Self Determination In Australia

601 Words2 Pages

Self-determination involves choice, however, for Indigenous Australians it is reliant on the policies of the government including access to land and the opportunity for economic development.

Whilst the right to self-determination is the right of all peoples, Article 3 of the 2007 United Nations Declaration of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) specifically refers to The right to self-determination for Indigenous peoples. These rights include to be able to; 'freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development' (UNDRIP 2007, Article 3). Behrendt (2002, p.26) purports that failure to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples denied access to land that would have enabled economic independence. …show more content…

Furthermore, the ‘practical reconciliation’ policy of the Howard government ignored the issue of the rights of Indigenous Australians whilst discarding the treaty process. Additionally, the Coalition spruiked of their foremost financial input whilst failing to acknowledge considerable government expenditure used to contest Indigenous rights (Behrendt 2002, p.24-25). Behrendt (2002, p.24-25) further contends that the failure to address racial discrimination in all its forms has continued to be an impediment to the recognition of the rights of Indigenous Australians to …show more content…

Further, acknowledgment of the effect of this on efforts for self-determination give rise to understanding the extent to which this has impacted on the overrepresentation of incarceration of the Indigenous Peoples (Rowley 1972; Reynolds 1989; James 1999 cited in Edney p. 3). In Hegarty (1999) the control and structure endured by those on the Mission provide insight as to how Indigenous Peoples had no rights and when they tried to exert them they were punished. Every aspect of their lives were controlled including employment, the system produced dependence not self-determination (Hegarty 1999, pp. 3,4,9,12,13,15,20,25-26, 29-31, 34-35,37,41-44,92-97, 100-107, 112,

Open Document