Treaty Making : 250 Years Later

This continent was colonised without consent. No treaty was signed at first contact or in the years thereafter. Australia is a nation state on shaky ground, one of few without a treaty with Indigenous people.

However, recently, Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland have committed to entering treaty processes with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations whose lands fall within their borders. This is the first time in Australian history that any government has opened a treaty process. While it is momentous, it is not without its challenges given the historical absence of a treaty.

In this edited collection, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars and policy-makers from Australia and New Zealand engage with the legal, historical and political dimensions of treaty-making in Australia. These considered and nuanced contributions provide a roadmap for how to develop a legal artifice and treaty relationship that delivers justice.