Greg Marks
Greg Marks
BA (UNSW), Dip ED (Sydney University), M.Int.Law (ANU).
Contact details:
Email: gmarks@webone.com.au, Phone: 0407894395
Biography
Greg Marks is a Canberra-based consultant and researcher specialising in international human rights law, Indigenous rights, native title and land rights. He has previously worked in education, international labour standards and international development. He has represented Australia in bilateral development assistance negotiations and at meetings of UN agencies including UNICEF, the International Labour Organisation, the UN Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Before coming to Canberra Greg Marks worked in the Northern Territory in Aboriginal education and Aboriginal Affairs. He maintains an active interest in Indigenous affairs in the Northern Territory, in particular policy and programs concerning outstations and homelands.
Greg Marks has authored submissions to UN treaty bodies and Australian Parliamentary Inquiries, and published articles on:
• the origins of international law and its relation to European colonial expansion;
• international human rights standards and the UN Human Rights treaty bodies; and
• native title, land rights, and Indigenous policy generally
He has provided consultancy services to a range of organisations including state and federal Government agencies, the Human Rights Commission, Aboriginal organisations, and NGOs such as UNICEF and Amnesty International.
He is a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and a Visiting Fellow. He is a member of the Committee of Management of the Australian Branch of the International Law Association, and convenor of its Indigenous Rights Committee.
Current research interests
· Australia’s international legal obligations in respect of Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
· In particular the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
· The international crimes of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide, and the potential relevance of the development and jurisprudence of these international laws to the Australian context.
· Government policy, at both Commonwealth and State and Territory levels in respect of Aboriginal settlement choices – in particular with regard to the attempt by Governments to recentralise the remote Aboriginal population away from homelands, outstations and similar small to medium-sized communities and towards large Aboriginal settlement and regional towns such as Alice Springs and Katherine.
· Indigenous aspirations to live on, care for and take control of their traditional lands and waters.
Selected publications
G. Marks, “Toeholds on Country: Aboriginal Community Living Areas in the Northern Territory” in Indigenous Law Bulletin March/April 2012, Volume 7.
G. Marks, “Coercive Governance and Remote Indigenous Communities: The failed Promise of the Whole of Government Mantra” in Australian Indigenous Law Review 2008 Vol 12.
G Marks, ‘Australia, Indigenous Rights and International Law’, (2006) 6 Indigenous Law Bulletin, (based on presentation made to 72nd ILA Conference Toronto 2006. See:http://www.ila2006.org/Marks.pdf)
G Marks, (Book review) “Frontier Justice – a history of the Gulf country to 1900” by Tony Roberts, Indigenous Law Bulletin, May/June 2005, Volume 6 (11)
G Marks, “Australia, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and Indigenous Rights”, Indigenous Law Bulletin, November 2004, Volume 6(7).
G Marks, The Value of a Benchmarking Framework to the Reduction of Indigenous Disadvantage in the Law and Justice area, Background Paper No 3, Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, June 2004.
G Marks, “International Law and Indigenous Peoples” in The Library of Essays in International Law (Ashgate Publishing 2003).
G Marks, “Avoiding the International Spotlight: Australia, Indigenous Rights and the UN Treaty Bodies” Spring 2002 University of Nottingham, Human Rights Law Review.
G Marks, “Indigenous Rights and the Origins of International Law”, Australian Indigenous Law Reporter Vol 5 No 2 July 2000.
G Marks, “Law, Theology and Justice in the Spanish Colonies” Australian Journal of Law and History Vol 4 No 2 1998
G Marks, Race Discrimination and Indigenous Issues. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Society for International Law, June 1998
G Marks, Indigenous Rights in International Law: The Significance of Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolome de Las Casas Australian Year Book of International Law 1993
Reports (written or edited)
”Race Discrimination, Special Measures and the Northern Territory Emergency Response” Amnesty International 2009,
“Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent” Amnesty International 2010
Arrangements for Indigenous affairs – facilitating Indigenous access to government services, for Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2006.
The delivery of essential services to outstations and smaller communities in the Northern Territory for DIMIA, June 2005.
Native Title and Agreement Making: A Comparative Study for Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2003.
Benchmarking Reconciliation and Human Rights for Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2002.
Report of the Sydney Regional Conference on Indigenous Peoples and Racism, for the UN World Conference against Racism. ATSIC 2001.
Building on Land Rights for the Next Generation - A guide to the Report by John Reeves on the Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. ATSIC 1999.