LAW5499 First people treaties

This unit is organised around five interconnected themes.

It opens by examining the concept of modern domestic treaties between states and Indigenous peoples; interrogating how such instruments are defined, their legal status within domestic and international law, and the theoretical frameworks of sovereignty and self-determination that underpin them. The unit then situates Australian developments within a global context through an overview of North American treaty-making, tracing the history of treaty relations with Indigenous nations in Canada and the United States from early colonial compacts through to contemporary land claim agreements and self-government arrangements, and drawing lessons from both their achievements and their limitations.

You will then undertake a focused study of the Treaty of Waitangi, examining its contested text and translation, its evolving interpretation by the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal, and its role as a living constitutional document in Aotearoa New Zealand's legal order. The unit then turns to the history of treaty advocacy in Australia, charting the long arc of First Nations demands for formal recognition — from the 1979 Aboriginal Treaty Committee through to the Uluru Statement from the Heart — and analysing why Australia has historically resisted what comparable nations have embraced.

Finally, you will engage in depth with the law and practice of state wide and local treaties in Victoria, examining the legislative architecture of Victoria's Treaty process, the role of the First Peoples' Assembly and the Treaty Authority, the Yoorrook Justice Commission's findings, and the practical and jurisprudential questions that formal negotiations will raise for lawyers advising governments, communities and individuals alike.