Quick questions on Contemporary human rights issue: Indigenous Australians and the law

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) delivered its final report in 1991 with 339 recommendations. Many remain only partially implemented. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be over-represented in custody at every level. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the Productivity Commission Closing the Gap Annual Reports document the persistent over-representation.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was issued in May 2017 by 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates at the National Constitutional Convention. It called for three reforms: a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament, a Makarrata Commission for treaty-making, and a process of truth-telling.

The National Agreement on Closing the Gap (2020) sets 19 socio-economic targets across health, education, employment, justice and culture. The Productivity Commission Annual Closing the Gap Report 2024 found that most targets are not on track. Indigenous incarceration rates have not improved. Life expectancy gaps have narrowed slowly.

Native Title Act 1993 (Cth); Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) s 9 and s 10; Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth); state heritage Acts; the Free, Prior and Informed Consent requirement under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007.

The National Congress of Australia's First Peoples (defunded 2019); Reconciliation Australia; the Healing Foundation; the National NAIDOC Committee; the Yoorrook Justice Commission (Vic).

Mabo (1992) and the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) ended terra nullius. The 1995 amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) made racial vilification unlawful. The 2008 National Apology was historically significant.

The 2023 referendum result. The persistent over-representation of Indigenous people in custody. Slow progress on Closing the Gap targets.