Indigenous Law
This chapter provides an explanation of what Aboriginal law is as well as describing particular rights that are protected by law (land, cultural, hunting and fishing). The chapter also explains the law of anti-discrimination and the disproportionate representation of Aborigines in the criminal justice system.
What is Indigenous Law?
There is a distinction between Indigenous law and the law which governs Indigenous People in Australia today. Indigenous law is law that existed before the coming of the common law system that we continue to follow today. For a long time, the idea of Indigenous law existing in Australia, parti...
Who is an Indigenous person?
Firstly, it is important to note that the appropriate use of language is an area of sensitivity. The Aboriginal Lands Act 1995 (Tas) and other legislation use the term 'Aboriginal person'. In other contexts, it is important to use terms chosen by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander...
Right to Land
Land law is the most important part of Aboriginal law. It defines who you are and where you belong. Even before the famous Mabo case (Mabo & Anor v Queensland (1992) 175 CLR 1), Australian society had begun to recognise the continuing importance of land to Aboriginal communities by passing ‘l...
Other Rights and Interests
Hunting and Fishing Taking fish from the sea and birds and animals from the land continues to be an important part of modern Aboriginal law and culture in Tasmania. Until recently such activities were regarded as illegal unless allowed by legislation applicable to the general community and comme...
Families
The Commonwealth's 1996 Inquiry Into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children From Their Families (‘the Stolen Generations’ Inquiry) documented the damage done to Aboriginal people, their families and community by past ‘welfare’ practices directed towards the assimilation ...
Discrimination
Racial discrimination is: any act involving a distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of any ...
Indigenous self-determination, self-government and sovereignty
Whilst much of the focus in the recent decade has been on ‘Sorry’, and a wide cultural and political recognition of the wrongs of the past, there have been more other political movements to achieve representation for Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Indigenous Australians never...
Indigenous Australians and the Criminal Law
Indigenous Australians are disproportionately represented in disadvantaged socio-economic demographics. They are more likely to be arrested, charged with offences and imprisoned than any other group in Australia. Charges involving intoxication, bad language and defiance of authority as an element...
Legal Assistance
There is no legal impediment to Tasmanian Aboriginal people accessing the same legal assistance as other Tasmanian residents but the practical exclusion of many Aboriginal Australians from legal representation in the criminal justice system resulted in the establishment of Aboriginal Legal Servic...
First Nations Organisations
Aboriginal organisations fulfil many functions in the Aboriginal community. They are a means of political advancement for the community and the maintenance of Aboriginal cultural identity in mainstream Australian society. Some are ‘grassroots’ organisations thrown up by the struggles of the Abori...
Page last updated 03/02/2020