to public service with a focus on Native American affairs including the compilation of one comprehensive statue of the Pueblo's statutes, codes and ordinances.

Their paper will focus on issues such as domestic violence, slave and sex trading of women, environmental issues, economic development, migration and other pressing issues for women. The paper will be tabled for its recommendations and grouped with other Caucuses throughout the world, so that the documents will then be presented at the 66^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly which has agreed to have a High Level Plenary Meeting, to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. Sandra is also the alternate for the GIWC to attend this conference, as it is a closed meeting.

During her first week in New York, Sandra will be attending training at the Columbia University. She was selected by the Global Indigenous Women's Forum to be hosted by the Global Leadership School of Indigenous Women, to be trained in Human Rights and International Advocacy Skills.

Based at Rockhampton Campus, Sandra teaches in both the Tertiary Entry Program (TEP) and undergraduate courses within the Office of Indigenous Engagement. She additionally supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying Law at CQUniversity as a casual Learning Advisor. Sandra is committed to helping more Indigenous people become lawyers and understand Australia's legal system and to increasing law student knowledge about Indigenous issues.