The Return to the Legal and Citizenship Void: Indigenous Welfare Quarantining in the Northern Territory and Cape York
Balayi: Culture Law and Colonialism, Vol. 10, pp. 29-44, 2009
17 Pages Posted: 13 Oct 2009
Date Written: October, 13 2009
Abstract
This article will suggest that the universal quarantining of Indigenous people's social security in Northern Territory communities is a departure from Indigenous people's citizenship rights. The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007 (Cth) ('Social Security Amendment Act'), which is part of the Commonwealth's 'emergency' measures, represents a return to a historical legal void where Indigenous people had neither rights to their culture nor citizenship rights. The Northern Territory policy will be compared to the Commonwealth and State welfare reforms in Cape York, Queensland. Welfare quarantining in Cape York applies to an individual who fails a 'responsibility' test. It is distinct from the blanket approach to Indigenous welfare recipients in Northern Territory communities. Nonetheless, both systems apply distinctly to Indigenous people and require the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth). Both curtail citizenship rights and deny capacities for Indigenous communities to develop their own strategies or economies. In essence, they represent the reemergence of a legal void between Anglo-Australian and Indigenous laws that is filled by paternal state policies.
Keywords: Indigenous legal rights, racial discrimination, social security
JEL Classification: K10, K30, H55, I30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation