...The digital exhibition entitled Eddie Koiki Mabo: A decade-long case has been organised around the two historical understandings: perspectives and significance. These historical understandings reveal the criticisms and praises that the Mabo decision received and the significance of the High Court victory and its subsequent impacts. Perspectives The sources on display in the perspectives gallery reveal several viewpoints about the Mabo decision in 1992 and the subsequent event, the recognition of the Native Title in 1993. These sources are from Australian politicians and mining industry company owners and both represent common criticisms of the Mabo Decision during the early 1990s. However, the third perspective is of the Indigenous population and are...
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...how the doctrine of Terra Nullius of Australia ended. On the 20th May 1982, Eddie Koiki Mabo and 4 other Indigenous Meriam people began their legal claim for the ownership of their native lands on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait which separates Australia and Papua New Guinea. Mabo and his associates claimed that the Meriam people had, continuously inhabited and exclusively possessed their lands, lived in permanent as settled communities, and also had their own political and social organisation. On these grounds, the Mabo case sought recognition of the Meriam people’s rights to this land. (ADD THE LEGAL DEATAILS OF TERRA...
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...VATE INSIDE STORIES 2014—MABO INSIDE STORIES MABO Film directed by Rachel Perkins Teaching notes prepared by Sarah Catton Edited by Marion White CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................3 WAYS INTO THE TEXT ..............................................................................................6 RUNNING SHEET AND STRUCTURE OF THE TEXT...............................................8 PERSPECTIVE ON THE TEXT.................................................................................13 CHARACTERS..........................................................................................................15 THEMES AND ISSUES.............................................................................................20 LANGUAGE AND STYLE..........................................................................................24 CLOSE ANALYSIS....................................................................................................28 FURTHER ACTIVITIES.............................................................................................31 KEY QUOTES ...........................................................................................................34 TEXT RESPONSE TOPICS ......................................................................................36 REFERENCES ........................
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...Is the Australian government effectively making alterations within the Australian Legal System for the benefit of Indigenous Australians? Introduction The Indigenous Australian population consists of people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. Prior to European settlement in 1788, Australia was occupied by over 750, 000 Indigenous Australians who spoke 700 languages between them. However, the number of Indigenous people in Australia has transformed since the devastating impact the European settlers had on Australia’s indigenous Australians. They were exposed to new diseases and violent conflicts resulting in a significant number of deaths. Consequently, today Indigenous Australians make up only 2% of the entire Australian population. In 1788, the European colonists settled into Australia as James Cook enforced the doctrine of terra nullius because he believed that it was, ‘no one’s land’ during his journey around Australia in 1770. The cultures of the Indigenous Australians have changed over the past 227 years, as the European colonists of Australia caused very prompt changes to the Aboriginal society and the ways in which they lived. Whilst a number of alterations have been made to the Australian Legal System for the benefit of the Indigenous Australians, they continue to fight to have their rights documented and acknowledged by the Government and the people of Australia. This paper will evaluate the arguments...
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...The Dreaming Dreaming: * Underpins all beliefs and practices * Incorporates past, present and future * Inextricably linked to the land * Ceremonialism Dreamtime: Time of creation of all things Dreaming: Individuals or groups set of beliefs or spirituality Spirituality Consists of: * Kinship * Ceremonial life * Obligations to land and people (as a result of societal values) Kinship Highly sophisticated networks of relationships that govern interactions between members of language groups Define where a person fits into the community, binding people together in relationships of sharing and obligation Central to the way culture is passed on and society is organised Dynamic and provides a framework for living Defines roles and responsibilities for raising and educating children Provides systems of moral and financial support within the community Influences the social relationships and governs many aspects of everyday behaviour Ceremonial Life Dreaming ceremonies are conducted in the form of song and dance with the use of body parts and a spectacle of lights and costumes Preparation considered part of ceremony Men and women have different roles Different ceremonies in different cultural groups 4 Types: * Rite of passage * Information * Personal * Spiritual Initiation Ceremony Teaches about law and beliefs Allows young person to take their place as an elder Can last years Funeral Ceremonies Number...
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...FOUNDATIONS OF LAW 2010 Combined Law Essay Critically analyse the Australian Government’s proposed reforms for protecting and promoting human rights for the more vulnerable groups in Australia. A bill of rights alone will not protect the rights of the people. But nor will a majoritarian democracy. Contemporary democracy stands for more than just the primitive notion of according full power to the popular majorities of Parliament by the vote. It requires the recognition of Parliamentary sovereignty, and furthermore it calls for the preservation of the principles of rule of law, judicial independence and more importantly the rights of all individuals. Although the Government’s recently launched National Human Rights Framework promises a selection of human rights protection mechanisms, in light of its failure to provide a bill of rights that many Australians want, it is an inadequate attempt at promoting and protecting the more vulnerable groups. Even though the Framework claims that it reserves the function of statutory interpretation for the courts, in reality it empowers the Parliament with the capacity to “guide”[1] the courts into enacting legislation. The Government’s downplay of judicial influence cannot be ignored and this points to a discussion of whether Australia needs a bill of rights. The role of the courts also need to be evaluated with respect to the other branches of government, the legislature and the Executive, in an effort to attain a healthy balance between...
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...Australia post 1945 - Key terminology – * Assimilation Policy – official government policy which aims to integrate minority groups into the dominant culture group. This results in a loss of culture, tradition and languages. * Balance rites – Aboriginal rituals that aim to make a supernatural connection with ancestral beings from the dreaming * Crown land – Public land owned by the commonwealth of Australia and managed by Australian government * Dispossession – The forced removal of aboriginal people from their native land. * Dreaming – Aboriginal spiritual beliefs about creation and existence. The dreaming establishes the rules governing relationships between people, land and all things for Aboriginal people. It links together the past, present and future. * Freehold title – Absolute and permanent ownership of the land. * Half-castes – An offensive term referring to a person of mixed decent or ethnicity. * Land rites – Property rights pertaining to land. * Meta-temporal – the trinity of the past, present and future. * Native title – Form of land title, which recognises aboriginal people as rightful owners of their traditional land. * Protection policy – official government policy stating in the late 19th century. Removed aboriginal people from unsuitable environments and placed them under the protection of the state. * Sacred sites – Places of spiritual significance to Aboriginal people as they are connected with ancestor beings...
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...(Ayers Rock) in central Australia. Her husband, Michael, was convicted as an accessory. Appeals to the Federal Court and the High Court were unsuccessful. The convictions were quashed in 1988 after a judicial inquiry. Few cases have generated as much public controversy. The role of the High Court in this drama was, however, a minor one. Controversy did not stem from the novelty and significance of the doctrinal issues raised by the case but from the ‘facts’: the question of what had happened to Azaria on the night of her disappearnce. Attempts to answer that question were to see law and science become embroiled in an intense polarisation of opinion which permeated Australian society. Unlike the names Mabo and Wik for example, which were not widely known until the High Court decisions were handed down, the name Chamberlain had assumed legendary significance by the time of the High Court appeal in November 1983. This process began a short time after Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from the family tent at Uluru on the evening of 17 August 1980. Her body was never found, although her heavily blood-stained singlet, jumpsuit and nappy were discovered a week later. Lindy Chamberlain alleged that a dingo had taken the baby. This allegation aroused public disbelief as widespread as it was ill-informed; but this was only the first sign that ignorance and prejudice would run ahead of the evidence and ultimately dictate its direction in critical ways. Out of bigotry concerning the Chamberlains’...
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...Brett Burt SWK-414 International Social Development Session 3 2010. APA Date submitted: 17th December 2010. via EASTS I, Brett Burt, have read and understood the Charles Sturt University Plagiarism Policy. I declare that this assignment is my own original work and represents my intellectual property. It does not contain the work of others without appropriate reference being made. Essay Question ‘Critically discuss the meaning of international social work and social development and demonstrate your understanding of the integrated perspectives approach by analysing and applying to an issue such as local level development, poverty, post conflict reconstructions, forced displacement.’ International social work seems to mean different things to different people in different communities, across the globe. Even the term ‘social work’ is often hard to pin down in the Western tradition. The first ‘constant’ seems to be the history of the development of social work in Britain after the Industrial Revolution and then across the western world predominantly in the United States. Second, social work as a profession arose as the result of the issues thrown up by the Industrial Revolution, such as mass movements away from rural based living, agricultural jobs reduced, with massive technological innovations commencing as far back as the development of the steam engine. Third, social work as a profession is united by its values which are social justice and a need to...
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...judicially decided cases as the basic form of law. See chapter 10. * The way that the law is made: Judges make law based on decided cases (precedents) and develop sets of legal principles which emerge from the judgments in decided cases.’ See chapter 12, 13, and 14. * The category of laws which grew from the medieval royal courts (‘the courts of common law’) and other areas of law, which came from the medieval Lord Chancellor’s role (‘equity’). See chapter 10. * Decision making in courts after an adversarial trial: derived from historical ‘trial by battle’ introduced by Normans. The battle has since then become a verbal one. See chapter 2. * A court system for dispute resolution: See chapter 11. However, Australian law has developed distinct characteristics of its own: * A federal system made up of a Commonwealth and States and Territories: separates out the powers of different bodies of government. See chapter 8. * A limited recognition of indigenous customary law: Mabo (No 2) held that native title to land could exist, separate from the common law and based on indigenous customary law. Other forms of recognition are ad hoc, but do exist: * Criminal justice system in NT carried out on a customary basis rather than common law in certain cases. * Customary law marriage is recognised. * Certain aspects of indigenous heritage have been protected. See chapters 5 and 10 for the issues...
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...consideration otherwise wide ranging problems develop in communication and inequality within the legal framework (Gibbons, 1994). The timing of an event and the time of day in which communication is taking place is known as temporal context. Temporal context can be seen for example as a communicators position within a sequence of events; you don't talk the same way after someone tells you about the death of a close relative as you do after someone reveals they have won the lottery. Therefore it is crucial to communication that timing is precise, as this can impact significantly on such things as being early or late for a date, meeting or interview (Kossen, Kiernan and Lawrence, 2013). As can be seen by this, being ‘early’ has positive effects and the communication will be one of success unlike being ‘late’ which will have a negative impact. Examples such as the encoding and decoding of the meaning of news media can be complex and dynamic; the temporal contexts in which mass communication occurs can highly influence the production and reception of articles (Deacon and Fenton, 1999). Temporal contexts of communication can be difficult when there is little cross- cultural awareness, but the rewards can be immense. Indigenous seasonal knowledge involving temporal knowledge of biota, landscapes, weather, seasonal cycles, and their links with culture and land uses is pivotal to success when communicating in a temporal context with Natural resource scientists and managers (Proper, O’Connor...
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...L e g a L i s s u e s i n p L a i n L a n g u a g e This is the sixty-ninth in the series Hot Topics: legal issues in plain language, published by the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC). Hot Topics aims to give an accessible introduction to an area of law that is the subject of change or public debate. International law 1 overview What is international law? – difference between international law and domestic law – Why do States obey international law? – subjects of international law – How do international law and domestic law interact? 4 sources of international law Jus cogens – international conventions and treaties – Australian treaty practice – custom – general principles of law – judicial decisions and writings of publicists – ‘hard law’ and ‘soft law’. 8 states What is a State? – rights of States – self-determination – creation and recognition of new States – case studies. AUTHOR NOTE: Jane Stratton currently leads corporate social responsibility programs in a leading Sydney law firm, teaches law students at a Sydney university and independently, undertakes community development projects in Western Sydney. Her work has included legal and policy roles in the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the Australian Human Rights Commission, UN High Commission for Refugees and the ICTY. She has experience in litigious and political advocacy. Jane holds qualifications in law (Honours) and in Arts (Honours) from ANU and a Masters...
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...Court The Westminster System: * A constitutional monarchy * Separation of powers 1) The Parliament Legislative 2) The Executive Government 3) The Judiciary interprets the law Making a law: 1. Draftsman drafts a Bill 2. 1st, 2nd, 3rd reading in HOR 3. 1st, 2nd, 3rd reading in Senate 4. Governor General consent 5. Bill becomes an Act and become law The Judiciary: Rule of law a means of maintaining the balance between personal freedom and legislative power in a modern democracy. Role of the courts: Impose a legally binding decision on the parties to the dispute. Features of the court hierarchy: * Provides a system of appeals * Allows different forms of hearing * Instrumental in building up precedent Courts jurisdiction: 1. Original jurisdiction authority to hear case 2. Appellate jurisdiction authority to hear appeals from decisions of a lower or equal level of hierarchy State court systems: 1. Inferior courts aim to settle disputes quickly and locally (Local courts) 2. Intermediate courts...
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...! • • • • • • • Principles of the Australian Parliamentary System Government)–!The!government!is!the!party!or!coalition!of!parties!that!wins!the!most!seats!in!the!House!of!Representatives! Parliament)–!Consists!of!a!group!of!elected!representatives!and!a!person!who!represents!the!Queens.!In!the!federal!parliament!that!person!is!the! Governor>General.!Parliaments!make!the!laws!for!a!country/state! Crown)–!The!monarch!is!represented!by!a!governor/governor>general.!Refers!to!the!position,!power,!or!dominion!of!a!monarch.!The!monarch!as! Head!of!State! Separation)of)Powers)–!The!three!branches!of!power!(executive,!legislative!and!judicial)! Federal)System)–!The!power!to!govern!is!divided!by!the!Commonwealth!and!states.! Bicameral)–!A!bicameral!parliament!consists!of!two!chambers!or!houses! Minister)–!A!minister!is!both!a!member!of!parliament!and!a!member!of!the!executive.!This!means!a!minister!is!usually!in!charge!of!a!government! department!that!is!responsible!for!enacting!the!law! ! Australian Parliamentary System Under!the!Australian!federal!system!of!government,!the!country!is!divided!into!states!and!territories!each!with!its!own!parliament!–!making!a!total!of!9! parliaments.! • Commonwealth,)6)States,)2)Territories! They! are! elected! by! the! people! and! represent! the! needs! of! the! people.! Members! are! also! responsible! to! the! parliament! and! the! people! for! their! actions.!The)APS)is)based)on)the)Westminster)system)that)was)adopted)by)the)Commonwealth)constitution)in)1900...
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...International Law and Municipal Law Issues: • Does domestic law override international law? • Does international law apply domestically? 1 Theoretical Issues • Monism: Essentially exponents of natural-law theories; consequently, they regard all law as part of the same universal normative order, with municipal law deriving its binding force by way of delegation from international law. Thus, monists consider international law a part of domestic law. • Dualism: Essentially exponents of legal positivists – therefore, they have an essentially consensual view of international law, believing that international and municipal law were two separate legal orders. International law must be incorporated into domestic law, for it to apply domestically. • Harmonisation: Assumes that international law forms part of municipal law but acknowledges that on occasions when there was a conflict between the two systems, a municipal judge would be bound by the jurisdictional rules of the domestic domain. 2 Primacy of International Law 1 Municipal Tribunals Whether international law has primacy over municipal law depends on each particular country’s constitution. In Australia, there is no express incorporation of international obligations in Australia. Implementing legislation is required for both treaty and customary international law to apply. See below for further information. 2 International Tribunals A State cannot invoke domestic laws as an excuse for failure...
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