Indigenous people in Australia want to have a say in the way they are treated by the government. They want to participate in making laws that impact them, they want a treaty, and they also want a non-discrimination clause in the constitution. Right now, the Australian constitution has a clause that can be used to prevent Indigenous Australians from voting. This is a big problem, and people want to change it.
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In Australia, 19,552 people (4%) identified as of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. The Census the ABS has estimated that the Indigenous population in 2006 numbered 517,174, or approximately 2.5% of the total Australian population. The Indigenous Australian population is very young and is growing quickly in comparison to the non-Indigenous Australian population. |
Indigenous leaders came together at Uluru in May of this year to come together and decide how to move forward and get Indigenous recognition into the Constitution of Australia. The goal of the meeting was to develop a statement for non-Indigenous Australians so that they understood what the concerns of the Indigenous people were and what they wanted from constitutional change.
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The government has to change the constitution to get rid of discrimination, and sign a treaty. In Canada, Aboriginal peoples are recognized in the constitution, and in BC, land claims and modern treaties are being completed. These are important steps towards reconciliation, and these activities would probably work in Australia too.
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