Comparative Indigenous Rights (LAWS90127)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability(Quotas apply)
August
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This highly topical subject analyses the rights of Indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Topics discussed include Aboriginal title and the doctrine of discovery, treaties, land and resource rights, self-determination, and Indigenous families and justice. The subject will be taught from a critical perspective, comparing and assessing the treatment of Indigenous rights in the four jurisdictions. In exploring these issues, the subject will also examine aspects of legal pluralism, and assess a variety of normative and political justifications for Indigenous rights.

Indicative list of principal topics:

  • History of the concept of Aboriginal title and the doctrine of discovery
  • Concepts of sui generis agreement-making between Indigenous peoples and governments
  • Implications of distinctions between government obligations and Indigenous rights
  • Overview of current practice
  • Law applicable to Indigenous entities
  • Legal framework for Indigenous governance
  • Human rights and their influence on Indigenous rights
  • Remedies.

Intended learning outcomes

A student who has successfully completed this subject will:

  • Have a broader understanding of the rule of law and its relationship to colonialism in the selected countries
  • Appreciate the sources of Indigenous legal traditions within Indigenous rights, including the development of an appreciation for the role of non-textual materials in understanding law
  • Identify how Indigenous legal traditions can be made more accessible through formal state legal institutions and Indigenous community mechanisms
  • Develop practical reasoning skills necessary to apply Indigenous law to contemporary problems and conflicts
  • Critically and constructively examine tensions between governments and Indigenous communities
  • Have a sophisticated theoretical and doctrinal understanding of each of the topic areas used in the syllabus to explore the relationship between Indigenous peoples' law and formal state law
  • Distinguish and analogize, compare and contrast, the treatment of Indigenous rights in four jurisdictions
  • Understand the relationship of Indigenous rights to property law, contract law, constitutional law and international law.

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

None

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.

Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

Class particpation

Throughout the teaching period10%

In-class presentation

  • 5 minutes
Day 510%

Option 1: Take-home examination

  • 5000-6000 words
3 - 6 October 202580%

Option 2: Research paper on a topic approved by the subject coordinator

  • 7000-9000 words
29 October 202580%
Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required.Throughout the teaching periodN/A

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Quotas apply to this subject

Dates & times

  • August
    Principal coordinatorJeff Hewitt
    Mode of deliveryOn Campus (Parkville)
    Contact hours34
    Total time commitment150 hours
    Pre teaching start date23 July 2025
    Pre teaching requirementsPlease refer to Canvas LMS to check on the pre-class readings and preparatory learning activities before the teaching period commences. 
    Teaching period20 August 2025 to 26 August 2025
    Last self-enrol date28 July 2025
    Census date22 August 2025
    Last date to withdraw without fail 3 October 2025
    Assessment period ends 7 November 2025

    August contact information

    Teaching staff:

    Jeff Hewitt (Subject Coordinator)

     

    For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office

What do these dates mean

Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:

  • Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
  • And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
       -  Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
     

    Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.

Additional delivery details

Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters enrolment webpage for further information about re-enrolment, subject quotas and waitlists. 
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options. 

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Further information

Last updated: 4 March 2025