Economic self-determination and opportunities for First Nations
2 August 2024
On 23 July 2024, the Law Council appeared before the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs on its inquiry into economic self-determination and opportunities for First Nations peoples.
The Law Council’s submission and evidence before the Committee was targeted towards how legal mechanisms and initiatives can make a positive impact along the path towards economic self-determination for First Nations people. In particular, the Law Council made the following comments:
- The right to economic self-determination allows First Nations people to pursue their own economic development to prosper in their lives, and practically speaking is a pre-condition to the enjoyment of broader self-determination rights.
- Land rights, broader native title rights, and Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights are some of the key tools in the broader economic self-determination landscape for First Nations people. Achieving this aim requires the right enabling environment. For this, the Government has looked predominantly to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap for direction, but the latest report from the Productivity Commission indicates that the Government is not doing enough. Therefore, we encourage the Government to consider a legislative oversight mechanism to drive the implementation of the Agreement through monitoring and assessment.
- The Government should act to implement the United Nations Declaration Rights on Indigenous Peoples, including through the adoption of a National Action Plan.
- The Government should identify opportunities to simplify legal and regulatory settings to further enable First Nations economic ventures across a range of sectors.
The Law Council was represented by Greg McIntyre SC (President), Anthony McAvoy (Chair, Indigenous Legal Issues Committee) and Ashna Taneja (Principal Policy Lawyer – Human Rights).
Last Updated on 14/11/2024
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