The road to Uluru : constitutional recognition and the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples / Harry Hobbs.

Brisbane : Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd 2020.

200061

United Nations. -- General Assembly. -- Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Human rights Australia.

Aboriginal Australians -- civil rights.

Aboriginal Australians -- Politics and government.

Constitutional law -- Australia.

I. Introduction

II. The UN declaration

III. F our initial processes

A. The expert panel, the review panel, the joint select committee, and recognise

B. Did the declaration inform these processes?

IV. The referendum council regional dialogues

V. Conclusion.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have campaigned for reform to the Australian state for generations. Over the last decade, debate over constitutional recognition has assumed mainstream prominence as a series of parliamentary and expert bodies designed to raise awareness of the need for change, propose options for that change, and build a community consensus around those proposals have been established. This article assesses the five public processes undertaken between 2010 and 2017. It explains that constitutional reform has been hampered by state ambivalence towards the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). However, it argues that that same state ambivalence created space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to eventually take control of the debate, reframe it along their own priorities, and re-energise the movement for constitutional recognition. Even if prospects for a referendum remain uncertain, the Uluru Statement from the Heart has succeeded in building community consensus for a clear proposal because the UNDRIP informed and influenced its development. - Abstract.

Includes bibliographical references.

1 online resource (20 pages) : digital, PDF