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ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS ACT 1983 (NSW)
2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 ('the Act'), recently celebrated as part of NAIDOC week.
The 1983 Act, passed by the Wran Labor Government, was New South Wales' first piece of land rights legislation. The Act followed a two year consultation period, facilitated by a Legislative Assembly Select Committee chaired by Maurice Keane, which involved 4,000 individuals across the State and received 262 submissions.
The Act significantly acknowledged prior ownership and occupancy, made unused Crown Land available to claim and established mechanisms to facilitate Aboriginal self-determination. While some Aboriginal activists at the time felt that the Act did not go far enough, the High Court's previous Justice Kirby once characterised the Act as "little short of revolutionary", considering its pre-Mabo context.
To mark the anniversary the History Council of NSW organised a seminar during NAIDOC week titled " Daring ideas: Is Land Rights Enough?". A panel of lawyers, lecturers, activists and those involved with the administration of the Act discussed and debated the Act's current operation. There seemed to be consensus amongst the participants, and members of the audience, that while the Act represented a significant step forward, there is still a way to go to deliver meaningful land rights to Aboriginal Australians.
SPOTLIGHT ON INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
FEDERAL DEVELOPMENTS
In March this year the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, announced before the Sydney Institute that if elected a Coalition government would move the ministerial portfolio of Indigenous Affairs into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. He commented that "there will be in effect a Prime Minister for Aboriginal affairs." The Prime Minister has confirmed in a letter to the Australian population that he will now take these steps.
While Aboriginal leaders have reportedly praised the policy, the previous Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Jenny Macklin, has labelled it nothing more than "bureaucratic shuffling."
The Federal Government has only relatively recently been empowered to legislate on Aboriginal Affairs.
In May 1967 90.77% of Australians voted in favour of amending the Constitution to permit Aboriginal Australians to be counted in the census and the Commonwealth to make laws relating to Indigenous Australians. Previously, Aboriginal Affairs had been the purview of State and Territory Parliaments.
While the 1967 Referendum created great hope for change and improvement in the lives of Indigenous Australians, arguably this has not been the reality. Namely, it is reported that today Indigenous Australians remain overrepresented in the criminal justice system, have a significantly lower life expectancy than the non-Indigenous population and, as was discussed in our August newsletter, are still suffering the "devastating effects" of forced child removal as well as dispossession from their land.
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