• A new book by a Charles Sturt University constitutional law expert explains how the Constitution would need to be amended in order for Australia to meet its international obligations
• It proposes a number of reforms including constitutional protection of a right not to be discriminated against on grounds of race or ethnic origin
• The book will be launched at 6pm on Monday 25 March at Charles Sturt University in Barton, Canberra

A Charles Sturt University constitutional law expert has written a new book that addresses the debate about Indigenous constitutional recognition and presents a radical approach to the constitutional position of Indigenous people.

The book, Indigenous Peoples and Constitutional Reform in Australia – Beyond Mere Recognition, by Dr Bede Harris (pictured, inset), Senior Lecturer in Law in the Charles Sturt Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences, explains how the Australian Constitution would need to be amended so Australia meets its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Yindyamarra Nguluway at Charles Sturt University will host the launch of Indigenous Peoples and Constitutional Reform in Australia – Beyond Mere Recognition at 6pm on Monday 25 March at Charles Sturt University in Canberra.

In the book, Dr Harris argues that the use of the term ‘constitutional recognition’ to describe the process initiated in 2010 led to debate being misdirected during the 2023 Referendum on the Voice to Parliament.

“‘Constitutional recognition’ gave rise to the impression that the constitutional position of Australia’s Indigenous peoples would be addressed simply by a constitutional acknowledgment of their existence, rather than the inclusion in the Constitution of substantive rights enforceable by the courts,” Dr Harris said.

“My research had a different starting point. The purpose of my book is to explain how the Constitution would need to be amended in order for Australia to meet its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which it ratified in 2009.”

The book proposes a number of reforms, including:

• Self-determination achieved through the dual mechanism of the creation of an Indigenous state and the allocation of administrative responsibility over the provision of services to Indigenous people living outside that state;

• the recognition of Indigenous law and the creation of conflict of law rules that would determine how Indigenous law and received common and statute law would interact;

• constitutional protection of a right not to be discriminated against on grounds of race or ethnic origin;

• a constitutional right to culture that included within its terms a positive obligation on the Commonwealth to take steps to provide the means for the maintenance and development of culture;

• the re-drafting of section 51(xxvi) of the Constitution so as to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people rather than to people of a particular race;

• the allocation of designated seats in the House of Representatives to Indigenous voters choosing to enrol on an Indigenous voters’ roll;

• the establishment of an Indigenous body to advise parliament and the executive on matters relating to Indigenous peoples; and

• a mandatory presumption of statutory interpretation that, in cases of ambiguity, legislation must be interpreted consistently with the UNDRIP and with any treaty or treaties that might be entered into between Commonwealth or State governments and Indigenous peoples.

Dr Harris emphasised the role that comparative study had played in writing the book.

“Each of the proposed reforms has been implemented by some other country,” Dr Harris said. “In other words, none of these measures is in any way extraordinary, rather it is Australia’s failure to follow the example of other countries in giving effect to the United Nations Declaration that is extraordinary.”

Dr Harris also said that while ideally reforms should be implemented through constitutional amendment, some of them could be achieved through ordinary legislation and that those campaigning for Indigenous rights should not let the defeat of the Voice referendum deter them from achieving advancement in that way.

The launch of Indigenous Peoples and Constitutional Reform in Australia – Beyond Mere Recognition is at 6pm on Monday 25 March at St Mark’s Campus, Charles Sturt University, 15 Blackall Street, Barton, Canberra, ACT.

The event will be facilitated by Professor Mark Evans, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Charles Sturt University and the book will be launched by Professor Dominic O’Sullivan, Professor in Political Science in the Charles Sturt School of Social Work and Arts.

The launch will be followed by a panel discussion on pathways forward for Australia’s First Nations people after the Voice. The panellists will be Professor Stan Grant Junior, Chair, Yindyamarra Nguluway Advisory Group, Charles Sturt University and Michelle Grattan, AO, FASSA, Chief Political Correspondent at The Conversation.

Indigenous Peoples and Constitutional Reform in Australia – Beyond Mere Recognition is published by Springer and can be purchased online.