Repealing Section 51(xxvi) of Australian Constitution: A Step towards Eliminating Racial Discrimination against Indigenous People

Constitutional Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................7
Books and Journals:....................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The Constitution of Australia is said to be the 'Grund Norm' or the 'Supreme Law' of the
country. It is also defined as ' the Birth Certificate of the nation'. It provides with certain
fundamentals for the proper functioning of the governmen1t. The Commonwealth of Australia
and the other states Parliament are bound by the Constitution. If the Parliament passes any law
which is ultra vires to the Constitution then the law would become invalid for any further
enforcement. The following essay elaborates the history of the section 51(xxvi) along with the
Referendum of 1967. It also entails that how the power under this section harmed the Aboriginal
community by introducing Northern Territory Intervention in 2007, launching of 'Uluru
Statement”. The proposal received 90 percent votes of the majority of Australian
population .Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are also known as the First residents of
Australia. They posses their own culture, customs and traditions, language. They are diversified
among their community2. They have a distinct recognition which make their culture and
historical civilization different from the non-indigenous people of Australia. The word
Indigenous covers both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. The essay also specifies the
reasons as to why the repeal of the section should be made along with the possible
recommendations of the same.
MAIN BODY
Section 51(xxvi) of the Australian constitution states that the Australian
Commonwealth(government of Australia) has the power to make specific laws for the citizens
of any race. This is the current situation of the Australian Constitution but earlier the Parliament
did not recognize the involvement of Indigenous people which are also known as the First People
1 "AUSTRALIA's CHANGING CONSTITUTION" (2013) 2(19)
2 Attwood, Bain, "The Founding Of Aboriginal History And The Forming Of Aboriginal
History" (2013) 36 Aboriginal History Journal
1