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Rees, Neil --- "Editorial from Issue Number 1, August 1981: Just More Words?" [2001] IndigLawB 55; (2001) 5(11) Indigenous Law Bulletin 6

Editorial from Issue Number 1, August 1981:

Just More Words?

by Neil Rees

This article originally appeared as the editorial for the very first Aboriginal Law Bulletin, Issue Number 1, August 1981.

It might seem that the Aboriginal Law Bulletin merely adds to the mound of literature devoted to Australia’s Aborigines. It is nearly five years since the Legal Service Bulletin devoted an issue to ‘Aborigines and the Law’ (December 1976). Aboriginal lawyer, Michael Dodson viewed the exercise with scepticism. He commented:

The continued discussions, conferences and publications appear to offer scant results immediately or in the long term. We, the Aboriginal people, are fully aware of the repressive and racist legal systems which subject us to great disadvantage and injustice. The great volumes of writings and works seem to be of little value to a people who live under exploitation, oppression and inequality not only before the law but in all other areas of social existence. We live that existence, we have small mileage in ‘experts’ exposing the problem.

The point is well made. It is difficult to deny that Aborigines have long provided scholars from many disciplines with a fruitful field of study. Lawyers are starting to discover this fact as more begin to write about the impact of a white legal system upon Blacks. The many interesting legal issues which have arisen often serve to divert attention from the injustices and social destruction which the white Australian legal system has caused among Aboriginal communities. Is this just another journal devoted to an academic study of legal niceties? We hope not, but the future depends largely upon gaining the support of people working with Aboriginal Legal Services, Land Councils and research organisations.

The primary aim of this Bulletin is to become a source of useful practical information for people working in the field of Aborigines and the law. It begins as a very modest publication with some pretensions. At various times the concept of Aboriginal Law Reports has been discussed. Too often, important decisions involving Aborigines are not included within the official reports and consequently they remain within the knowledge of a small band. Case notes will be a regular feature. They may expand into something larger.

A few Aboriginal Legal Services and Land Councils spasmodically publish newsletters but there is no national journal which enables people in one part of the country to learn of the legal developments hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. There is a lot happening and if the people who work for Legal Services and Land Councils are to provide the most effective service to their communities, they must be aware of activities elsewhere in the country. If the communities are to make full use of their Legal Services and Land Councils they too must be informed of achievements and developments in other regions. The Makaratta, the current work of the Australian Law Reform Commission on customary law, the re-introduction to the Senate of the Aborigines and Islanders (Admissibility of Confessions) Bill, the Human Rights Bills, the Pitjantjajara land rights legislation, proposals to amend the Northern Territory Land Rights Act, training schemes for Legal Service staff and the report of the NSW Legislative Assembly’s Select Committee on Aborigines are a few of the matters which must be noticed and discussed at a national level. This Review hopes to facilitate that discussion.

The Aboriginal Law Research Unit is the body responsible for the Review. On 24 April 1981 the Unit was formally established at the University of NSW. Its aims include the conduct and fostering of research on issues concerning Aborigines, Torres Strait Islanders and the law, the building of a specialised collection of resource materials, publication, the establishment of clearing-house activities for Aboriginal Legal Services and Land Councils and the promotion of conferences, seminars and teaching. The Unit does not claim to be a representative body; its present financial position has delayed plans for a national meeting of representatives of organisations working in the broad field of Aborigines and the law. The Unit’s steering committee meets regularly in Sydney and is comprised of lawyers, anthropologists and activists in the black community. The committee through its convenor, Garth Nettheim, has been in constant communication with Aboriginal organisations across Australia. We hope that this Review will facilitate further communication and action.

The NSW Law Foundation has donated sufficient funds to enable four issues of this Bulletin to be produced and mailed to interested persons. This assistance is gratefully acknowledged. Our next edition will be included in the December issue of the Legal Service Bulletin. We thank the LSB editorial committee for its support. We encourage people working with Aboriginal organisations to contribute information for national circulation; if this is done the Bulletin may, in a small way, further the cause of Aboriginal people.

Neil Rees is Professor of Law, and formerly Dean of the Faculty of Law, at the University of Newcastle. He was (with Greg Lyons) the first editor of the Aboriginal Law Bulletin.

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