Indigenous Australian self-determination, also known as Aboriginal Australian self-determination, is the power relating to self-governance by Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

peoples in Australia. It is the right of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

peoples to determine their own political status and pursue their own economic, social and cultural interests.

Self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

asserts that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should direct and implement Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy formulation and provision of services. Self-determination encompasses both

Aboriginal land rights Indigenous land rights are the rights of Indigenous peoples to land and natural resources therein, either individually or collectively, mostly in colonised countries. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to Indigeno ...

and self-governance, and may also be supported by a treaty between a government and an Indigenous group in Australia. From the 1970s to 1990s, the Australian government supported Aboriginal groups moving from large settlements in remote areas back to outstation communities in formerly traditional lands. Also from the early 1970s, Aboriginal communities began running their own health services, legal services, and

housing cooperative A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings. The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure. Typically hou ...

1960s-70s

During this period, the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

changed Australian Indigenous policy significantly by moving away from

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

and towards self-determination.

Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders

The

Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), founded in Adelaide, South Australia, as the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA) on 16 February 1958, was a civil rights organisation whic ...

was founded in 1957 as a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

to advance Aboriginal rights, composed of various member organisations.

Department of Aboriginal Affairs

The

Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. History The department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established b ...

was founded by the

to replace the government agencies responsible for Indigenous affairs, the Council for Aboriginal Affairs, and the Office of Aboriginal Affairs, while also providing a route for self-determination by employing Indigenous Australians.

National Aboriginal Consultative Committee

The

National Aboriginal Consultative Committee The National Aboriginal Conference (NAC) was a national organisation established by the Australian Government to represent Indigenous Australians, that is Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The NAC was originally establi ...

(NACC) was the first elected body representing

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

on the national level, having been established by the

in 1972. It was composed of 36 representatives elected by Aboriginal people in 36 regions of Australia. In 1983, the elections reached a turnout of approximately 78%. However, the organisation was marred by friction with the

, while internally lacking coherence.

National Aboriginal Conference

Following a review in 1976, the NACC was abolished by the new

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

in 1977. To replace it, the

National Aboriginal Conference The National Aboriginal Conference (NAC) was a national organisation established by the Australian Government to represent Indigenous Australians, that is Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The NAC was originally establi ...

(NAC) was founded.

1980s-90s

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)

Following the election of the

Hawke government The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was su ...

in 1983, two reports were commissioned into a replacement of the NAC. The O'Donoghue report argued that the NAC did not effectively represent its constituents or advocate specific policies. The Coombs report made the case for an organisation with representation of regions and existing indigenous organisations. To respond to these recommendations, the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting thei ...

was founded in 1989. Following allegations of corruption, it was abolished by the

Howard government The Howard government refers to the Government of Australia, federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal Party of Australia, Li ...

in 2004.

Aboriginal Provisional Government

The

Aboriginal Provisional Government The Aboriginal Provisional Government (APG) is an Indigenous Australian independence movement in Australia. History Earlier activity The idea of an Aboriginal government was developed by some Aboriginal delegates of the Federation of Land Coun ...

has campaigned for Aboriginal sovereignty in Australia, and is headed by an Elders Council. It also issues

Aboriginal passport An Aboriginal passport is a travel document issued by various Indigenous Australian groups (such as the Aboriginal Provisional Government (APG) and the Indigenous Social Justice Association) as an assertion of Indigenous sovereignty and a rejectio ...

2000 – current

The dissolution of ATSIC in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

was seen by some as an end to self-determination as a policy. Nevertheless, calls for it have continued among Indigenous Australians.

Uluru Statement

The ''

Uluru Statement from the Heart The ''Uluru Statement from the Heart'' is a 2017 petition to the people of Australia, written and endorsed by the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders selected as delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Conv ...

'' was a call for a "First Nations Voice" and a "

Makarrata The ''Uluru Statement from the Heart'' is a 2017 petition to the people of Australia, written and endorsed by the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders selected as delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Conv ...

Commission" to drive "agreement-making" and "

truth-telling A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

", made by a First Nations National Constitutional Convention in 2017. This suggestion was refused by the

Turnbull government The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...

Victorian First Peoples' Assembly

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

passed legislation which established the legal framework for an Aboriginal representative body with which the state could negotiate a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

. This resulted in the

2019 Victorian First Peoples' Assembly election The 2019 Victorian First Peoples' Assembly election was held between 16 September to 20 October 2019 to elect 21 members to the First Peoples' Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The election filled seats to the b ...

, to elect the 21 members of the First Peoples' Assembly.

Indigenous voice to government

On 30 October 2019, Wyatt announced the commencement of a "co-design process" aimed at providing an "

Indigenous voice to government The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the First Nations Voice or simply the Voice, was a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island ...

". The Senior Advisory Group is co-chaired by Professor

Tom Calma Thomas Edwin Calma (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner, and 2023 senior Australian of the Year. He was the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), after two years as deputy ch ...

, Chancellor of the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...

, and Professor Dr

Marcia Langton Marcia Lynne Langton (born 31 October 1951) is an Aboriginal Australian writer and academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Langton is an acti ...

, Associate Provost at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, and comprises a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country. The models for the Voice are being developed in two stages: #First, two groups, one local and regional and the other a national group, will create models aimed at improving local and regional decision-making, and identifying how best federal government can record Indigenous peoples' views and ideas. The groups consist mainly of Indigenous members. #Consultations will be held with Indigenous leaders, communities and stakeholders to refine the models developed in the first stage. The first meeting of the group was held in Canberra on 13 November 2019.

References

External links

{{Indigenous rights footer History of Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australian politics