Rees, Neil; Nettheim, Garth --- "Guest Editorial" [2001] IndigLawB 53; (2001) 5(11) Indigenous Law Bulletin 4
Guest Editorial
By Neil Rees and Garth Nettheim
It is quite a challenge to select material for a retrospective overview of 20 years of the Bulletin: some 128 issues marshalled in over 4 volumes of 30 issues each.
Ideally, such an overview would represent the several components that go to make up a typical issue. It would also reflect the range of matters that are dealt with such as land rights and native title, recognition of customary law, Indigenous political rights, criminal justice and juvenile justice issues, child welfare, policing, problems within Indigenous communities such as violence and substance abuse. It would also represent coverage of such matters in other countries, together with developments in International Law.
The selection would include pieces which herald significant legal developments, authoritative analyses of such events, articles which remind us of important matters that may have faded from memory, and articles which represent clarion calls for legal and policy change.
Such an ideal selection would also aim to give an idea of the range of contributors over the years – Indigenous and non-Indigenous; Australian and non-Australian; academics, practitioners, politicians, leaders of organisations, students; male and female; young and not-so-young.
And it would also reflect the ebb and flow of events and concerns and personalities over the two decades, and to select those with resonances for the present.
An initial browse through the back numbers led us to a fresh appreciation of the richness of the Bulletin as a resource. We began by tagging many more pieces than we could possibly reproduce, and we had to progressively pare them down, bearing in mind the considerations mentioned above. We selected out a number of items with considerable regret. Indeed, it would have been possible to run a dozen commemorative selections. But a primary aim of the Bulletin has always been to be brief, and to average no more than 24 pages. For this retrospective in a larger commemorative issue, we have the relative luxury of 36 pages. Some great but longer articles had to be left out so as to allow for a spread of topics and contributors.
We hope that the selection process does some justice to 20 years of the Bulletin. We hope also that it may stimulate readers to do their own read back into past issues, aided, no doubt, by the comprehensive consolidated Index and Tables for the first four volumes, published as (2001) 5 (10) ILB.
Over the years the Bulletin has sometimes heralded significant legal events. For example, the Mabo litigation was first discussed in June 1982, even though the High Court did not deliver its final judgment until 10 years later. Historic documents are also found in the Bulletin's pages, represented in this selection by former Prime Minister Paul Keating's Redfern Park Speech.
In a small way the Bulletin may have made a contribution beyond ‘just more words’ (the title of the first editorial, which is also reproduced). It has been cited in numerous judgments of the High Court of Australia and of other superior courts. And it has become a vehicle through which Indigenous people, and others who support their struggle, can communicate about the events of the day and their hopes for the future.
A Potted History of the ILB
The Bulletin was born, with the Centre, in 1981, but there have been some changes along the way. The Centre began as the Aboriginal Law Research Unit; in 1986 it became the Aboriginal Law Centre; and it became the Indigenous Law Centre in 1997. The Bulletin began as the Aboriginal Law Bulletin, and became the Indigenous Law Bulletin in 1997 with the commencement of Volume 4. The founding editors (volunteer and part-time) were Neil Rees and Greg Lyons. It was funded initially for 4 issues per year by the Law Foundation of NSW (1981) and by that Foundation with the Victorian Law Foundation (1982). Thereafter it was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs, now ATSIC. Such funding allowed appointment of a salaried editor as well as covering production costs. The Bulletin was first circulated as a supplement to the Legal Services Bulletin (now the Alternative Law Journal), but is now distributed independently. Subscription income has become increasingly significant. Funding has occasionally been provided by other bodies to assist with special thematic issues.
The first full-time editor was Alistair Walton. He was followed by Lyn Dennerstein. Next, the position was job-shared by Terri Libesman, Aileen Kennedy and Kathy Bowrey. After Kathy and then Aileen had moved on, Terri was joined by Jason Behrendt. Other editors have been Margie Cronin, Jenny Kremmer, Joanne Murphy, Heidi Libesman, Toni Bauman, Carolyn Cerexhe, Stephen Bennetts, Natasha Case, Kevin Dolman and Teena Balgi, with shorter-term contributions by various others.
The number of issues per year has increased from the original four; first to 6, at one (brief) stage in 1996-1997 to 12, and currently 8.
In December 2000 the Centre was proud to receive the Human Rights Award for Print Media for the Indigenous Law Bulletin. While the focus for the award was one particular issue, on "Indigenous Women and Law" 4 (25) ILB, the jury indicated that the award also reflected the achievement of the Bulletin over the years.
We are happy to have been associated with the Bulletin from the beginning and to have observed how it has gone from strength to strength.