Constitutional recognition and reform: developing an inclusive Australian citizenship through treaty

ABSTRACT

Eight years after the Expert Panel on Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Australian Constitution was established, institutional reform to empower Indigenous peoples in this country has not been realised. This article argues that the persistent failure to progress constitutional reform stems, in part, from dominant conceptions of Australian citizenship that deny Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoplehood. It follows that meaningful institutional reform is possible only if Australian citizenship is reconceptualised in a manner that makes room for the distinctive status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Treaties offer a path forward to develop this new understanding of Australian identity and ground institutional reform.

在设立“宪法承认原住民以及托里海峡岛民”专家小组之后的八年里，增强澳大利亚原住民权力的制度改革并未实现。本文认为，宪法改革所以举步维艰，是因为主流的的澳大利亚公民观不承认原著民和托里海峡岛民的人民地位。因此，除非对澳大利亚公民身份做重新理解，为原住民以及托里海峡岛民留出空间，货真价实的制度改革就不可能实现。协商可以形成对澳大利亚身份的更新理解，为制度改革打下基础。

KEYWORDS:

• Citizenship
• treaty
• aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
• indigenous
• shared-fate
• constitutional reform
• constitutional recognition

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Paul Patton, Stephen Young, Ulf Mörkenstam and participants at the Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy, Auckland, 14–16 July 2017, and the Political Theory workshop at Stockholm University, 5 October 2017 for helpful comments on earlier drafts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Harry Hobbs is a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales.

ORCID

Harry Hobbs http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9903-6908