Achieving Social Justice: Indigenous Rights and Australia's Future

by Larissa Behrendt

This new work argues that a broad Indigenous rights framework is crucial to achieving positive change in the socio-economic disadvantage into which Indigenous Australians are born. It explains why addressing problems in Indigenous communities at a practical level needs to be done in conjunction with rights protection.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Larissa is the author of three novels: Home, which won the 2002 David Unaipon Award and the regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book; Legacy, which won the 2010 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing; and After Story. She has published numerous books on Indigenous legal issues; her most recent non-fiction book is Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling. She was awarded the 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year award and 2011 NSW Australian of the Year. Larissa wrote and directed the feature films, After the Apology and Innocence Betrayed and has written and produced several short films. In 2018 she won the Australian Directors’ Guild Award for Best Direction in a Documentary Feature and in 2020 the AACTA for Best Direction in Nonfiction Television. She is the host of Speaking Out on ABC radio and is Distinguished Professor at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.

Reviews

[Emory Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very insightful book that covers a range of areas (e.g. housing, health, criminal justice system) and provides background, context and solutions. I think I'll be referring back to it a lot in the future.

[Mel]

This is not true, I did not finish this book, but I had to return it to the library, but I don't know how to do a dnf in goodreads!

[Indigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larissa Behrendt - what a woman! She was the first Aboriginal Australian to obtain a doctorate from Harvard Law School.
The book itself was a clear and comprehensive breakdown of how human rights may be fully realised in Australia.
Although written in 2003, none of the proposed actions have seen the light of day. There is still no treaty, no constitutional redress, no alternative institutions, nor an overturning of the psychological terra nullius that exists in the Australian psyche.

In Behrendt’s words, “Indigenous Australians remain the unreconciled, unattended aspect of Australians past and present, and until this relationship has been attended to and reconciled, it will continue to divide Australians”.

I also recommend her other book, 'Resolving Indigenous disputes: Land conflict and beyond' as a follow on. Or any of her other writings - anything that she touches is gold

[cali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author.