Evaluate how effectively governments and our legal system have recognised and responded to the following issues: Aboriginals and the Law including their right to self-determination

that the Aboriginal people were dependent on the land however, the British people were ignorant so many massacres and violence broke out. Dispossession occurred to the Aboriginals and they had lost all rights to their lands. There were many efforts by the British to disperse, dispossess and annihilate the Aboriginal people. These courses of action did not recognise the rights of the Aboriginal people. The introduction of the protectionism policy was the government’s response to the rapidly declining Aboriginal population. Legislation was placed within all the states (except Tasmania) for the protection of the Aboriginals. The main features of this legislation were the segregation of the non-indigenous society, the establishment of the reserves to facilitate this and the state control. In 1909, the Aborigines Protection Act was passed which led to further forcible control of the Aboriginal society. Assimilation was the next government policy implaced. Assimilation is the process by which a minority group abandons its own culture and adopts the cultural practices of the dominant group in society. Families were split and loss of cultural roots occurred. The British people saw the Aboriginal people as an inferior race who needed to be ‘educated’ and ‘civilised.’ These people were referred to as the Stolen Generation and Kevin will be talking about this topic in depth later on. In the 1960s, the assimilation policy was evidently seen as unsuccessful. Global events soon afterwards such as the civil rights movement in America led to Australia’s recognition and long awaited support from the general community to improve the social standards of the Aboriginal communities. This led to the policy or reconciliation and self-determination beginning from the 1970s. According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the right of self-determination is stated as ‘All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right, they freely determinate their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. The start of this policy was to remove some of the discriminatory aspects of the legislation on the Aboriginal people. Until the 1960s, the Aboriginal people were excluded from formal participation in the political process and they had no rights and access to the legal system. The Aboriginal people were given the right to vote in 1962. In 1967, the referendum enabled the Aboriginal people to be included in the Constitution and allowed the Commonwealth to make laws regarding the Aboriginal people. Prior to this, the states had control over laws and issues on Aboriginals. This step was the ultimate recognition of the Aboriginal people as Australians. This would grant them uniform rights across the country and addresses issues that disadvantaged them. However, this new accepting change in government policy was not very effective. Not much action was taken place and the federal parliament did not use their new law-making process for nearly 10 years. In 1968, the council of Aboriginal affairs was established towards funding for the improvement of education, housing and health of the Aboriginal people. In 1989, the establishment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Commission dealed with issues specifically concerning them. ATSIC was abolished in 2004. In 1998, it was voted in Canberra that any new changes to the Commonwealth Constitution should acknowledge the ‘original occupancy and custodianship of Australia by Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders.’ Circle sentencing is part of the self-determination policy which is a method that allows elders and community leaders to determine an appropriate sentence will punish and educate the offender, and appease the victim. In general, despite legislation and changes, many Aboriginal communities continue to be disadvantaged and prejudiced in the Australian community.