Constitutional recognition and change for the benefit of Australia’s First Peoples has recently emerged as the focus of Indigenous politics. This article critiques the ‘top-down’ nature of the constitutional recognition movement, specifically the Recognise campaign. It highlights the campaign’s contribution to the‘politics of distraction’ which dominate the mainstream discussion of Indigenous issues, detracting from ongoing...

In 2013, the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Inc) (‘ALSWA’) received funding from the Federal Government to support the activities of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (‘RCIIRCSA’). Since its inception, ALSWA has been a strong advocate for recognition of, and reparation for, the various state practices of forced removal...

During most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Australian governments developed a number of practices that ensured they and their agencies controlled the wages, savings and benefits of Indigenous people. Today, these practices are known as the stolen wages practices. They have substantially impacted upon generations of Indigenous people and have been referred to as...

Throughout the legal profession and law schools of Australia, people are exploring how to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of the legal profession. I recently visited universities in Canada, the USA and New Zealand (‘CANZUS’) to learn about the programs available to their Indigenous law students. Throughout the visit, it...

Under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (‘the Act’), it is unlawful to publicly do any act which is reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group if the act is done because of the race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin of the other person or group.