This project is premised on the objective of promoting full recognition and protection for what has been variously defined as Australian Indigenous peoples' cultural expression, cultural knowledge, traditional knowledge or, perhaps more fittingly, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP).

Attempts to seek holistic recognition and protection of ICIP through the existing structure of copyright law, whether by way of litigation or legislative amendment, appear to have made only minimal contribution to the achievement of this objective. Similar shortcomings in the protection of ICIP may be found in both cultural heritage and native title law. Further attempts to modify these laws to protect ICIP may in fact be detrimental by obfuscating the need for more fundamental change.

While true and full recognition of ICIP may require the implementation of a holistic instrument such as sui generis legislation or some form of negotiated accord, Australia's current political landscape renders such an outcome unlikely in the near future. This project acknowledges the absence of such an instrument in addition to the shortcomings of copyright law, and focuses on the regulatory framework that surrounds the interaction between ICIP and existing laws.

Aboriginal Art and the Law Resource Page