Justicein the Australian Leagal System for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
- Submitted by: laurenmihaly
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- Date Submitted: 02/13/2010 01:26 AM
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Equality and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) is today an integral part the fabric of Australian culture, however that has not always been the case. For many years after Australia was settled by the British and it was declared ‘ Terra Nullius’ all its citizens have been subject to a system of laws based upon British common law. This has been an ongoing source of conflict as the indigenous communities had, and to an extent still have, a system of law based on traditional customs and culture.
In evaluating the effectiveness of the Australian legal system (ALS) in achieving justice for ATSI peoples, a number of measures will be considered;
Community standards
Resource efficiency
Accessibility
Protection of individual rights
Equality
Enforceability
The ALS is both effective and ineffective in addressing community standards regarding the ATSI people. Since the displacement of these people after settlement numerous legislative acts have been established to reflect the way the community sees Indigenous Australians. Community standards have evolved over time. In 1967, a referendum was held to determine whether part of s51 and s127 of the constitution would be amended. Over 90% of the public voted for the changes and thus the constitution was amended. This is an example of the effectiveness of the ALS as the changes allowed laws to be made for the protection of ATSI peoples and allowed them to be counted in the census as wanted by the public. However, on the same token, the standards of the indigenous communities were not met as the referendum did not give them citizenship or the right to vote as desired.
Resource allocation is inefficient. A sizeable percentage of ATSI people reside in rural or remote communities and are poorly served with the resource that people in urban and populated areas take for granted, which includes access to legal aid, healthcare, education, transport,...
In evaluating the effectiveness of the Australian legal system (ALS) in achieving justice for ATSI peoples, a number of measures will be considered;
Community standards
Resource efficiency
Accessibility
Protection of individual rights
Equality
Enforceability
The ALS is both effective and ineffective in addressing community standards regarding the ATSI people. Since the displacement of these people after settlement numerous legislative acts have been established to reflect the way the community sees Indigenous Australians. Community standards have evolved over time. In 1967, a referendum was held to determine whether part of s51 and s127 of the constitution would be amended. Over 90% of the public voted for the changes and thus the constitution was amended. This is an example of the effectiveness of the ALS as the changes allowed laws to be made for the protection of ATSI peoples and allowed them to be counted in the census as wanted by the public. However, on the same token, the standards of the indigenous communities were not met as the referendum did not give them citizenship or the right to vote as desired.
Resource allocation is inefficient. A sizeable percentage of ATSI people reside in rural or remote communities and are poorly served with the resource that people in urban and populated areas take for granted, which includes access to legal aid, healthcare, education, transport,...