Discrimination In Australia

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In Australia, there are many different groups who are still to this day faced with problems leading them to suffer disadvantage both in the legal system and in everyday life. A group who is faced with these troubles daily, and have been for a long time are Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, they suffer due to their culture and traditions which have effect on the racism and discrimination faced on a regular basis, the criminal justice system, and recognition of their land. There are legal responses in place for these issues as the Government addresses them however the efficiency varies. Discrimination occurs when somebody is unfairly treated by belonging to a certain group of people and for decades, the Government has attempted…show more content…
While Indigenous peoples only represent 3% of Australia’s population, “more than 28% of Australia’s prison population are Aboriginal” and among this 28% of peoples a large number of deaths were being caused by the police and prison authorities, both directly and indirectly after they had been arrested by police. Seeing this as an issue, the Australian Government created the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Circle Sentencing) Regulation 2009 under the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 in which the court considers the “facts found by the court, or pleaded to by the defendant, in connection with the offence, together with the person’s antecedents and any other information available to the…show more content…
Native Title is the acknowledgement and recognition of Aboriginal peoples traditional ownership of the land as part of common law (University, n.d.). Native Title is recognised by the Australian legal system and describes the right and reflection of the close bondage between the land and persons “which is the very foundation of Indigenous religion, culture and well-being”. Eddie Mabo was a member of the Meriam people from the Murray Islands in Torres Strait and a passionate activist for his people’s rights. In May 1982, Eddie and four other Meriam peoples sought action by the High Court to have their traditional land rights acknowledged, however, before the trial concluded, Mabo and two other plaintiffs died but this did not conclude the battle. On June 1992, after 10 years’ worth of pleading through numerous courts, the High Court ruled against the colonial view that the lands were not ‘Terra nullius’ meaning ‘belong to no one’ and that the Meriam people were 'entitled as against the whole world to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the lands of the Murray Islands'. On January 1 1994, the Native Title Act was passed by the Keating government and ‘recognises and protects native title’ whilst also providing validation of grants to the land that would have previously been invalid.
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