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Term4
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Unit Summary

Unit type

UG Coursework Unit

Credit points

12

Unit aim

Outlines the application of British and Australian laws to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since 1788. Discusses the impact of law and policy relating to land, intellectual property, cultural heritage, the natural environment, criminal justice, child welfare, and discrimination. Contemporary legal issues will also be considered in areas such as Indigenous governance, recognition and self-determination.

Unit content

Module 1:  Dispossession and Colonisation

Module 2:  Warfare to Welfare: genocide and racial discrimination

Module 3:  Equality before the law: Criminalisation

Module 4:  Land Rights and Native Title

Module 5:  Racial Discrimination and the law

Module 6:  Unfinished business and emerging issues

 

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1 list the impacts of colonial and post-colonial law and policy in relation to Australian Indigenous peoples, including the terra nullius doctrine, protection policy and assimilation policy
2 examine possible avenues for reparation and redress, particularly as they apply to the stolen generations
3 recognise the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the criminal justice system
4 outline the arguments and processes involved in reconciliation, Constitutional recognition, treaty, and sovereignty.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. list the impacts of colonial and post-colonial law and policy in relation to Australian Indigenous peoples, including the terra nullius doctrine, protection policy and assimilation policy
  2. examine possible avenues for reparation and redress, particularly as they apply to the stolen generations
  3. recognise the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the criminal justice system
  4. outline the arguments and processes involved in reconciliation, Constitutional recognition, treaty, and sovereignty.

Prescribed texts

  • Behrendt, L, Cunneen, C & Libesman, T, Watson, N, 2018, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Relations, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. ISBN: 9780190310035.
Prescribed texts may change in future teaching periods.