"Indigenous Recognition in the Constitution" a lunchtime seminar with Prof Megan Davis and Henry Burmester AO QC.

Indigenous Recognition in the Constitution.

A lunchtime seminar with Professor Megan Davis and Henry Burmester AO QC

In January 2012 the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians presented its report Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution to the Prime Minister. The Panel recommended that Australians should vote in a referendum to among other things insert a new section 51A to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to preserve the Australian Government’s ability to pass laws for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In response to the Expert Panel’s Report, Parliament established a Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. That Committee has been asked to consult further on the model, and to help to ensure secure and strong cross-party support so that a proposal can be put to the Australian people at a referendum. The Committee has yet to release its report. Professor Megan Davis is from Queensland and has Aboriginal and South Sea Islander background. She is an Expert Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Director of the Indigenous Law Centre, Faculty of Law at the University of NSW, and an Australian member of the International Law Association’s Indigenous Rights Committee. She was a member of the Expert Panel. Mr Henry Burmester AO QC was Chief General Counsel in the Australian Government Solicitor for over a decade and before that head of the Office of International Law in the Attorney-General's Department. He was a member of the Expert Panel.

Date: 1 July 2014
Time: 12:30pm
Location: Ground Floor, 4 National Circuit, Barton, ACT

To register email: megancaristo@gmail.com