Recognising Indigenous peoples in the Australian Constitution: What the Constitution should say and how the referendum can be won

Recognising Indigenous peoples in the Australian Constitution: What the Constitution should say and how the referendum can be won Report

AIATSIS Issues Paper

• Author(s): George Williams
• Published: 2011
• Publisher: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies; Native Title Research Unit
• Volume: Land, Rights, Laws: Issues of Native Title

Link to resource Report broken link

Abstract: The Australian government has made a commitment to a referendum on constitutional recognition of Australia’s first peoples. In a series of two papers, Land, Rights, Laws: Issues of Native Title will explore where native title might fit into this debate. In the first paper, senior constitutional scholar George Williams provides an overview of the challenges facing constitutional change and the options for reform, and assesses what is required to achieve change, such as bipartisanship, popular education, and popular ownership. The federal government has committed to holding a referendum at or before the next federal election on recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution. This Issues Paper examines the background to this proposal, and suggests how the Constitution can be changed to achieve this goal. It also explains how a referendum on this topic can be won, and sets out the legal, practical and political preconditions for referendum success.

• Urls: https://aiatsis.gov.au/publications/products/recognising-indigenous-peoples-australian-constitution-what-constitution-should-say-and-how-referendum-can-be-won, https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/products/issues_paper/williams-ntip-v5n1-recognising-indigenous-peoples-australian-constitution_0.pdf
• Publisher Location: Canberra