Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act
Act no.: 18 Year: 2013
27 Mar 2013 Assent
Effective 28 March 2013

(Text as presently available from Parliament website – First reading?)

3 Recognition

(1)The Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia, recognises that the continent and the islands now known as Australia were first occupied by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

(2) The Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia, acknowledges the continuing relationship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with their traditional lands and waters.

(3) The Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia, acknowledges and respects the continuing cultures, languages and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

See http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/bills/r4943_first-reps/toc_pdf/12227b01.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf

Note two year sunset clause.

“Aboriginal people could be officially recognised in the South Australian constitution following the introduction of Constitution (Recognition of Aboriginal Peoples) Amendment Bill by Premier Jay Weatherill.”

From:
http://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/1166589/constitution-recognises-aboriginal-people?cs=1538

Constitution (Recognition of Aboriginal Peoples) Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Constitution Act 1934—Part 2

2 Following the Apology given on 28 May 1997, the Parliament, on
behalf of the people of South Australia—
(a) acknowledges and respects Aboriginal peoples as the State’s first peoples and nations; and
(b) recognises Aboriginal peoples as traditional owners and occupants of land and waters in South Australia and that—
(i) their spiritual, social, cultural and economic practices come from their traditional lands and waters; and
(ii) they maintain their cultural and heritage beliefs, languages and laws which are of ongoing importance; and
(iii) they have made and continue to make a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the State; and
(c) acknowledges that the Aboriginal peoples have endured past injustice and dispossession of their traditional lands and waters.

3. The Parliament does not intend this section to have any legal force or effect.

(Emphasis added – songlines)

http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/B/CURRENT/CONSTITUTION%20(RECOGNITION%20OF%20ABORIGINAL%20PEOPLES)%20AMENDMENT%20BILL%202012/B_AS%20INTRODUCED%20IN%20HA/CONSTITUTION%20PEOPLES%20AMENDMENT%20BILL%202012.UN.PDF

Media release

The Hon Jenny Macklin MP

Progressing Indigenous Constitutional Recognition

20 September 2012

The Australian Government will ask the Parliament to pass an Act of Recognition acknowledging the unique and special place of our first peoples.

This Act will be an important step towards holding a successful referendum to change the constitution to recognise Indigenous people.

The Act of Recognition will be worded to reflect as closely as possible the recommendations of the expert panel which the Government asked to develop options for constitutional change.

This Labor Government is committed to recognising Indigenous people in Australia’s constitution and wants meaningful reform that reflects the hopes and aspirations of Indigenous people.

However, we recognise that there is not yet enough community awareness or support for change to hold a successful referendum at or before the next federal election.

A preliminary report prepared for the Government by Reconciliation Australia has found that only 39 per cent of the non-Indigenous community have heard about a proposed referendum.

The Australian Government agrees with the findings of the expert panel that it is important that a referendum is held at a time when it has the most chance of success.

To ensure that we continue to build momentum for constitutional change, the Government expects to introduce the Act of Recognition to Parliament before the end of the year.

We have held preliminary discussions with the Opposition, Greens and Independents about this and we will continue to work with all parties to develop the Act.

We have committed $10 million towards a campaign being led by Reconciliation Australia to continue to build support for constitutional change.

Consistent with the recommendations of the expert panel, the Government believes that constitutional change should include these elements:

* a statement of recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their unique history, culture and connection to this land;
* removal of references to race, reflecting the nation’s fundamental belief in the importance of equality and non-discrimination; and
* acknowledgment that additional effort is needed to help close the gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples disadvantage.

The Government will also include a sunset date for the Act of Recognition, to allow the campaign to continue to build momentum.

This will provide an impetus for a future parliament to reassess how the campaign for change is travelling and timing for a successful referendum.

The Australian Constitution is the foundation document for our laws and our government, but it is silent on the special place of our first Australians.

Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians will be a significant step towards building a nation based on strong relations and mutual respect, which recognises the unique and special place of our first peoples.

The Government encourages all Australians to learn more and get involved in building support for constitutional change. Visit http://www.youmeunity.org.au for more information.

From ANTaR

Last week, representatives from across the Australian trade union movement at the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ Congress resolved to campaign for recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution.

From Sunday 27 May, Australians will come together at a record 278 events across the country to celebrate National Reconciliation Week.

New resources to start the conversation

In honour of this year’s National Reconciliation Week theme, ‘Let’s Talk Recognition’, ANTaR has created a toolkit for you to inform, educate and mobilise your community. Start a conversation in your school, workplace, university or home with:

A factsheet about the national conversation on Constitutional Recognition.

Answers to frequently asked questions about changing the Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and remove racial discrimination.

A powerpoint presentation to explain Constitution Recognition. Email us to get a version you can edit.

8 ways you can take action right now.

Hints and tips on how to hold a successful events.

The Australian Constitution is currently silent on the First Peoples of this country. It fails to acknowledge their prior occupation, history, cultures and languages. Our Constitution even permits laws that prevent people from voting, owning property or working in certain professions on the basis of race.

Australians have been presented with an historic opportunity to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution and protect future generations of Australians from discriminatory laws.

Together, we have the power to end our Constitution’s silence on the existence and prior occupation of the First Australians, the custodians of the oldest continuing cultures on Earth.

http://www.antar.org.au/constitutional_recognition
Email: antar@antar.org.au | Web: http://www.antar.org.au

RE: First Peoples voices in Parliament

from Abbott, Tony (MP) Tony.Abbott.MP at aph.gov.au via songlines.org.au
to Bruce Reyburn
date Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 3:09 PM
subject RE: First Peoples voices in Parliament
mailed-by songlines.org.au

Thank you for your email following the release of the final report by the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians.

The Coalition has a proud history of seeking to secure indigenous recognition in the Constitution. Since 2007 it has been Coalition policy to hold a referendum on the addition to the Constitution of a preamble recognising Indigenous Australians. We also support the repeal of obsolete racially discriminatory provisions.

Importantly, the key objective of any referendum is to achieve a unifying moment for the nation similar to that achieved by the 1967 constitutional referendum.

It is in that spirit that the Coalition will now carefully study the report and then release a formal response.

In examining the report we will be looking closely at the potential legal ramifications of any specific anti-discrimination power.

Thank you again for your email.

Yours sincerely

Office of the Hon Tony Abbott MHR

From: Bruce Reyburn [mailto:reyburn at songlines.org.au]
Sent: Monday, 30 January 2012 3:36 PM
To: Abbott, Tony (MP)
Subject: Re: First Peoples voices in Parliament

Amended questions, please note changes

The Hon Tony Abbott
Leader of the Opposition
Parliament House
Canberra

Dear Mr Abbott,

Do you agree that, after 110 years of Federation under the 1901 Constitution, it is time for the voices of Australia’s First Peoples to have some institutionalised form of representation so their voices and concerns can be clearly heard within the new Parliament House?

If so, what do you and the Opposition you lead propose to do about it?

If not, why not?

Yours truly

Bruce Reyburn
P.O. Box 257
Thirroul NSW 2515

cc: http://www.songlines.org.au

Recommendation 3 of the Expert Panel on Constitution recognition of indigenous Australian peoples is a new section 51A which includes a clause:

“Acknowledging the need to secure the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”

Advancement? This is a term straight out of the mid-1900s, and one which lays claim to modern Western notions of ‘progress’ as the only ‘normality’ in Australian life.

It is part of the mentality which depicted First Peoples as backward remnants of the stone age, and suffering from some form of imaginary deficiency.

The thinking in the Expert Panel, as reflected by its recommendations and language, seems to belong to a White Australia tradition which we need to leave well behind us.

While there is no denying the disadvantage which First Peoples have suffered as a result of the failure of the Anglo-Australian state (since 1788) to engage in genuine exchange relationships, this does not mean that First Peoples have to be ‘advanced’.

There is an equal case to be made that mainstream Anglo-Australian practices need to be reformed in order to reduce and repair the damage done to life here by the notions of progress which were in place in the late 1890s when the original Constitution was written. Some rebalancing all round is required.

Constitutional recognition needs to be in terms which affirm First Peoples as First Peoples, not in terms which unfairly put them in a bad light. It was the failings of the colonial authorities (no treaty, no recognition, no exchange relationships) which disadvantaged indigenous Australians.

The present wording of this proposed Section 51(A) clause carries with it an ‘unconscious’ negative characterisation of the respective positions of Australia’s First Peoples vis-à-vis non-indigenous Australians.

As things stand, a referendum question based on the expert panel’s recommendation would, if successful, cement an obsolete 20th century stereotype of First Peoples into the Constitution.

A far better form of words, which avoids empowering this one-sided and increasingly obsolete ideology of ‘progress’, would be:

“Acknowledging the need to restore and secure the full well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

This leaves room for First Peoples to be empowered on terms which are in keeping with their own values, practices, worldviews and cosmologies.

… a long campaign to gain a degree of Constitutional recognition for Australia’s First Peoples come up with a recommendation from an Expert Panel to enshrine English as THE national language!

What do the speakers of Australia’s original languages have to say about that?