ABSTRACT
For the past two decades, there has been a substantial reconciliation movement in Australia that has been working towards reconciling Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This movement started in 1991 with the passing of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991 (Cth) and the formation of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR). The movement has continued in the 21st century through the work of two national reconciliation organizations, Reconciliation Australia and Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation. During these 20 years of the reconciliation movement, it has been argued that historical injustices inflicted upon Indigenous peoples should be addressed through providing reparations to Indigenous peoples and acknowledging Indigenous rights. For example, Pat Dodson, the Chairperson of CAR between 1991 and 1997, argued for the development of a treaty between Indigenous peoples and the Federal government that should address a number of fundamental principles, including reparations, compensation, regional self-government and agreements, and a broad range of Indigenous rights, such as cultural rights, intellectual property rights, self-determination and rights of political representation (Dodson 2000a, 264–274; 2000b, 19–21). In May 2000 at a meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, Indigenous leaders Geoff Clark, Aden Ridgeway, David Ross and Pat Dodson advocated a number of Indigenous issues to be addressed by the reconciliation movement, including reparations and Indigenous rights (Ross 2001, 159–161; Saunders and Shanahan 2000, 5).
