A guide to navigating the Yes and No cases
Gabrielle Appleby, Sean Brennan & Paul Kildea
30.08.23
Throughout August and September, the Australian Electoral Commission will send to every registered voter, by post, the ‘Official Yes and No Cases’ on the upcoming Voice referendum, likely held in mid-October. The cases are also available on the AEC’s website.
Members of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and the Indigenous Law Centre Professor Gabrielle Appleby, and Associate Professors Sean Brennan and Paul Kildea have developed a new resource to assist the Australian public navigate that material.
Submission: How implementation of the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart can support the application of the UNDRIP
Gabrielle Appleby, Megan Davis, Janine Gertz, Eddie Synot & Sophie Rigney
17.11.22
Five members and associates of the Indigenous Law Centre (ILC) have made a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in its inquiry into the application of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The focus of the submission was the Committee’s third term of reference, ‘how implementation of the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart can support …
A referendum is coming soon, and we need to educate ourselves
Greta Parker & Claudia Saywell
10.11.2022
The Uluru Statement from the Heart’s call for constitutional enshrinement of a First Nations Voice to parliament is a modest request for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to be consulted in the decision-making processes which affect them. We know this because we have undertaken an extensive search: trawling through news and political statements to understand all of the political objections, hesitations and concerns regarding the Voice. …
The practical promise of a First Nations Voice
Daen Thomas Phillips
11.11.2022
The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice and establishment of a Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty and truth-telling processes between First Nation’s peoples and Australian governments. These reforms prioritise meaningful structural reform to advance First Nation’s peoples and their affairs. As a first measure, the Uluru Statement focuses on establishment and constitutional enshrinement of a First Nations Voice …
How a citizens’ initiative review can deliver a fair Voice referendum
Isabel Cruz Aroca
11.11.2022
I was in my home country of Chile last month when the referendum failed to obtain the majority required to replace the constitution. I have been contemplating what lessons this failure may hold for Australia as it prepares for its first constitutional referendum in over two decades on the question of constitutionally enshrining a First nations Voice. Chilean citizens came in numbers to reject the new, progressive constitution, …
Indigenous Law Centre released Issues Papers to guide way to the referendum
Megan Davis, Gabrielle Appleby & Sean Brennan
08.09.2022
As part of accepting the invitation for reform in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the Australian government will soon put the question of whether to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution through an enshrined First Nations Voice. On 30 July 2022, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released a draft constitutional amendment and …
Towards Truth: Truth telling and the Uluru Statement from the Heart
Kishaya Delaney
09.06.2022
For many First Nations people, the oral stories passed from generation to generation shape our memories and identities. The stories of culture, of singing, and tradition, and more recently, stories of movement, of removal, of loss, and of sorrow. While the former elements of these spoken chapters can transport us to a distant past, the latter serve as a reminder of the repetitious …
Australian Voters Confirm: History is Calling
Megan Davis, Sean Brennan & Gabrielle Appleby
25.05.2022
Six weeks ago, on 10 April, two significant events took place. On Ngunnawal country in Canberra, then Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a federal election to be held on 21 May. On Gunggandji country, at Yarrabah in Queensland, members of The Uluru Dialogue and Uluru Youth Network issued the Yarrabah Affirmation to the Australian people, calling with urgency for a referendum to …
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Law Reform and the Return of the States
Dani Larkin, Harry Hobbs, Dylan Lino, Amy Maguire
10.05.2022
In the wake of the historic 1967 referendum extending the Commonwealth Parliament’s legislative power in Indigenous affairs, Prime Minister Harold Holt made a prediction to his Cabinet that the electorate would undoubtedly look increasingly to the Commonwealth Government as the centre of policy and responsibility regarding Aboriginal and …
Aboriginal Storytelling and Judicial Decision Making
Nicole Watson
19.04.2022
It is impossible to imagine life without stories. From the moment that we come into the world we are taught all kinds of stories. Stories explain our origins, teach us how to be members of families and communities, and give us hope during times of uncertainty. Like many Aboriginal children, my brother and I grew up in a family …
Aboriginality and Alienage: will Montgomery overturn Love?
Elisa Arcioni & Kirsty Gover
04.04.2022
In 2020 the High Court decided in Love v Commonwealth (‘Love’) that the ‘aliens power’ under s 51(xix) of the Australian Constitution does not reach ‘Aboriginal Australians’, as understood under Brennan J’s tripartite test in Mabo (No 2), so that they cannot be deported, even if they are not citizens of Australia. …
Determining the Self in Self-Determination
Janine Gertz
31.03.2022
The matters contained within the High Court cases of Love, Thoms v Commonwealth of Australia, and Montgomery v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, speak to a broader issue of state definitions of ‘Aboriginality’ — a problem for which Australian Government definitions …
IndigConLaw: Reflecting on 2021, Ready for 2022
Gabrielle Appleby, Emma Buxton-Namisnyk, Sean Brennan, Megan Davis, Dani Larkin, Dylan Lino and Ed Synot
23.12.2021
Welcome to the 2021 wrap up for the Indigenous Law Centre and the IndigConLaw blog. At the ILC we celebrate our 40th anniversary and enter our fifth year of legal work post-Uluru Statement from the Heart. We are privileged to work in collaboration with the Uluru Dialogue, the First Nations leadership who carry the mandate of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. …
An Intangible Way Forward: The Juukan Gorge Inquiry and the Future of First Nations Heritage Law in Australia
Lucas Lixinski
10.12.2021
In mid-October 2021, the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia delivered ‘A Way Forward: Final report into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge’ (‘A Way Forward’, or ‘Report’). This Report makes recommendations to change Australian law to better safeguard First Nations identities and interests. …
Western Australia after the Juukan Gorge Inquiry: Little solace for Aboriginal people
Hannah McGlade
10.12.2021
The Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia’s Inquiry into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge reported in October. Its report, ‘A Way Forward’ called for a new national framework of Aboriginal heritage protection co-designed with Aboriginal people. …
The Uluru Statement and changing the culture of power and decision-making
Eddie Synot
28.10.2021
Administrative justice is a key issue for Indigenous peoples. Whether at the level of policy development and implementation, or at the level of administration and review of government programs and decisions, persistent issues plague Indigenous experiences of administrative justice. …
Reforming the rules for free and fair referendum
Gabrielle Appleby, Sean Brennan, Megan Davis & Dylan Lino
19.10.21
A parliamentary committee has decided it is time to review the rules that govern the lead-up to and operation of constitutional referendums in this country. As a group of constitutional law experts at the Indigenous Law Centre, committed to …
NAIDOC Week 2021: It’s Time.
Megan Davis
09.07.21
It is common practice in constitution making around the world that detail of a particular constitutional institution is deferred to the parliament at a later date. Indeed, this was the case with Australia’s High Court. The Court was established and its core functions set out in the Constitution in 1901, but it was set up two years later in legislation by the Parliament.
The same idea applies to the First Nations Voice. As Sean Brennan’s post explains …
NAIDOC Week 2021: What a referendum ballot could and should look like
Ron Levy
08.07.21
If and when the Australian people go to a referendum on whether to constitutionally enshrine a First Nations Voice, they will express their views on a ballot paper. For many Australians, they will never have seen a referendum ballot; for others, it will be over 20 years.
Can design of the referendum ballot lead to a more informed and deliberative engagement of voters with the question at hand? This matters because informed consent, not just consent, by citizens …
NAIDOC Week 2021: 1967 to 2021: What will a successful referendum look like in 2021/2022?
Paul Kildea
07.07.21
Momentum is building towards a referendum for a constitutionalised First Nations Voice. Optimists look back to the 1967 referendum, when more than 90 per cent of Australians voted to include Aboriginal people in the powers of the Commonwealth. But Australia’s overall referendum record is daunting: just 8 of 44 referendums have passed since Federation. What steps can we take to help ensure a successful referendum on a First Nations Voice …