RACE AND THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION: FROM FEDERATION TO RECONCILIATION

Abstract

The framing of the Australian Constitution initiated a pattern of discrimination against Australia's Indigenous peoples. They were cast as outsiders to the nation brought about in 1901. This pattern was broken in 1967 by the deletion of the discriminatory provisions from the Constitution. Today, there is strong community support in Australia for the reconciliation process, which would involve recognition of Indigenous peoples as an integral and unique component of the Australian nation. However, this has yet to be translated into substantive legal outcomes. The author analyses the interaction of issues of race and the Australian Constitution as it has affected Australia's Aboriginal peoples, and concludes with an examination of contemporary proposals for reform.