The continuing relevance of the Constitution for Indigenous peoples

As part of NAIDOC Week, Professor Mick Dodson shares his thoughts on the Constitution and its relevance for Indigenous peoples – as both 'unfinished business' for Australia, and as an issue of international human rights. Professor Dodson is a member of the Yawuru peoples, the traditional Aboriginal owners of land and waters in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. Currently Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University, he is also a Professor of Law at the ANU College of Law

A draft guide on the relevant principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, International Labor Organization Convention No. 169 and International Labor Organization Convention No. 107 that relate to Indigenous land tenure and management arrangements.

At the Sixth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Permanent Forum appointed Michael Dodson, one of its members, as a special rapporteur to prepare a draft guide to Indigenous land tenure and management arrangements, based on principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and International Labor Organization Convention No. 169 to assist Indigenous peoples, States and United Nations agencies in negotiating Indigenous land tenure and management arrangement

Building trust

"Professor Mick Dodson presented the 2009 ANU Reconciliation Lecture: “How well do we know each other?” Professor Dodson drew lessons and hope from the findings of Reconciliation Australia’s Reconciliation Barometer. This edited version [of the lecture] has been specially prepared for Partyline" - page 2

Footprints in time: the longitudinal study of Indigenous children: guide for the uninitiated

The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children is arguably a landmark for the development of an effective policy to address Indigenous disadvantage early in the life cycle. This paper highlights how the study might inform policy-makers by providing some historical context about the survey design and collection. The brief history of LSIC provides an extended rationale for the need for the data and directly reflects on the survey design and methodology. The paper includes an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of LSIC, with reference to a few selected variables that may be useful in potential research. Some useful research questions are identified that LSIC data may be used to address, and the authors reflect on growing research that is using LSIC data. The community engagement strategy has been integral key to maximising participation and retention rates, especially the use of Indigenous interviewers to elicit potentially sensitive information. The main constraint for analysing the study is the relatively small sample size, which limits the statistical power of the resulting analysis

Report on indigenous fishing rights in the seas with case studies from Australia and Norway

At its eighth session, in May 2009, the Permanent Forum appointed Carsten Smith and Michael Dodson, members of the Permanent Forum, as special rapporteurs to prepare a study on indigenous fishing rights in the seas, and requested that the report be submitted to the Permanent Forum at its ninth session, in April 2010. The study includes an analysis of the potential protection of indigenous fishing rights in the seas provided by the existing international framework, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 and Apirana Mahuika et al. versus New Zealand. Case studies from Australia and Norway, with reference to conventions and States in those two respective regions (vis. Papua New Guinea in relation to the Torres Strait Treaty; Sweden and Finland in relation to the Nordic Saami Convention), are presented to enable comparison between these States and with international law

Customary land tenure issues in Australia

"The debate concerning wealth creation on communally owned indigenous land is gaining momentum in Australia. This Australian debate has implications for Papua New Guinea, given the level of influence that Australia has on Papua New Guinea through its aid program and the long-standing colonial relationship between the two countries. Given the possibility that Australian commentaries on Australian indigenous land dealings will have some bearing on Papua New Guinea land issues, this chapter aims to describe for Papua New Guineans the context in which the Australian debate occurs, the legal framework defining indigenous lands, and the ways in which indigenous land is being developed." - page 8

Australia's nation-building: renegotiating the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the state

By the time of Australia's Federation in 1901, the colonies had established a long tradition of discrimination against Indigenous peoples. As a colonial country, racism was a founding value of Australian society - it justified the wholesale denial of Indigenous peoples' rights to retain their social, economic and political structures, while denying their rights to participate in the polity that was under construction. This beginning helped to establish the fundamental disrespect for Indigenous peoples that underpins Australia's legal and political development. Disrespect occurs not just in the relationship between the state and Indigenous peoples, but has engendered a more personal disrespect that is experienced by Indigenous people on a daily basis. It is the ongoing tolerance of disrespect that maintains racism as a core value of Australian society. Achieving justice for Indigenous peoples therefore requires fundamental change at every level. As Australia moves into its second century as an independent state, an examination of the vestiges of Australia's colonial origins should move us toward rectifying the fundamental injustices that continue to undermine the foundations of Australian nationhood. Nation-building is an ongoing process. It requires constant reinforcement of values and identity. It is not sufficient to relegate the failure to respect Indigenous peoples as equals to the vagaries of history, because that history constantly informs Australia's identity, values and governance. This paper looks back at those foundations but also at recent public policy debates concerning Indigenous peoples' rights. We identify the shortcomings of recent policies as stemming from the failure to approach Indigenous issues within the context of the structural relationship between Indigenous peoples and the colonial state. We suggest that Indigenous policy can no longer suffer the absence of a process that has the capacity to tear at the institutionalised racism and discrimination of the Australian state and build respect for Indigenous peoples as the first peoples of this land