Indigenous Law Bulletin Volume 8 Issue 1
EDITOR IAL
Welcome to the fourth general edition of the Indigenous Law Bulletin (‘ILB’) for 2012. In this edition, Michelle Deshong examines the currentvoid in Aboriginal women’s formal representation at the AustralianFederal Parliamentary level. By examining institutional constructs Michelleidentifies some of the enablers and challenges facing Aboriginal womenand their aspiration to have a seat at the top.
In a family affair, Blaze and Ambelin Kwaymullina and their mother Sally Morgan provide a critical analysis of some of the proposals to come out of the Western Australian Government’s Review of the Aboriginal HeritageAct 1972 (WA). They argue that while improvements to the Act are long overdue, the changes seem likely to weaken the current legislation.
Megan Davis provides comment on the claim that constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution would negate Aboriginal claims to sovereignty. In the context of the growing momentum for a referendum on this issue, Megan asserts that constitutional recognition does not foreclose on Aboriginal sovereignty.
We speak with Robynne Quiggin—lawyer, academic and currently the Senior Manager of the Australian Securities Investments Commission’s Indigenous Outreach Program. In an engaging interview Robynne tells us about what motivated her to become a lawyer, her experiences in the law and the work she is currently doing at the Commission.
Lorana Bartels considers the issue of Indigenous women and violence. Both the violence they perpetrate and the violence they experience, the nexus between offending and victimisation and current and future responses to this violence and victimisation.
Stuart Le Marseny addresses the implications of an accumulating body of evidence indicating that the Family Responsibilities Commission (‘FRC’), which has been operating in the Indigenous community of Aurukun in Cape York Queensland since mid 2008, has been accepted as a legitimate form of authority by community members and has laid the foundation for social change.
Finally, Tim Rowse reviews the book The Lone Protestor: A M Fernando in Australia and Europe by author Fiona Paisley. The Lone Protestor is thecaptivating biography of Anthony Martin Fernando, an Aboriginal manborn in Sydney in 1864 who lived 40 years of his life overseas—working,travelling and advocating for Aboriginal rights.
Our thanks go to our current student editors, Jacqueline Fetchet, Jim Zovaro and Nichole Soo, for their invaluable contribution to this edition of the ILB.
Robert McCreery
Editor
CONTENTS
Our Seat at the Top: Institutional Challenges to Inclusion for Aboriginal Women in the Federal Parliamentby Michelle Deshong
Reform and Resistance: An Indigenous Perspective on proposed changes to the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA) by Blaze Kwaymullina, Ambelin Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan
Constitutional Recognition does not foreclose on Aboriginal Sovereignty by Megan Davis
Interview with Robynne Quiggin by Robert McCreery
Violent Offending By and Against Indigenous Women by Lorana Bartels
The Family Responsibilities Commission: Building Indigenous Leadership and Laying the Foundation for Social Change in Aurukun by Stuart Le Marseny
Book Review - Fiona Paisley’s ‘The Lone Protestor: A M Fernando in Australia and Europe’ by Tim Rowse
