Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries.
In July, footage was made public of guards at a juvenile detention center in Australia’s Northern Territory using hoods, restraints and tear gas on aboriginal children, in what could be a violation of the U.N. treaty barring torture. In an email interview, Libby Porter, a principal research fellow at RMIT University in Melbourne, discusses indigenous rights in Australia.
WPR: What is the legal status of Australia’s indigenous peoples, and what are the key issues facing indigenous communities?