Summarised Notes On Aboriginal Studies

Resource Description

Band 6 – NB – 2020 notes

9.1 Part I – Social Justice and Human Rights Issues

A, The Global Perspective

P1 – Aboriginal and Indigenous human rights and social justice issues from a global perspective P1D1 – Definition of Key Terms

Citizenship rights

Rights that are enjoyed by a citizen such as the right to vote and to live permanently in a particular country. In Australia citizenship allows for the ability to vote, ability to work in government, hold an Australian passport, receive help from Australia while overseas and register children born overseas as Australian citizens by descent.

Land rights

Indigenous land rights are the rights of indigenous peoples to land, either individually or collectively. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to indigenous peoples for a range of reasons, including the religious significance of land, self-determination, identity and economic factors, ingenious land rights have historically been undermined by a variety of doctrines such as terra nullius.

Sovereignty

The legal recognition of ownership of land and territory. Implicit in the concept is the right of self-government. Aboriginal peoples have never ceded their sovereignty over Australia. Aboriginal sovereignty is a political movement demanding control of parts of Australia by Aboriginal people in the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1972 the aboriginal tent embassy was established on the steps of the old parliament house to demand sovereignty for aboriginal people and the protest is still there today. Demands of the tent embassy have included land rights and mineral rights to aboriginal lands, legal and political control of the northern territory, and compensation for land stolen.

Treaty rights

Certain rights that were reserved by indigenous peoples when they signed treaties with settler societies. By signing treaties indigenous peoples trade land and resources for things like protection, health care, education, sovereignty and religious freedom, hunting and fishing rights and sometimes money. Treaties are just as valid today as they were the day they were signed and are legally binding. The government does not give treaty rights to anyone- native people reserved them when they signed treaties in a government to government relations