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This year the High Court will decide fundamental issues about the nature of native title and the extent to which it is protected by the common law. In hearing the appeal of the Miriuwung, Gajerrong and Balangarra peoples from the decision of the Full Federal Court in Western Australia v Ward (1) the court will be called upon to arbitrate an old dispute that has never been settled; that between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people as competing claimants for land. In this arbitration process the survival of non-Indigenous interests is assured.

In 1999 and 2000 the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the CERD Committee) and the Human Rights Committee (HRC) of the United Nations both criticised the 1998 amendments to the Native Title Act 1993 (the NTA) as limiting the rights of Indigenous people.(1) The committees found that the amendments were discriminatory and recommended that Australia either suspend implementation of the 1998 amendments (2) or amend the NTA anew.(3) No action has since been taken to lessen the discriminatory impact of the 1998 amendments and the true extent of the diminution of native title par

The recognition of native title by the High Court in 1992 was a significant development in the legal apparatus for protecting Indigenous culture. Under the concept of native title it is possible that sacred and significant sites and objects might be protected, not within the historical category of Aboriginal heritage, but as matters valued in contemporary Indigenous culture with current significance to a people whose culture is ongoing. In addition, under native title such protection could be provided, not as an act of beneficence by government, but as a matter of legal right.

The 2000 Social Justice Report is the second by Dr Jonas. It tabled in both houses of the federal Parliament on 28 March 2001. The theme of the report is reconciliation and human rights.

Failure to implement the Genocide Convention Education and the abolition of Bilingual Education Programs in the Northern Territory Redressing Indigenous disadvantage

The issue of Indigenous people and racism is among the most complex and divisive in Australia today. The source of this complexity and division is to be found in the history of race relations in Australia, which commenced with the illegitimate acquisition of sovereignty in 1788 under the auspices of the doctrine of terra nullius. Over successive generations policies and practices have aimed to eliminate Indigenous people, to 'smooth the pillow' of what was seen as a dying race, and later to assimilate Indigenous people within the white culture.

In the period 1910 to 1970 between 1 in 3 and 1 in 10 Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families. The effects of such removal were, for most victims, negative, multiple and profoundly disabling. The policies and practices underlying the removal of Aboriginal children from their families were discriminatory and genocidal in intent. Further, the treatment of many removed children after their removal involved breaches of fiduciary duty and duty of care, as well as criminal actions.