Powers relating to self-governance by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people
Indigenous Australian self-determination, also known as Aboriginal Australian self-determination, is the power relating to self-governance by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. It is the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to determine their own political status and pursue their own economic, social and cultural interests. Self-determination asserts that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should direct and implement Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy formulation and provision of services. Self-determination encompasses both Aboriginal land rights and self-governance,[1][2] and may also be supported by a treaty between a government and an Indigenous group in Australia.[3]
From the 1970s to 1990s, the Australian government supported Aboriginal groups moving from large settlements in remote areas back to outstation communities in formerly traditional lands. Also from the early 1970s, Aboriginal communities began running their own health services, legal services, and housing cooperatives.[4]
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)
Following the election of the Hawke government in 1983, two reports were commissioned into a replacement of the NAC. The O'Donoghue report argued that the NAC did not effectively represent its constituents or advocate specific policies.[6] The Coombs report made the case for an organisation with representation of regions and existing indigenous organisations.[6]
The dissolution of ATSIC in 2004 was seen by some as an end to self-determination as a policy.[9] Nevertheless, calls for it have continued among Indigenous Australians.[10]
On 30 October 2019, Wyatt announced the commencement of a "co-design process" aimed at providing an "Indigenous voice to government". The Senior Advisory Group is co-chaired by Professor Tom CalmaAO, Chancellor of the University of Canberra, and Professor Dr Marcia Langton, Associate Provost at the University of Melbourne, and comprises a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country.[14] The models for the Voice are being developed in two stages:[15]
First, two groups, one local and regional and the other a national group, will create models aimed at improving local and regional decision-making, and identifying how best federal government can record Indigenous peoples' views and ideas. The groups consist mainly of Indigenous members.
Consultations will be held with Indigenous leaders, communities and stakeholders to refine the models developed in the first stage.
The first meeting of the group was held in Canberra on 13 November 2019.[16]
^Kowal, Emma (2008). "The Politics of the Gap: Indigenous Australians, Liberal Multiculturalism, and the End of the Self-Determination Era – KOWAL – 2008 – American Anthropologist – Wiley Online Library". American Anthropologist. 110 (3): 338–348. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1433.2008.00043.x.