Law and Indigenous Peoples (LAWS90008)

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject students will:

• Recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values as they relate to the diversity of Indigenous systems of law and justice operating in Australia today, and compare and contrast these to the values underpinning the settler legal system in Australia.
• Understand and articulate key debates around the legal definition of Indigeneity in Australia and the impacts of these debates on the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of a range of critical and theoretical perspectives on the relationship between the Australian settler state and Indigenous peoples, and key frameworks for understanding Indigenous rights and resistance in Australia.
• Critically analyse the ways in which Australian law is similar to, and differs from, other settler states and international law in the regulation of state-Indigenous relationships;
• Express their views clearly in writing and orally and to contribute to constructive public and scholarly debates on issues relating to Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination;
• Demonstrate analytic and problem-solving skills necessary to engage with complex legal disputes involving Indigenous peoples and their interests
• Develop racial literacy with the ability to critically evaluate specific representations of Indigenous Australians and settler Australians within legal texts;
• Demonstrate an understanding and put into practice key protocols and knowledges relevant to respectfully working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in legal practice.

Generic skills

• Develop arguments as to the appropriate legal principles to apply in various contexts by creatively and critically evaluating Australian law as it relates to Indigenous peoples;
• Enhance their personal and professional skills, including learning autonomously, being accountable for one's work, self-reflection on performance and ethical professional conduct;
• Facilitate discussion around key debates to extend their own and their colleagues learning;
• Conduct self-directed research on topics relevant to this complex, cross-disciplinary field of law in written work showing evidence of critical thought, sophisticated analysis, self-reflection and rigorous argumentation;
• Present arguments in the form of written and oral work that is clear, responsive to purpose and in which arguments and claims are appropriately structured, developed, supported and referenced;
• Demonstrate reflection skills, including the ability to engage in high-level analysis and critical reflection, and to develop and articulate legal reform ideas for social change based on theoretical and empirical knowledge of the operation of the law.