Indigenous Law Centre - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Indigenous Law Centre, part of the Law Faculty at the University of New South Wales

University of New South Wales

The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

develops and coordinates research, teaching and information services in the multi-disciplinary area of Indigenous peoples and the law. The Centre publishes two major journals the Australian Indigenous Law Review and the Indigenous Law Bulletin.

History

The Indigenous Law Centre was previously the Aboriginal Law Research Unit which was established at University of New South Wales on 23 April, 1981. Emeritus Professor Garth Nettheim was the first chairman of the Unit. The origins however go back to early 1970 when the first Aboriginal legal service was established. Professor Hal Wootten was its first President and he operated the ALS from the UNSW Law School in its early years. When the Whitlam Government

Whitlam Government

The Whitlam Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1972 to 1975.-Background:...

funded Aboriginal Legal Services, the ALS’s found their time taken up with criminal representation and had no time for law reform advocacy. Thus UNSW Faculty of Law members found themselves still being contacted to give advice on legal issues such as land rights claims, environment law and administrative law matters. A small group of academics – Professor Garth Nettheim, Richard Chisholm, Pat O’Shane and Neil Rees

Neil Rees

Professor Neil Rees is an Australian jurist and legal academic. He is currently the Chairperson of the Victorian Law Reform Commission , Victoria's chief law reform organisation....

established a “back-up centre” or legal research centre that could assist the frontline Aboriginal Legal services and Aboriginal Land Councils. Thus in 1986 the Aboriginal Law Research Unit became the Aboriginal Law Centre. The ILC has worked with the Indigenous community and has been involved in High Court cases such as Koowarta v Bjelke-Peterson (1982) 153 CLR 168, Mabo v Queensland [No 2](1992) 175 CLR 1http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/HCA/1992/23.html?&nocontext=1 and international indigenous rights advocacy such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Publications

The Indigenous Legal Centre publishes two journals:

The Australian Indigenous Law Review
The Indigenous Law Bulletin

Indigenous peoples and public law

Focusing on legal issues related to the recognition of Indigenous rights and constitutional reform; extra parliamentary representation of Indigenous peoples; critical engagement with the idea of a bills of rights; legislative developments affecting Indigenous rights; native title and land rights; stolen wages; “democracy” and Indigenous peoples; intellectual property reform; the nexus between public law reform and health; human rights impact of climate change on Indigenous communities.

Indigenous peoples and international law

Focusing on Indigenous legal issues in international law; United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Indigenous peoples advocacy at the UN; UN human rights treaties, treaty bodies and indigenous specific jurisprudence; Convention on the Rights of the Child and Indigenous children; Indigenous peoples, trade and WTO; Indigenous peoples and WIPO.

Indigenous women and Australian democracy

A study of how Indigenous women fare in contemporary democracies, in particular Aboriginal women in Australian democracy; Indigenous women’s issues and Australian public institutions; Aboriginal women, human rights and aboriginal law; Indigenous women and the right to self-determination; Indigenous women and extra-parliamentary representative structures.

Staff

Director - Megan Davis
Coordinator - Janette Murdoch
ILB Editor - April Long
AILR Editors - Daniel Threlfall and Daniel Wells
Researchers - Alyson Henry
Volunteers - Kristyn Glanville

Centre Associates

UNSW Centre Research Associates - Sean Brennan, Emeritus Professor Garth Nettheim
Centre Research Associates - Kyllie Cripps, Brenda Gunn, Greg Marks and Caroline Taylor

The Director

Megan Davis is the Director of the Centre and is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, UNSW.
Megan's published scholarship includes Indigenous issues in public law, in particular, Indigenous peoples and Constitutional issues and Aboriginal women's issues in Australian democracy. Megan's research also includes Indigenous peoples and international law, in particular examining UN treaty body jurisprudence and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the WTO. Megan is also an Australian member of the International Law Association’s Indigenous Rights Committee.

Megan supports the North Queensland Cowboys

North Queensland Cowboys

The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.