M3 - Learner Manual

Constitutional Recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

The Australian Constitution was drafted at a time when Australian land was considered to belong only to white settlement. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not mentioned in the document. There are currently debates in the community about Constitutional Reform to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Constitution.

 

The Victorian Constitution

The Victorian Constitution is the Constitution Act 1975 (VIC). It specifically recognises Aboriginal people.

Recognition of Aboriginal people

1A. Recognition of Aboriginal people

(1) The Parliament acknowledges that the events described in the preamble to

this Act occurred without proper consultation, recognition or involvement of

the Aboriginal people of Victoria.

 

(2) The Parliament recognises that Victoria's Aboriginal people, as the original custodians of the land on which the Colony of Victoria was established

(a)  have a unique status as the descendants of Australia's first people; and

(b)  have a spiritual, social, cultural and economic relationship with their traditional lands and waters within Victoria; and

(c)  have made a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the identity and well-being of Victoria.

 

(3) The Parliament does not intend by this section-

(a)  to create in any person any legal right or give rise to any civil cause of action; or

(b)  to affect in any way the interpretation of this Act or of any other law in force in Victoria.