Aboriginal Self-Determination Case Study

Words: 313
Pages: 2

Aboriginal Australians have strived to achieve self-determination for their communities which has been largely hindered by the Australian government. However, this has not always been the case. When the leader of the labour party Gough Whitlam was elected to be the Australian Prime Minister in 1967 he envisioned for the Aboriginal people to have their own self-determination granting them the ability to govern themselves within their communities. It states in article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that “all peoples have the right of self-determination”(http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx). Australia signed onto the covenant on the 18th of December 1972 under Prime Minister Gough Whitlam