English colonisation of Australia was problematic due to the British lack of acknowledgement of indigenous people’s proprietorship of the land for thousands of years. When English settlers colonised Australia, their actions suggested the land was terra nullius; a legal doctrine claiming land to be ‘occupied by no one’ (Bailey, 1997). Under this principle the British government colonised Australia establishing British sovereignty and imposing their laws to govern the land under the Crown (Indigenous Notes). However, terra nullius does not legitimize British colonization of Australia as there was little or no negotiation with indigenous inhabitants, due to British beliefs that indigenous people were inferior to white settlers; colonists were
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Overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in the legal system (statistics indicate Aboriginal people are 13 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Aboriginal people ) remains a complicated issue caused by social, economic and political factors, causing great indigenous disadvantage. Whilst indigenous people comprise less than two per cent of the total population they make up approximately nineteen per cent of the prison population due to inherent problems in traditional criminal justice system responses to processes and to the indigenous individuals offending. Criticism of the Australian Legal System suggests that the system may be working exactly how it was intended to; refined by privileged civilians with unintentional but present discrimination towards indigenous individuals. This indicates the system may not be damaged, but must adjust to comply with our progressive societal values.
The relationship between Indigenous Australians and the Australian Legal System did not initiate positively, changing only after Mabo and the invalidation of terra nullius as the legal system moved positively towards acknowledging Indigenous disadvantage and cultural uniqueness. To advance Indigenous Australians rights in our legal system, programs enabling indigenous groups to engage in the community and legal system need to be maintained. Furthermore, these problems can only be resolved by understanding the issues causing disadvantages towards Indigenous
Overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in the legal system (statistics indicate Aboriginal people are 13 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Aboriginal people ) remains a complicated issue caused by social, economic and political factors, causing great indigenous disadvantage. Whilst indigenous people comprise less than two per cent of the total population they make up approximately nineteen per cent of the prison population due to inherent problems in traditional criminal justice system responses to processes and to the indigenous individuals offending. Criticism of the Australian Legal System suggests that the system may be working exactly how it was intended to; refined by privileged civilians with unintentional but present discrimination towards indigenous individuals. This indicates the system may not be damaged, but must adjust to comply with our progressive societal values.
The relationship between Indigenous Australians and the Australian Legal System did not initiate positively, changing only after Mabo and the invalidation of terra nullius as the legal system moved positively towards acknowledging Indigenous disadvantage and cultural uniqueness. To advance Indigenous Australians rights in our legal system, programs enabling indigenous groups to engage in the community and legal system need to be maintained. Furthermore, these problems can only be resolved by understanding the issues causing disadvantages towards Indigenous