Indigenous Participation In Policymaking And Drafting In Australia: An Essay.

The Right to Vote for Indigenous Australians in Federal Elections

The Indigenous population of Australia has been historically marginalised and has been subjected to a history of social oppression and prejudice. This has been largely attributed to the colonial history of the country and the systematic exclusion of the community due to imposed racial prejudices (Beresford & Omaji, 1998). It is therefore important to assess the participation and the inclusion of the Indigenous population of Australia in the process of policymaking and drafting and to understand how their worldview has been projected through history (Randell-Moon, 2017). This essay will discuss two essential events of Aboriginal history. The first event that will be discussed is 1962, when the Aboriginal people first received the right to vote in the Federal elections. The second event that will be assessed is the 1969 event of disbanding of state-run Aboriginal protection and welfare boards. In context with these two major events, this essay will try and present how the Indigenous population of Australia and its culture has been perceived historically and how it impacts their perception in the contemporary context. In addition, a reflective analysis of the situation will also be included to summarise this essay.

The Aboriginal Australians were granted the universal right for voting in the Federal elections with the passing of the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962. The rights of the Indigenous Australians were ceased by the Australian federation in the year 1901. By the year 1949, only Indigenous Australians who were servicemen had the right to vote, and it was only in the year 1962 that the population had a right to vote in entirety in the Federal elections (Except in Queensland where these rights were applied in the year 1965) (Chisari, 2012). Universal suffrage is an essential fundamental right and has been a central cornerstone of protests worldwide, with the essential demand of formal registration as an equal human with registration to vote (Beresford & Omaji, 1998). In the years of constitution development and reform, the rights of the indigenous population were heavily restricted. In the year 1922, in northern territory, the rights of the Indigenous people were subject to permissions granted by the officials who could decide if an individual was Indigenous or not (Korff, 2018). The role of individuals like AP Elkin and Indigenous organisations like the Aborigines Friends Association had a monumental role in achieving the right to vote for the Indigenous Australians. It is important to understand the significance of this event in terms of its social as well as political implications. Access to the right to vote for the populations meant ensuring political equality between the indigenous and the non-indigenous populations of Australia. This also implied that they could now be part of representation and could impact the process of elections with their participation (Cooper, 2018). This also resulted in an impact on how the indigenous and the non-indigenous populations were viewed in the sociological lens of the society (Beresford & Omaji, 1998). It is critical to understand that the oppression and the suppression of the indigenous communities of Australia resulted in negligence of their ideas and opinions, and these could now be registered through voting in equation with the non-indigenous Australians (Beresford & Omaji, 1998). This also allowed the population to ensure representation of the indigenous candidates in the government bodies and thus participate in the process of democracy as a complete citizen. Therefore a change in the social position of the indigenous community could now be imagined, and the worldview of the community could also be presented. This event in the history of the indigenous population is also significant for the universal suffrage where the Indigenous population was acknowledged as a political equal in the electoral process (Sinclar & Slockee, 2019).

The Aborigines Act of 1969 and its Impacts on Indigenous Australians

Another significant event that was crucial for the aboriginal community of Australia was the passing of the Aborigines Act of 1969. The Aborigines act of 1969 was passed to ensure the inclusion of the indigenous community of Australia, and this resulted in the rendering of the Aborigines Protection Act of 1909 ineffective. In addition, this act also resulted in the abolishment of the Aborigines Welfare Board. Under the Aboriginal Welfare Board, a control over the lives of the Indigenous people of Australia (Garwood-Houng, 2020). Abolition of this board was an essential aspect of ensuring improved living conditions and for the social upliftment of the indigenous population of Australia. It was under the pretext of the Welfare Board that the indigenous community was subjugated and was subjected to forced assimilation (Thorpe & Wills, 2021). These programs were developed to ensure control and to oppress the community and thus impacted the development of the community as a whole with restrictions imposed on their civil liberties. Suppression of the civil liberties by the system provided a secondary position to the Indigenous community of Australia. This impacted how the community was perceived by the non-indigenous groups living in the country. This also resulted in a deliberate and a state-sanctioned discrimination against the people of the community (St Leon, 2020). Therefore, the abolishment of the welfare Board was an essential change that ended a period associated with the erasure of the history of the Indigenous communities and their silencing. The participation of the community in the process of decision making and for the development of agency as an individual or as the community as a whole was diminished by the existence of the Welfare Board (Beresford & Omaji, 1998). The passing of the Aborigines Act was thus an act of emancipation for the indigenous community. It was through this act that the dignity of the community was restored. Therefore, it has major sociological implications (Thorpe & Wills, 2021). The passing of this Act altered the position of the indigenous community as more equal citizens in the society and provided support for growth, acknowledgement and reclamation of the community (Pearson, 2018). By abolishing the power dynamic that existed between the controllers in the Welfare Board and the indigenous community, a symbol of equality was also ascertained through the Aborigines Act (Sinclar & Slockee, 2019). This dynamic was conserved by ensuring a lack of agency and establishment of control on the community (Cooper, 2018). Hence, it impacted the social relationship between the Aboriginal and the non-indigenous people of Australia.

Both the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 and the Aborigines Act of 1969 have been two emancipatory steps that came into existence with acknowledgement of suppression and repression of the humanitarian rights of the indigenous population of Australia (Thorpe & Wills, 2021). While the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 aimed at providing the political equality to the indigenous community, the Aborigines Act of 1969 was a step towards the social emancipation of the community (Cooper, 2018). Both these acts changed the normative understanding of the Indigenous community and focussed on ensuring the participation of the community in the society and ensuring their effective inclusion in social as well as a political sphere and by recognising them as equals in social as well as the political sense (Pearson, 2018).

Significance of the Events: Sociological and Political Implications

In reflection of how these acts and processes impacted the Indigenous population of Australia, a multidimensional perspective comes into existence. There is a need to consider the social and political implications of how the society is constructed and how it impacts the communities to develop this discussion. The Indigenous community of Australia has been subjected to systematic discrimination, violence, and injustice with the history of repression of their fundamental rights (Korff, 2018). Therefore, the application of these acts helps in understanding how the position of the community has changed and has evolved so far in the community. It emerges as a primary observation that the social rights of the community were discussed second to the political rights, and hence, the two should be seen in conjunction. With political rights available to the community, they could impact the processes of power and thus also impact the overall social dynamic of the society. With improved representation and acknowledgement through the political representation, the social emancipation was also paved (Thorpe & Wills, 2021). This asserts that there is a need to focus on improved representation and participation of the Indigenous community in the processes of policymaking and social actions. This will help in understanding their situation in a holistic manner and help in development of interventions that are beneficial (Sinclar & Slockee, 2019).

This essay provides a critical analysis of the two primary events associated with the Indigenous community of Australia. Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 and the Aborigines Act of 1969 are discussed in this essay with an evidence-based approach that hep in concluding that the two events were emancipatory for the Indigenous population. Through this essay, it can be concluded that the participation of the indigenous community is integral for the development and growth of the community in terms of their social, political, and economic positions. The role of these events in the evolution of the worldview of the indigenous and non-indigenous populations needs to be acknowledged and assessed further in research and discussions.

References

Beresford, Q., & Omaji, P. (1998). Our state of mind: Racial planning and the stolen generations. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. https://www. talogue.nla.gov.au%2FRecord%2F1871762&usg=AOvVaw3UgfxBo6l1Iwp81LPbrTtx

Chisari, M. (2012). The history and values of Australian citizenship testing. New voices, new visions: Challenging Australian identities and legacies, 137-151. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320243722_Chisari_M_2012_The_history_and_values_of_Australian_citizenship_testing_In_C_Elder_K_Moore_Eds_New_voices_new_visions_Challenging_Australian_identities_and_legacies_pp_137-151_Newcastle_UK_CSP 

Cooper, J. (2018). In the beginning were words: Aboriginal people and the franchise. Journal of Australian Studies, 42(4), 428-444. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14443058.2018.1535447 

Garwood-Houng, A. (2020). Renaming-reclaiming country. Endeavour voyage: The untold stories of Cook and the first Australians (pp. 22-25). Canberra: Australia. HTTPS:// www.nma.gov.au%2Fexhibitions%2Fendeavour-voyage&usg=AOvVaw18NORCIJ85yfqsw3DKL3AX 

Korff, J. (2020). Voting rights for Aboriginal people. Creative Spirits, 14. https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/selfdetermination/voting-rights-for-aboriginal-people?ref=vidupdatez.com/image 

Pearson, L. (2018). Australia is not a multicultural country. https://indigenousx.com.au/australia-is-not-multicultural/ 

Randell-Moon, H. (Ed.). (2017). Incarceration, migration and indigenous sovereignty: thoughts on existence and resistance in racist times. Space, Race, Bodies. https://carceralgeography.com/2018/03/22/incarceration-migration-and-indigenous-sovereignty-thoughts-on-existence-and-resistance-in-racist-times-free-to-download-now/ 

Sinclair, K., & Slockee, T. (2019). Colonisation: Australia's dark side. Parity, 32(10), 44-46. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.092624518750964 

St Leon, M. (2020). Celebrated, then implied but finally denied: The erosion of Aboriginal identity in Australian circus, 1850s to 1950s. In The Routledge Circus Studies Reader (pp. 209-233). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003136934-11/pathways-excellence-developing-aboriginal-education-policy-eleanor-bourke 

Thorpe, K., & Willis, C. (2021). Aboriginal histories in Australia government archives. Acid Free Magazine. https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/146773/2/Aboriginal%20Histories%20in%20Australia%20Government%20Archives.pdf