2012/09/01 by Elisa Arcioni · 7 citations
Social Sciences · #Commonwealth, Australian Politics and Federalism #Constitution #Indigenous #Parliament #Referendum #Project commissioning #Law #Publishing #Sociology #Political science #Politics
paper · doi:10.22145/flr.40.3.1
published in Federal Law Review 40(3), 287-315 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2012/09/01 · openalex created_date 2021/02/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Until 1967, Indigenous Australians were excluded from being counted as amongst ‘the people’ in the Australian Constitution , by s 127. That section was deleted by referendum. However, s 25 remains in the Constitution , and allows for the reintroduction of such exclusion. This article is a detailed reconsideration of both sections in light of an understanding of ‘the people’ as a reference to the constitutional community represented by the Parliament. Exclusion of Indigenous Australians prior to 1967 is considered, highlighting the way in which s 127 operated. Then, the position post-1967 is addressed to show that the deletion of s 127 did not result in equality because s 25 continues to provide for racial exclusion. This article argues that this ongoing possibility of exclusion by s 25 affects the nature of the Australian constitutional community, by indicating that it can be racially discriminatory.