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100-463: The term "Aboriginal" was coined by white settlers in Australia in the 1830s, after they began to adopt the term "Australian" to define themselves. No real attempt to define the term legally was made until the 1980s, despite use of the term twice in the 1901 Constitution of Australia , before these were removed following the 1967 referendum . Various legal and administrative definitions have been used over

200-419: A "homogeneous Aboriginal identity". In late 2019, author Bruce Pascoe 's Aboriginal identity was questioned by Bolt and a few Aboriginal people associated with the groups he had written about as his ancestors ( Yuin , Bunurong and Aboriginal Tasmanian ). Pascoe was also supported by members of these groups as well as prominent Aboriginal identities. The controversy led to fair-skinned Aboriginal people across

300-519: A "strain" of Aboriginal blood you were forced to live on Reserves or Missions, work for rations, given minimal education, and needed governmental approval to marry, visit relatives or use electrical appliances. The Constitution of Australia , in its original form as of 1901, referred to Aboriginal people twice, but without definition. Section 51(xxvi) gave the Commonwealth parliament a power to legislate with respect to "the people of any race" throughout

400-622: A Review of the Administration of the Working Definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Canberra, 1981): An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he (she) lives. Justice Gerard Brennan in his 1992 leading judgment in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) stated that Aboriginality of

500-521: A desire to regulate inter-colonial tariffs . Tensions existed, however, between the larger colonies and the smaller ones, and in the degree to which each colony embraced protectionist policies. Those tensions and the outbreak of the American Civil War harmed the political case for federalism in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1889 the Federal Council of Australasia was established. It arose out of

600-479: A direct line of ancestry through a family name linking them to traditional Aboriginal society at the time of colonisation of Tasmania . Debate over the issue was also included in three Federal Court judgements, with varying interpretations. After 1999 ATSIC election, questions were raised about the Aboriginality of many of the 824 voters and some of those who were elected. Debate continued until November 2002, with

700-411: A family history or tradition of Aboriginal descent passed on orally, can provide evidence of Aboriginal descent. TAC complained that now more than a third of the 30 candidates standing in the election were "white", and called for a boycott . The term "black" has been used to refer to Aboriginal Australians since European settlement. While originally related to skin colour and often used pejoratively,

800-454: A fear of the growing presence of German and French colonies in the Pacific, and a growing Australian identity. The council could legislate on certain subjects but did not have a permanent secretariat, an executive, or independent source of revenue. Perhaps most problematically New South Wales , the largest colony, did not join the body. A series of conferences to discuss federalism was promoted by

900-480: A mob of wild brumbies ". The Holt government held two constitutional referendums on 27 May 1967, and amendments relating to Indigenous Australians were carried overwhelmingly with 90.8% of votes cast in favour. Technically, the referendum passed the bill titled the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) 1967 and it became law on 10 August 1967. The referendum altered section 51(xxvi) and allowed

1000-589: A new draft which contained substantially the same principles of government as the 1891 draft, but with added provisions for responsible government . Some delegates to the 1898 constitutional convention favoured a section similar to the bill of rights of the United States Constitution , but this was decided against. This remains the case, with the Constitution only protecting a small and limited number of constitutional rights . To ensure popular support,

1100-566: A person depends on a tripartite test: Membership of the Indigenous people depends on biological descent from the Indigenous people and on mutual recognition of a particular person's membership by that person and by the elders or other persons enjoying traditional authority among those people. The Commonwealth Definition continued to be used administratively and legislatively, notably in the Mabo case, which in 1992 recognised native title in Australia for

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1200-425: A person who could not possibly answer the description of "alien" according to the ordinary understanding of the word. Aboriginal Australians have a special cultural, historical and spiritual connection with the territory of Australia, which is central to their traditional laws and customs and which is recognised by the common law. The existence of that connection is inconsistent with holding that an Aboriginal Australian

1300-402: A rate far exceeding the growth of the whole Australian population. A legal historian estimated in 1991 that at least 67 classifications, descriptions or definitions to determine who is an Aboriginal person had been used by governments since white settlement in Australia . The term "Aborigine" was coined by white settlers in Australia in the 1830s from ab origine , a Latin phrase meaning "from

1400-737: A referendum bill being approved at a national referendum. A national referendum under this section requires a double majority to be valid, which consists of a majority of votes nationally, and a majority of votes in a majority of states. The Constitution also contains a schedule setting out the wording of the oath and affirmation of allegiance. Under section 42, parliamentarians are required to take this oath or affirmation before taking their seat. The oath or affirmation reads: I, A.B. , do swear [or solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare] that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors according to law. [Optionally:] SO HELP ME GOD! ... (NOTE— The name of

1500-468: A republic are the subject of significant contemporary debate. The most recent referendum occurred on 14 October 2023, in which a proposed amendment to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament was rejected. Political movements to federate the Australian colonies grew to prominence in the mid 19th century. Multiple motivations existed for increased political co-operation between the colonies; including

1600-799: A right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from the High Court remained. Several colonial chief justices and other conservative and financial interests had called for amendments to be made in London, with the British government also objecting to the proposed bill. Businessmen feared that an Australian court would be unduly influenced by local interests, whilst the UK wished to ensure that no local judgments would cause embarrassment internationally or within

1700-438: A state government and the reverse. Section 116 forbids the Commonwealth to establish a national religion, to impose any religious observance or prohibit the free exercise of any religion, or to impose a religious test for office. Chapter VI: New States allows for the establishment or admission of new states, and allows Parliament to provide for representation of the territories. It also provides that state boundaries must require

1800-475: A teenager, praised NAIDOC Week for its "strong celebration of Aboriginal identity and culture". In July 2019, an ABC News "Indigenous" piece reviewed Anita Heiss 's Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia , which reported how the book was helping to counter the "racist myth of a singular Aboriginal identity". Similarly, ABC Innovation 's Little Yarns podcast aims to "celebrate the diversity of Indigenous cultures and languages", dispelling misconceptions regarding

1900-617: Is a written constitution , that establishes the country as a federation under a constitutional monarchy governed with a parliamentary system . Its eight chapters sets down the structure and powers of the three constituent parts of the federal level of government: the Parliament , the Executive Government and the Judicature . The Constitution was drafted between 1891 and 1898 at a series of conventions conducted by representatives of

2000-413: Is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he (she) lives". The 1981 Report added impetus to the definition, and it was soon adopted by all Government departments for determining eligibility to certain services and benefits. The definition was also adopted by the states , for example in

2100-671: Is an alien within the meaning of s 51(xix) of the Constitution ". In a 2011 case, Eatock v Bolt , the Federal Court of Australia found that columnist Andrew Bolt had breached the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 in two newspaper articles. Bolt claimed that certain prominent Aboriginal people with fair skin were claiming to be Aboriginal for perceived advantages. The articles questioned whether these people were "Aboriginal enough". The presiding judge Justice Bromberg found that

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2200-642: Is still in use today. Various factors affect Aboriginal people's self-identification as Aboriginal, including a growing pride in culture, solidarity in a shared history of dispossession (including the Stolen Generations ), and, among those are fair-skinned, an increased willingness to acknowledge their ancestors, once considered shameful. Aboriginal identity can be politically controversial in contemporary discourse, among both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Successive censuses have shown those identifying as Indigenous (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) at

2300-456: The High Court of Australia . The document may only be amended by referendum , through the procedure set out in section 128 . This requires a double majority : a nationwide majority as well as a majority of voters in a majority of states. Only eight of the 45 proposed amendments put to a referendum have passed. Proposals to amend the document to recognise Indigenous Australians and to become

2400-540: The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), which referred the question to the Federal Court. The AAT found that It is probable that there are in the wider Tasmanian community persons who have a degree of Aboriginal descent although there are no public records which support their claim. 2. Self identification and community recognition of applicants as Aborigines, particularly where there is evidence of

2500-552: The Australian Capital Territory . Canberra was built within it and declared the national capital in 1913. Section 126 permits the governor-general to appoint deputies. Section 127 provided that "aboriginal natives" were not to be included in headcounts for electoral purposes. That section was removed by referendum in 1967. Chapter VIII: Alteration of the Constitution is a single section providing for amendments. It prescribes that alterations may only occur through

2600-574: The British Empire . Additionally, the restriction went against plans to create a new court of appeal for the whole empire. Following the amendment, restrictions on Privy Council appeals for some constitutional cases remained, with any further restrictions on appeals imposed by the Australian Parliament required to be "reserved for Her Majesty's Pleasure", meaning subject to approval by the UK government. After this and some other minor changes,

2700-749: The Cabinet of the Australian Government offered a three-part definition, based on descent, self-identification, and community acceptance. (For the purposes of the Australian Census , the last factor is excluded as impractical.) A definition was proposed by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in the Report on a Review of the Administration of the Working Definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Canberra, 1981): "An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

2800-534: The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act became law after receiving royal assent on 9 July 1900. This act, also known as the covering act, also authorised the Queen to proclaim the actual act of federation , which was done by Queen Victoria on 17 September 1900, to take effect on 1 January 1901. Prior to this Western Australia then agreed to join the Commonwealth to ensure it would be an "original state" alongside

2900-723: The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act from the Public Record Office in London was lent to Australia for the purposes of the Australian Bicentenary . The Australian Government requested permission to keep the copy, and the British Parliament agreed by passing the Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 . The copy was given to the National Archives of Australia . A curiosity of

3000-617: The Federal Parliament to legislate for the benefit of the Aboriginal people located in the states (they were already so empowered in the territories by section 122 ). Additionally, the High Court decision in Kartinyeri v Commonwealth ruled that legislating to the detriment of Indigenous Australians was also within the scope of the power. Section 127 was repealed in its entirety and had

3100-501: The Federal Parliament to legislate specifically for this racial group.) Since that time, there have been a number of proposals to amend the constitution to specifically mention Indigenous Australians. Between 1981 and 1986, a rise of 42% of people identifying as Aboriginal occurred across Australian census areas (see also separate section below). The rise roughly amount to "68,000 new claims of Aboriginal identity". In 1988, as part of bicentennial celebrations, Prime Minister Bob Hawke

Australian Aboriginal identity - Misplaced Pages Continue

3200-626: The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 . This definition has become known as the "Commonwealth Definition". The change to Section 51(xxvi) following the 1967 Referendum enabled the Commonwealth parliament to enact laws specifically with respect to Aboriginal peoples as a "race". In the Tasmanian Dam Case of 1983, the High Court of Australia was asked to determine whether Commonwealth legislation, whose application could relate to Aboriginal people—parts of

3300-620: The Palawa kani language) protested that the Premier of Tasmania 's proposals would mean that residents need only "'tick a box' if they wanted to claim Aboriginality" and that "the community would be 'swamped with white people '". In March 2019, Mark Latham announced the One Nation party's plans to introduce reforms to "tighten the eligibility rules for Aboriginal identity" in Australia, which would "require DNA evidence of at least 25 per cent Indigenous -

3400-627: The Parliament of the United Kingdom . It came into effect on 1 January 1901 at which point the six colonies became states within the new Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution is the primary, but not exclusive, source of Australian constitutional law , alongside constitutional conventions , state constitutions , the Statute of Westminster 1931 , the Australia Acts 1986 , prerogative instruments and judicial interpretations of these laws by

3500-478: The premier of New South Wales Henry Parkes ; the first held in 1890 at Melbourne, and another at Sydney in 1891. These conferences were attended by most colonial leaders. By the 1891 conference the federalist cause gained momentum. Discussion turned to what the proper system of federal government ought to be. A draft constitution was drawn up at the conference under the guidance of Sir Samuel Griffith , but these meetings lacked popular support. An additional problem

3600-472: The "ancient identity and story of Aboriginal Australians", and that it was "this identity, this story, which still remains to be embraced, captured and adopted by all Australians". Later that year, Will Hodgman announced a relaxation to rules regarding the identity of Aboriginal Tasmanians . Causing some backlash in the Aboriginal community, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (reconstructionists of

3700-459: The "covering clauses". The second covering clause is interpretive, specifying that throughout the Act references to "the Queen" are references to "Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom". Considering the emergence of a separate Australian monarchy, on one view the plain reading of this section suggests that it ensures that whoever is the monarch of the UK is automatically

3800-528: The "latest statistics of the Commonwealth." These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51(xi) . The purpose of section 127 was to prevent the inclusion of Aboriginal people in section 24 determinations, and thus to prevent the Indigenous populace from influencing the determination of electoral boundaries by the Australian Electoral Commission . Including Indigenous people in these calculations would alter

3900-481: The 1898 draft was presented to the electors of each colony. After one failed attempt, an amended draft was submitted to the electors of each colony except Western Australia . After ratification by the five colonies, the bill was presented to the British Imperial Parliament with an address requesting Queen Victoria to enact the bill. Prior to the bill's enactment, a final change was made to ensure that

4000-469: The 2021 census increase include a high fertility rate and a reduction of fear that used to accompany identification as Aboriginal, and an increasing pride in their identity. In urban Australia there is a high proportion of such mixed partnerships (incidentally, much higher than black/white partnerships in the United States ). By 2002, it appeared that there was likely to be a narrowing of the gap between

4100-497: The Australian Constitution. Some notable conventions include the existence of the prime minister as head of a Cabinet composed of senior ministers. Another is that the governor-general in exercising executive powers must in almost all circumstances act on the advice of the prime minister. Despite not being present explicitly in the Constitution, they are understood by the High Court to be incorporated by implication within

Australian Aboriginal identity - Misplaced Pages Continue

4200-441: The Australian people. Others contend this question is ultimately not a legal one, with the binding force of the Constitution the grundnorm ( ' basic norm ' ) or starting premise of the Australian legal system. Following the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis , there was discussion of whether to retain or replace the current constitution. Former prime minister Bob Hawke advocated for getting "rid of

4300-418: The Commonwealth, except for people of "the aboriginal race". The purpose of this provision was to give the Commonwealth power to regulate non-white immigrant workers, who would follow work opportunities interstate. The only other reference, Section 127 , provided that "aboriginal natives shall not be counted" in reckoning the size of the population of the Commonwealth or any part of it. The purpose of Section 127

4400-573: The Commonwealth. Chapter IV: Finance and Trade deals with commercial matters within the federation. Section 81 prescribes all Commonwealth revenue to a Consolidated Revenue Fund , and section 90 gives the Commonwealth exclusive power over custom and excise duties. Section 92 is notable for prescribing "absolutely free" trade and commerce between the states. Section 96 allows the Commonwealth to make grants on terms determined by Parliament. Section 101 sets up an Inter-State Commission , now defunct. Chapter V: The States contains provisions dealing with

4500-519: The Constitution of Australia Section 127 of the Constitution of Australia was the final section within Chapter VII (dealing with miscellaneous matters) of the Australian Constitution , and excluded Indigenous Australians from population counts for constitutional purposes. It came into effect on 1 January 1901 when the founding states federated into the Commonwealth of Australia , and

4600-528: The High Court (most notably in the landmark Boilermakers' case ) as giving rise of the separation of powers doctrine in Australia, most strongly between judicial and the other two powers. Chapter I: The Parliament sets up the legislative branch of government. It consists of the monarch , the Senate , and the House of Representatives . It provides for the number of representatives to attend each body, and provides that

4700-507: The High Court of Australia. The Parliament is authorised to create federal courts, and to vest the exercise of federal judicial power within the courts of the states. Section 74 (now defunct) provides for the circumstances in which an appeal may be made to the Queen in Council , section 75 provides for the High Court's jurisdiction, and section 80 guarantees trial by jury for indictable offences against

4800-490: The King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the time being is to be substituted from time to time. ) Since 1901, other oaths or affirmations of office are made by prime ministers, ministers and parliamentary secretaries upon appointment to their office. The wording of these oaths are not set by statute and are set by the government of the day. Constitutional conventions are an important part of

4900-532: The UK to appoint state governors , make laws that applied to the states and an appeal to the UK Judicial Committee of the Privy Council still existed for certain court cases. These remaining constitutional links to the United Kingdom were removed in 1986 with the passage of the Australia Act , leaving Australia fully independent of the British Parliament and legal system. In 1988, the original copy of

5000-508: The UK, it is theoretically possible for the separate people to be monarch of the UK and Australia via either of the countries passing diverging succession legislation. As such, to ensure that both positions are held by the same person, any succession laws must be changed in each Commonwealth realm, as was done most recently following the Perth Agreement . The Constitution Act contains a preamble. It does not discuss Western Australia due to

5100-514: The World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 (Cth) as well as related legislation—was supported by Section 51(xxvi) in its new form. The case concerned an application of legislation that would preserve the cultural heritage of Aboriginal Tasmanians . It was held that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, together or separately, and any part of either, could be regarded as a "race" for this purpose. As to

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5200-458: The advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: The Constitution is divided into eight chapters, collectively containing 128 sections. The first three chapters state the respective powers of the legislature, executive, and judiciary. This split into three chapters has been interpreted by

5300-635: The articles contained "erroneous facts, distortions of the truth and inflammatory and provocative language". In 2014, an ARC Indigenous research fellow, Warraimaay historian Dr Victoria Grieves Williams of the University of Sydney argued that further "understanding of the true nature of Aboriginal identity gives us an opportunity to begin to make decisions on who has the right to claim Aboriginality." Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald in 2016, Ben Wyatt called on all Australian citizens to recognize

5400-487: The biological criterion to an individual's self-identification, it has been criticised as continuing to accept the biological criterion as primary. It has been found difficult to apply, both in each of its parts and as to the relations among the parts; biological "descent" has been a fall-back criterion. A new definition was proposed in the Constitutional Section of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs ' Report on

5500-525: The blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established: And whereas it is expedient to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth of other Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with

5600-459: The consent of a state before alteration by referendum. Chapter VII: Miscellaneous contains provisions on varied topics. Section 125 establishes Melbourne as the nation's temporary capital, while providing for the eventual capital to be established within New South Wales but no less than one hundred miles (160 km) from Sydney . In 1911, New South Wales ceded to the Commonwealth what is now

5700-529: The constitution we've got", and replacing the Constitution with a system that does not include states. Constitution Day is observed on 9 July, the date Queen Victoria assented to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act in 1900. The date is not a public holiday. Constitution Day was first held on 9 July 2000 to mark the centenary of the Constitution in the lead up to the Centenary of Federation . Further events have not been widely held since 2001. The day

5800-514: The continent, Aboriginal peoples became British subjects. After Federation , the "Australian governments and the people had no use for the Aborigines." Consideration of the indigenous population was limited to the "problem" of the potential for their number to influence the composition of the House of Representatives, and that was "solved" with section 127. Actual responsibility for the Aboriginal people

5900-426: The country being questioned about their Aboriginality. In December 2019, a video of a fair-skinned Aboriginal man being confronted by two neighbours in his home went viral . The video showed a woman attempting to tear down an Aboriginal flag, while both questioning the man's Aboriginality and using anti-Aboriginal racial slurs. Former Federal Government Senator Nova Peris remarked upon the contradiction, tweeting how

6000-468: The criteria for identifying a person as a member of such a "race", the definition by Justice Deane has become accepted as current law. Deane said: ...By "Australian Aboriginal" I mean, in accordance with what I understand to be the conventional meaning of that term, a person of Aboriginal descent, albeit mixed, who identifies himself as such and who is recognised by the Aboriginal community as an Aboriginal. While Deane's three-part definition reaches beyond

6100-441: The development of Aboriginal social organisation", she says. Aboriginal identity contains interconnecting parts, some or all of which may constitute an individual's self-identification: Observing particular aspects of Aboriginal culture and spiritual beliefs help to maintain continuity and cohesiveness within a community. Ceremonies can play a large role in passing down Dreaming lore, customs connection to country , and laws of

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6200-586: The development of, Aboriginal identity within modern Australia. Historian Rebe Taylor , who specialises in Australian Indigenous peoples and European settlement, has been critical of negative associations of Aboriginal identity, such as with the Australian welfare system. On 11 February 2020 the High Court of Australia , in a judgement affecting two court cases ( Love v Commonwealth of Australia; Thoms v Commonwealth of Australia : [2020] HCA 3), first used

6300-422: The distribution of seats between the states to the benefit of states with larger Aboriginal populations (though not to the benefit of the Aboriginal people). Concerns were expressed at the 1897–98 Federation Convention about the distribution of seats and also the possibility of states receiving reduced monies from Commonwealth grants if section 127 were not included. The language of section 127 does not include

6400-406: The document's history is that the act remains in force as a statute of the UK, despite Australia's subsequent independence. Under traditional legal theory, the Constitution is binding by virtue of the UK parliament's paramount authority over Australian law; however, various members of the High Court and some academics have expressed the view that the Constitution now derives its legal authority from

6500-504: The document. For example, the convention under responsible government that the governor-general may only appoint as prime minister a member with the support of the majority of the House of Representatives follows from the requirement that ministers must sit in Parliament and money cannot be spent by the executive government unless authorised by law (passed by the House). Section 127 of

6600-439: The equivalent of one fully Aboriginal grandparent." In May 2019, The Guardian revealed how Liberal Party candidate Jacinta Price , daughter of Aboriginal activist Bess Price , had received criticism for incorrectly calling into question a constituent's Aboriginal identity, referring to him as a white Australian . In June 2019, government minister Ben Wyatt , who had admitted struggling with his own Aboriginal identity as

6700-405: The era of colonial and post-colonial government, access to basic human rights depended upon your race. If you were a "full-blooded Aboriginal native ... [or] any person apparently having an admixture of Aboriginal blood", a half-caste being the "offspring of an Aboriginal mother and other than Aboriginal father" (but not of an Aboriginal father and other than Aboriginal mother), a " quadroon ", or had

6800-538: The event of inconsistency between the laws. Section 52 contains a brief list of topics that only the Commonwealth may legislate upon. Some relevant powers of the governor-general are provided here: to summon, prorogue or dissolve the Parliament, and to give or refuse royal assent to federal bills. Other matters dealt within the chapter include eligibility issues for voting or standing in elections; and miscellaneous matters regarding parliamentary procedures and allowances. Chapter II: The Executive Government sets down

6900-676: The first time. However, debate about the definition became heated, particularly in Tasmania , over whether the emphasis should be on identification by self and/or community or by descent. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC) emphasised evidence of descent, and started refusing services to people who had previously been identified as Aboriginal. A report commissioned by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) found that people seeking to identify as Aboriginal should satisfy all three criteria, and should provide documentary evidence to show

7000-400: The governor-general to act on the advice of ministers and the existence of cabinet and the prime minister. This was intentional on the part of the framers of the constitution, however the High Court has found these principles arise as a matter of implication. Chapter III: The Judicature sets up the judicial branch. Commonwealth judicial power is vested in a federal supreme court to be called

7100-514: The group. Recognition of Aboriginal land rights in Australia has played a decisive role in the development of Aboriginal identity, as "lands rights has demanded that both Aborigines and white develop and articulate definitions of a unique Aboriginal identity." Academic Gordon Briscoe has also proposed that, among many other factors, Indigenous health has historically shaped this identity, particularly in relation to British settlement of Australia. Anthropologist Ian Keen suggested in 2006 that

7200-400: The immediate effect of including Aboriginal Australians in population estimates. The other question put in the referendum , to allow the number of seats in the House of Representatives to be increased without increasing the number of senators , was rejected. Other racially discriminatory parts of the Constitution were left in place. One immediate consequence of the repeal of section 127

7300-531: The late date which it agreed to join Federation. The preamble names all states except Western Australia, mentions God and recognises that the Australian people have agreed to unite under the Constitution. It ends with the standard enacting clause of the United Kingdom , acknowledging the Queen and the UK houses of Parliament as the legal authority of the act. WHEREAS the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on

7400-407: The monarch of Australia as well. However, other academics have suggested that this clause merely ensures that references to "the Queen" are not restricted to whoever was the monarch at the time of the enactment (i.e. Queen Victoria) and extends the meaning of the phrase to whoever is the currently lawful monarch under Australian succession law. As these laws are not automatically the same as those of

7500-504: The net undercount of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 17.4%, and the estimated Indigenous population is around 952,000 to 1,000,000, or just under 4 per cent of the total population. Constitution of Australia [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution ) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia . It

7600-506: The other five colonies. At Federation, six British colonies became a single federated nation. Some British Imperial laws remained in force, together with those of the Australian colonies although, according to Robert Menzies , "the real and administrative legislative independence of Australia" was never challenged after federation. The power of the British Imperial Parliament to legislate with effect in Australian federal law

7700-585: The powers of the executive government. Executive power is vested in the monarch and exercisable by the governor-general , who appoints the Federal Executive Council and is to act with its advice. The governor-general is empowered to appoint and dismiss ministers, and is the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian armed forces. However, the Constitution does not set out explicitly the constitutional conventions of responsible government that require

7800-458: The propensity for children of mixed partnerships to identify as Indigenous. One possible confounding factor is that the census question allows a person to acknowledge both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origins but does not allow a person to acknowledge both Indigenous and non-Indigenous origins – perhaps leading to the expectation that people of mixed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal origin will identify as Aboriginal. Other reasons suggested after

7900-513: The provisions of the Migration Act 1958 , after both had earlier been convicted of criminal offences and served time in prison until 2018. Having determined that both men (Love and Thoms) fulfilled the criteria of identification as Aboriginal, the Justices held "that it is not open to the Parliament to treat an Aboriginal Australian as an "alien" because the constitutional term does not extend to

8000-492: The race power and section 127 as part of the racism in Australia's constitutional DNA. In the 1960s in the lead-up to the repeal of section 127, racist attitudes towards Aborigines were openly expressed. For example, the Sydney Morning Herald characterised the idea of trying to count the indigenous population as part of the census as both "a mildly entertaining historical oddity" and as "more difficult than rounding up

8100-403: The recency of one's Aboriginal ancestors does not determine one's identification as Aboriginal. Many intangible aspects of culture are transmitted through families and kinship systems . Often, having living Aboriginal relations is the main determinant of cultural connectedness. "Family, kinship, relatedness and connectedness are the basis of Aboriginal world-views and the philosophy that underpins

8200-409: The representatives attending both must be chosen directly by the electorate. Each electorate of the House of Representatives is apportioned equally by population, whereas senators are allocated unevenly between "original states", the territories, and future states (of which none presently exist). The House of Representatives is required to have twice as many members as the senate. Chapter I also defines

8300-492: The role of the monarch in relation to the Parliament, although the monarch's own powers over legislation are now regarded as defunct. The chapter notably also provides for the powers of the Commonwealth parliament. The Parliament is not granted plenary power by the Constitution. Section 51 contains a list of topics Commonwealth Parliament is permitted to legislate upon (known as the heads of power ). States may also legislate upon these topics, but Commonwealth law prevails in

8400-596: The scale of varieties of Australian Aboriginal languages "plays an important role in questions of Aboriginal identity". There are subsets to Aboriginal identity in Australia. Regional versions relating to a specific Aboriginal sub-culture or sub-ethnic group include a large number of groupings , based on language, culture, traditional lands, demonym or other features, but there is also a broader "pan-Aboriginal self-identification". Aboriginal music has been positively utilised in public performances to non-participating audiences to further enhance public recognition in, and

8500-507: The six self-governing British colonies in Australia: New South Wales , Victoria , Queensland , Western Australia , South Australia and Tasmania . This final draft was then approved by each state in a series of referendums from 1898 to 1900. The agreed constitution was transmitted to London where, after some minor modifications, it was enacted as section 9 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 , an act of

8600-435: The socioeconomic indicators of the two groups, particularly in urban areas, leading to government policy possibly moving away from Indigenous-specific services or benefits in these areas. In the 2021 Australian census , 812,000 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, representing 3.2% of the population. This was an increase from 2.8% in 2016 (i.e. about 25%increase), and 2.5% in 2011. Of these: However,

8700-430: The states and their role in the federal system. Sections 106–108 preserve the powers of the states, section 109 provides that Commonwealth legislation prevails over that of a state to the extent of any inconsistency. Section 111 provides for surrender of state territory to the Commonwealth, section 114 forbids states to raise military forces without Commonwealth permission, and also forbids the Commonwealth to tax property of

8800-845: The term is used today to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general and refers to any people of such heritage regardless of their level of skin pigmentation. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley , proudly embraced the term "black", and writer Kevin Gilbert 's book from the time was entitled Living Black . The book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community, including Robert Jabanungga , reflecting on contemporary Aboriginal culture. Use of this term varies depending on context and its use needs care as it may be deemed inappropriate. Evidence from biographies has shown that, unlike white people, Aboriginal people do not define themselves in terms of race, but rather culture; Aboriginal historian Victoria Grieves says that

8900-411: The tripartite test used by Justice Brennan in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) to determine Aboriginality of the two plaintiffs. The court then determined that if a person is thus deemed to be an Aboriginal Australian, they cannot be regarded as an alien in Australia, even if they hold foreign citizenship. The two men concerned, Daniel Love and Brendan Thomas, could not thus be deported as aliens under

9000-597: The very beginning". Until the 1980s, the sole legal and administrative criterion for inclusion in this category was race, classified according to visible physical characteristics or known ancestors. This was similar to the legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrum in the American South which had been present from 1662 onward during the colonial era and mandated that a child's status was determined by that of their mothers: if born to Aboriginal mothers, children were considered Aboriginal, regardless of their paternity. In

9100-483: The woman "in her rage, unable to think rationally blurt[ed] out her final angry remarks of ‘go & live in a humpy on the river’ yet seconds earlier... was adamant...they weren't Aboriginal." The numbers of Indigenous-identifying people have grown since 1986 at a rate far exceeding that of the whole population and what would be expected from natural increase. This rise has been attributed to various factors, including increased preparedness to identify as Indigenous and by

9200-441: The words statistic or census , and consequently the Commonwealth had the power to collect data on the Aboriginal populace, though what was collected lacked quality and comprehensiveness. Its purpose was not to deny information to the government but to give effect to a belief that the indigenous peoples of Australia were separate from the colonists joining together to form a nation. As the British gradually acquired sovereignty over

9300-500: The years. A leading judgment by Justice Brennan in the 1992 Mabo v Queensland (No 2) case (which relates to Indigenous of the Torres Strait exclusively) stated that an Indigenous identity of a person depends on a three-part test: biological descent from the Indigenous people; recognition of the person's membership by that person; and recognition by the elders or other persons enjoying traditional authority among those people. This

9400-456: Was left to the individual states (explaining their exclusion from race power ); this contributed to the mistaken belief that Aboriginal Australians were considered as 'flora and fauna' until the 1967 referendum on the status of Aboriginals , which was originally the metaphor of pioneer Aboriginal filmmaker Lester Bostock to describe the status of Indigenous Australians, not a statement of fact. Constitutional scholar George Williams has described

9500-533: Was presented with a statement of Aboriginal political objectives by Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Wenten Rubuntja , in what became known as The Barunga Statement . Among many requests, the Statement called for the Australian government to facilitate "respect for and promotion of our Aboriginal identity, including the cultural, linguistic, religious and historical aspects, and including the right to be educated in our own languages and in our own culture and history". In 1978,

9600-413: Was repealed effective 10 August 1967 following the 1967 referendum . Section 127 was included in the Constitution of Australia when it was ratified, and stated that: The interpretation of section 127 depends on the language used in other parts of the Constitution. Section 24 mandates that each state is entitled to members in the House of Representatives based on a population quota determined from

9700-518: Was restricted by the UK's passage in 1931 of the Statute of Westminster , adopted into Australian law by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 . The adoption act acceded Australia to the Statute of Westminster retroactively, with the date set to 3 September 1939, when Australia along with the rest of the British Empire entered World War II. The Statute did not however remove the ability for

9800-430: Was revived in 2007 and is jointly organised by the National Archives and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship . The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) was granted royal assent on 9 July 1900. It consists of nine sections. Section 9 contains the Constitution itself. Since the Constitution itself is divided into sections, sections 1 to 8 of the Act have come to be known for convenience as

9900-490: Was that this draft constitution sidestepped some critical issues like tariff policy. The 1891 draft was submitted to colonial parliaments; however, it lapsed in New South Wales. After that event other colonies were unwilling to proceed. In 1895, the six premiers of the Australian colonies agreed to establish a new convention by popular vote. The convention met over the course of a year from 1897 to 1898. The meetings produced

10000-532: Was to prevent the inclusion of Aboriginal people in Section 24 determinations of the distribution of House of Representatives seats amongst the states and territories . After these references were removed by the 1967 referendum , the Australian Constitution had no references to Aboriginal people. (These amendments altered Section 51(xxvi) , and Section 127 , having the immediate effect of including Aboriginal people in determinations of population, and also empowering

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