May 2008 Volume 7, Issue 5
Editorial
This general edition of the Indigenous Law Bulletin provides a diverse array of articles looking at issues ranging from resale royalties to representation; from housing to respect for customary law.
The Federal Government’s 2008 Budget brought some good news to the Arts with $1.5 million committed over the next three years to the establishment of a resale royalty scheme for visual artists. While research has recognised that resale royalty is no panacea to financial disadvantage, it has also shown that such a scheme can provide much deserved recognition to visual artists for their contribution to the art world, and the national economy. Erin Mackay writes for the ILB on resale right schemes in other jurisdictions and the need for this scheme to be one of a raft of considered measures to address the needs of Indigenous artists.
The Rudd Government’s Australia 2020 Summit has been widely reported on, yet the voice of young Indigenous Australians has not often been heard. The National Indigenous Youth Movement of Australia writes here for the ILB on the Australia 2020 Summit, the 2020 Youth Summit, and representation generally.
In the wake of the Government apology, we wonder whether the sentiment might be extended to respect for customary law and tradition. While the police intrusion on a sacred Warlpiri ceremony in Lajamanu, Northern Territory, occurred before the apology, what has changed to ensure it doesn’t happen again? The Northern Territory Government might have erected warning signs, but the community is concerned that government does not truly comprehend the gravity of the incident. Thalia Anthony and Robert Chapman look into the incident and the fallout.
Public Drunkenness, while decriminalised in many states and territories already, remains a crime in Victoria. The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (‘VALS’) sees firsthand the implications and application of this legislation. VALS argues for decriminalisation of public drunkenness in Victoria for a number of reasons, and laments the misinformation and lack of debate that has permeated previous attempts at legislative amendment.
Part Two of Tammy Solonec’s analysis of housing issues for Indigenous Western Australians concludes this edition. Here Tammy looks at Indigenous community housing – an often neglected form of housing in terms of standards and levels of repair, yet a common form of residence for Indigenous people in Western Australia.
This is my last edition as Editor of the Indigenous Law Bulletin. I would like to thank the many people who have supported this publication over the past years: our designer, contributors, artists, advisors and commentators. Many thanks of course also go to the readers who are integral not only to the continued publication of the Indigenous Law Bulletin but to the continued discussion and debate of legal and associated issues pertinent to indigenous peoples in Australia and around the world.
Jacqui Houston
Editor
Archives of the ILB from Volume 1, Issue 1 (1981) to 6 (23) 2006 are available online at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AboriginalLB and http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ILB/.
Australian Visual Artists: Joining the Resale Rights Arena
by Erin Mackay‘Options for the Future of Indigenous Australia’: Young Indigenous People at the Australia 2020 Summit
by Eugenia Flynn, Adele Cox and Tim Goodwin of the National Indigenous Youth Movement of AustraliaUnresolved Tensions: Warlpiri Law, Police Powers and Land Rights
by Thalia Anthony and Robert ChapmanUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The Survival of Public Drunkenness Laws in Victoria
by Frank E GuivarraHousing for Indigenous Western Australians: Part Two
by Tammy Solonec
Regular
Recent Happenings May 2008