LA4036 - Indigenous People and Law in Australia

The subject examines the impact of Australian law on Indigenous peoples. Policies and practices for building cross-cultural awareness, doing ethical research, professional best practice and promoting reconciliation are outlined. Major topics addressed by the subject include: Terra Nullius and dispossession; the Constitution and the race power; sovereignty and citizenship rights; a Treaty and international human rights law; governance and self determination; criminal law and over-representation; child welfare law, assimilation and genocide; native title and property rights; intellectual property law and traditional knowledge; heritage law and sacred sites; social, economic, cultural rights and social exclusion; biodiversity conservation law and caring for country; rights and/or mediation; social justice and reconciliation.

Learning Outcomes

• to develop a cross-cultural awareness for practice and co-existence as citizens;
• to enable students to contrast competing systems of governance, norms, values and beliefs operating in the contemporary Australian context;
• to enable students to critique the appropriateness of state law and legal institutions and processes for Indigenous people;
• to enable students to understand the historical development of the law relating to the Indigenous peoples of Australia in a local and international context;
• to enable students to understand the key areas of Australian law that impact on Indigenous people.

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.