Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
Prerequisites
Nil
Incompatible
LHRG111 Human Rights and Indigenous People
Unit rationale, description and aim
Indigenous, or First Peoples, have experienced systematic abuse of human rights by colonisers the world over. Many countries, in particular Australia, have been slow to address historic abuses and commit to truth and treaty. Reconciliation implies a prior relationship, which is being formalised by Australian States by way of treaty and reconciliation initiatives, and at the federal level, the Voice to Parliament. Nations and international institutions also have a significant role in advancing healing. This unit will address human rights from an Indigenous perspective and Indigenous rights from a human rights perspective. The aim of the unit is to equip human rights graduates with an appreciation of the size and scope of the challenges our world and this country faces to realise human rights for Indigenous peoples, including indigenous Australians.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description |
|---|---|
| LO1 | Describe key themes and principles applicable to modern approaches to Indigenous human rights principles |
| LO2 | Evaluate contemporary responses to the realization of Indigenous human rights |
| LO3 | Apply contemporary principles to case studies |
Content
Topics will include:
- Statist Conceptions of Rights and the Rights of Peoples
- Alternative Approaches and the Rise of Indigenous Rights in International Law
- International Protections Against Racial Discrimination
- Indigenous Self-Determination
- The Terrible History of Colonisation
- Systematic Abuses of First Nations Rights in Australia
- Contemporary Laws and Policies Addressing the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- International Comparisons
- Contemporary Activism and Political Movements
- Reform
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit will be delivered using a combination of lectures and workshops. Other study components might include on-line webinars, podcasts, readings, discussion forums etc. The balance of the hours is comprised of self-directed study.
Following consultations with Indigenous academics and members of State Parole Boards, the strategy employed in this unit involves students’ active participation in practical learning and assessments that focus on real-world problems and challenges. In these ways the unit seeks to help students to develop their problem solving, decision making and investigative skills with regard to issues of human rights within criminal justice. This unit engages students in active learning activities, such as reading, writing, discussion and problem-solving to promote analysis, synthesis and evaluation of class content. Students will also work collaboratively in groups to prepare and deliver a Parole Hearing Simulation. Collaborative learning is an important component of active learning and sits within a community of inquiry theoretical framework. It provides opportunities for a group of individuals to collaborate in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and mutual understanding.
Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.
Assessment strategy and rationale
The proposed assessment tasks in this unit comprise a strategy that is explicitly created to support achievement of, and determination of, the unit Learning Outcomes. They do this through integration with the learning and teaching strategy above.
Subject to further revision, it is proposed that this unit be assessed by three assignments: a short written task focused on the requisite content knowledge, a research assignment, and a final examination.
1. Short Written Task. Students will be required to describe key themes relating to an aspect of Indigenous human rights. This may take the form of a short answer test, in-class ‘minute paper’ or other equivalent task.
2. Research Essay. This assessment requires students to critically evaluate societal responses illustrated by the current state of corrections law. The research essay will allow students to engage with the scholarship on specific approaches to research and write a substantial essay that responds to a question that engages with key issues within the human rights of Indigenous people.
3. Case Study Application of International Law. In exam conditions, students will complete a complex problem involving the application of international principles of Indigenous rights. This will involve a written submission.
Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment 1: Short Written Task This assessment builds knowledge around the law, policy and practice of Indigenous rights. | 10% | LO1 |
Assessment 2: Research Essay This assessment develops skills around evaluating societal responses to those who are incarcerated, including relevant domestic and international frameworks. | 40% | LO2 |
Assessment 3: Final Exam In exam conditions, students will complete a complex problem involving the application of international principles of Indigenous rights. This will involve a written submission. | 50% | LO3 |
Representative texts and references
James Crawford, ed., The Rights of Peoples, Clarendon Press.
United Nations, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf
Irene Watson, Aboriginal Peoples, Colonialism and International Law: Raw Law (Routledge, 2014)
Inala Cooper and Shannan Dodson, ‘Marrul (Changing Season)’ in Paula Gerber and Melissa Castan (eds.) Critical Perspectives on Human Rights Law in Australia (Thomson Reuters, Sydney, 2021) 350
Heather McRae and Garth Nettheim, Indigenous Legal Issues: Commentary and Materials (Thomson Reuters, 2003) Chapter 12 International Law
Larissa Behrendt, Chris Cunneen, Terri Libesman and Nicole Watson, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Relations (2nd ed, Oxford University Press, 2018)
Garth Nettheim, Indigenous Rights, Human Rights and Australia (Australian Studies Centre, 1987)
S. James Anaya, Indigenous Peoples in International Law (2nd ed, Oxford University Press, 2004)
Antony Anghie, and Chimni, B, ‘Third World Approaches to International Law and Individual Responsibility in Internal Conflicts’ (2003) 2(1) Chinese Journal of International Law 77.
Kishaya Delaney, Amy Maguire and Fiona McGaughey, ‘Australia’s Commitment to ‘Advance the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples around the Globe’ on the United National Human Rights Council’ (2020) 41(2) Adelaide Law Review 363.
Darryl Cronin, ‘Trapped by history: democracy, human rights and justice for indigenous people in Australia’ (2017) 23(2) Australian Journal of Human Rights 220.