May 28th 2009

Last year healing tears were shed and new hope found when Prime Minister Rudd gave a national apology to Indigenous Australia for two centuries of oppression and disadvantage. But as the Intervention lingers with questionable success, matched by divisive and dubious media stereotyping, many Indigenous communities feel more marginalised than ever.

With two expert speakers, this public lecture examines familiar and emerging injustices arising from the Intervention. It contrasts Australian Indigenous policy with international human rights laws and conventions; then offers an alternative roadmap for reform that draws from key government reports and inspiring programs developed by Indigenous communities at the grass roots.

Alison Vivian

Alison Vivian is a lawyer and Senior Researcher with the UTS Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning. Awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2003/2004 she undertook a Master of Laws through the Indigenous Peoples' Law and Policy program at the University of Arizona, headed by some of the world's foremost indigenous legal scholars. Alison's primary research interests include Indigenous self-determination and native title. She was one of the team of lawyers who assisted a senior Indigenous people from the Northern Territory to prepare a complaint to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in relation to the Northern Territory Intervention.

Nicole Watson
A researcher with the UTS Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, Nicole is a member of the Birri-Gubba People and the Yugambeh language group. She studied law at the University of Queensland and completed a master of laws at QUT. Nicole is now collaborating with Professor Larissa Behrendt in writing a textbook on legal issues of significant concern to Indigenous communities. She became a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1999, has worked for Legal Aid Queensland, the National Native Title Tribunal and the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency. Nicole is also widely published.

Resources

• flyer (PDF 108k)
• audio recording (MP3 30.3 MB)

UTSPEAKS: is a free public lecture series presented by UTS experts discussing a range of important issues confronting contemporary Australia