NCJ Number
75641
Date Published
1980
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Written by the chairman of the board of directors of the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) and focusing on Aborigines and Australian criminal law, this paper details past genocide and current relations of the Aborigines with the police and white Australian society.
Abstract
Although the ALS approves the repeal of the Summary Offenses Act and the enactment of the Intoxicated Persons Act, it objects to incidents of apparently sober Aborigines being arrested by police under the latter act's provisions. Despite the significant number of Aborigines appearing before the courts, only a minute percentage have ever sat on a jury. The ALS supports implementation of the Australian Law Reform Commission recommendations on criminal investigations by the Australian police. It also supports the New South Wales (NSW) Government project to examine methods of dealing with Aboriginal children in institutions and to develop suitable alternative care within Aboriginal communities. Finally, the ALS urges the NSW government to enact land rights legislation based on 11 demands, which include, among others, acknowledging the prior ownership of the continent now known as Australia by the Aboriginal nation; enacting an Aboriginal bill of rights; guaranteeing compensation for the seizure of Aboriginal land and the destruction of their culture and religion; and establishing a land claims tribunal to enable Aborigines to make claims on privately owned land either on the basis of traditional association or on the basis of need.