Agreement-making: the need for democratic principles, individual rights and equal opportunities in Indigenous Australia

The recent discussion paper published by the government's Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians posed the addition of an agreement-making power as one of its ideas for reform.1 The Law Council also listed agreement-making as one of its reform options. It has been suggested that such a power could be modelled on s 37 of the Canadian Constitution, which provides a commitment to regular constitutional conferences or other processes to discuss Indigenous rights. Or, the provision could mirror s 105A of the Australian Constitution which allows the Commonwealth to make agreements with the states in relation to debts. Other ideas include a statement of values or recognition of Indigenous people in either the preamble or a substantive section, deletion of racist provisions currently in the Constitution, and the inclusion of a new non-discrimination guarantee for all Australians.