Reflections on National Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week is intended to be a time when all Australians pause to reflect upon the nation’s journey towards reconciliation.
This year is particularly significant because National Reconciliation Week 2017 marks the anniversary of two important legal events in Australian history.
It was only 50 years ago that the 1967 Referendum was held and Australians overwhelmingly voted for constitutional change to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the national census for the first time. This was a pointed moment for Australia, and an important step towards a process of reconciliation. On 27 May 2017 we commemorate the 50th anniversary — timely, given the recent delegation in Uluru by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders who discussed further opportunities for constitutional reform to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, to remove clauses that allow for discrimination based on race and to also discuss a proposal for a new national consultative body to advise the Australian Parliament.
Another significant event that shaped the path towards reconciliation was the High Court Decision in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) in 1992. 3 June 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of this landmark decision which rewrote Australia’s history and acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dispossession and also abolished the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’.
In this decision, the High Court in Mabo determined that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be treated equally before the law with regard to their rights over land. There have been many social, legal and political implications of the Mabo decision.
The Mabo decision and the introduction of native title legislation completely altered the foundation of land law in Australia. A number of significant judgements have been handed down over the past 25 years, including but not limited to the Wik People decision in Queensland, Yarmirr and Fejo decisions in the Northern Territory, Miriuwung Gajerrong in Western Australia and Yorta Yorta in Victoria.
There have been a number of determinations that native title exists in various parts of Australia (307 by agreement between parties and 44 after trials in the federal court).[1]
Reconciliation week is the ideal opportunity to reflect on how the law, its institutions and legal professionals can considerably impact positively upon the reconciliation process by determining concrete legal pathways to improve relationships and respect between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
National Reconciliation Week is celebrated each year 27 May — 3 June.
