On 27 November 2014 the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee held a roundtable discussion to mark the 20th anniversary of the recognition of the Australian South Sea Islanders (ASSI) by the Australian Government.

In 1994 the Australian Government tabled a response to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) report A Call for Recognition: A Report on the Situation of Australian South Sea Islanders. In this response, the Government recognised the ASSI community as a distinct minority group and agreed to implement all of the recommendations made by HREOC.

During the roundtable in November, the Committee heard from ASSI representatives who expressed concerns that little progress has been made towards the goals of recognition since 1994. The transcript of this hearing can be found at this link.