Indigenous treaties in Australia

The objects of treaties between governments and Indigenous peoples may include: • provision of practical rights and compensation • initiation of a formal process of reconciliation between the group and government relating to past grievances • providing a framework for some type of self-determination for individual peoples or groups Research by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development shows that self-determination is an essential component in redressing entrenched disadvantage. Many Aboriginal Australians have said that a treaty or treaties would bring them real as well as symbolic recognition, and national debate has occurred for many years on the topic, alongside related matters such as Indigenous recognition in the Australian Constitution, land rights, and programs aimed at reducing disadvantage such as Closing the Gap. This type of treaty would involve a formal agreement which defines the relationship between government and First Nations peoples, and could include binding contracts on specific issues as well as practical measures relating to health and education. British colonial representatives negotiated treaties with Indigenous peoples in New Zealand and in Canada during early phases of settlement. The Treaty of Waitangi was concluded in 1840 at time when the future Colony of New Zealand was then part of the Colony of New South Wales. British treaty-making in North America began as early as sixteenth century and continued until Canada gained self-government in 1867, after which time the Canadian federal government entered into the Numbered Treaties (1871 to 1921). Colonial treaties also featured in African history: a chief of Bonny (in present-day Nigeria) in 1860 explained that he refused a British treaty due to the tendency to "induce the Chiefs to sign a treaty whose meaning they did not understand, and then seize upon the country". ==History==

Indigenous treaties have been discussed since the early years of the Australian colonies. In 1832 the Governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), George Arthur remarked in the aftermath of the Black War in the colony that it was "a fatal error...that a treaty was not entered into with the natives". He recommended to the Colonial Office that, before the colonisation of South Australia, an understanding be reached with the Aboriginal peoples there, in a bid "to prevent a long-continued warfare". Notably, the Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia of 1836 (unlike the South Australia Act 1834, which it amended), included recognition of the rights of the Aboriginal peoples of South Australia, creating the first negotiation between Aboriginal peoples and Europeans. The only pre-21st century attempt to negotiate a treaty with Indigenous Australians was what came to be known as Batman's Treaty. This was an agreement between John Batman, a pastoralist and businessman, and a group of Wurundjeri elders, for the purchase of land around Port Phillip, near the present site of Melbourne The so-called treaty was declared void on 26 August 1835 by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke, which declared that all land within the colony belonged to the Crown and that it had the sole authority to dispose of it. While the Crown retains the right to dispose of any land under the doctrine of radical title, some inherent Indigenous rights to land have been recognised under native title law. An Indigenous treaty was first promised by Prime Minister Bob Hawke in 1988 after receiving the Barunga Statement from Aboriginal elders, which called for such a treaty to be concluded. Despite public interest and growing support, concerns were raised over possible implications of such a treaty, such as financial compensation. With no progress made towards an Indigenous treaty at federal level (despite decades of debate), (Makarrata being a Yolngu word for "a process of conflict resolution, peacemaking and justice"). With the Victorian government's creation of a legal framework for Indigenous treaty negotiations in 2018 with their First Peoples' Assembly, the debate rose to prominence across Australia again, In October 2025, Victoria became the first Australian state to pass a treaty. ==State and territory treaty processes==

The Victorian government of Daniel Andrews was the first at state level to pass a legal framework for Indigenous treaty negotiations, in 2018, David Harris has been appointed as minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty. However, legal academic Harry Hobbs has stated that he believes the government has become much more vaguer and uncommitted when talking about treaty, having become apprehensive following the failure of the Voice referendum. Victoria The Victorian Government was the first at state level to pass a legal framework for Indigenous treaty negotiations, in 2018. In 2018, The Victorian Liberal Party opposed a state-based Indigenous treaty, stating that a federal treaty would be more appropriate. By 2022 the Victorian Liberal Party supported treaty. On 3 July 2018, the government passed the first Australian treaty law, the Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018, effective 1 August 2018. The ultimate goal of a partnership between the Victorian government and Aboriginal communities "is to achieve reconciliation and justice for Aboriginal communities", and the Act enshrines such a partnership in law. only 7% of the eligible voters turned out to vote. On 16 August 2022, the Legislative Council voted 31 votes to three for the Treaty Authority and Other Treaty Elements Bill 2022. The three who voted against the bill were the two Liberal Democrats Tim Quilty and David Limbrick and former Liberal turned Democratic Labour Bernie Finn. On 21 January 2024, the Victorian Liberal and National opposition announced that they would be withdrawing its support for treaty, reversing their previous support for the proposal. On 9 September 2025, Premier Jacinta Allan introduced a bill in the Legislative Assembly, the Statewide Treaty Bill 2025, to enact and implement the treaty, as well as making the First Peoples' Assembly a permanent authority under an umbrella body known as Gellung Warl. The body would include an independent accountability mechanism, as required by the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. with 21 votes to 16. Labor, the Greens, Animal Justice Party and Legalise Cannabis Victoria voted yes while the Coalition, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, Libertarian party and One Nation voted against. The Coalition has vowed to repeal the treaty within 100 days of government if it wins the 2026 Victorian state election. Queensland In 2019 the Queensland government of Annastacia Palaszczuk announced its interest in pursuing a pathway to an Indigenous treaty process. The Treaty Working Group and Eminent Treaty Process Panel were set up, with Jackie Huggins and Michael Lavarch co-chairing the Eminent Panel. Their Path to Treaty Report was tabled in Queensland Parliament in February 2020 after they had consulted widely, across more than 1,700 Queenslanders and 24 communities between July 2019 and early 2020, and presented to Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Jackie Trad. Huggins said that a process of truth-telling, acknowledging the history of Australia, is a "vital component to moving on". On 13 August 2020, Premier Palaszczuk announced that the government would be supporting the recommendation to move forward on a Path to Treaty with First Nations Queenslanders. She said that the Treaty Advancement Committee would provide independent advice on the implementation of the panel's recommendations. In 2023 the Queensland Parliament passed the Path to Treaty Act 2023 (Qld), which established the First Nations Treaty Institute, an independent statutory body to assist First Nations prepare for the upcoming treaty process. The act also created the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, to record and report on the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Queenslanders. The bill passed with bipartisan support. The only 4 who voted against it, were the MPs from the Katter's Australian Party and One Nation who voted to reject it. On 19 October 2023, a few days after the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum the opposition Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) leader David Crisafulli announced that they would be withdrawing its support for treaty, reversing their previous support for the proposal. The opposition Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) won the 2024 Queensland state election and repealed the Path to Treaty Act 2023 while also directing that the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry end. Western Australia As of January 2024, Western Australia is the only jurisdiction without a formal treaty process ongoing. which was described by deputy opposition leader Roger Cook as "a classic treaty", it is the largest native title settlement in Australian history, affecting about 30,000 Noongar People and encompassing around in south-western Western Australia. It has been described as "Australia's first treaty" by legal academics Harry Hobbs and George Williams. Hobbs later described these agreements as a "small 't' treaties" as while not negotiated though a formal treaty process, many of the outcomes are similar to those that would result from that process. In December 2016, talks began between the government and three Aboriginal nations: the Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, and Adnyamathanha peoples. Following the July 2017 report of the South Australian Treaty Commissioner, negotiations began. Following the Weatherill government's defeat in the 2018 state election, incoming premier Steven Marshall paused the treaty negotiation process begun by Weatherill, stating he wanted to focus on "practical outcomes". In 2022 a Labor government was returned to office, with Premier Peter Malinauskas committing to restart the treaty process. Under Malinauskas, who appointed Kyam Maher as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Attorney-General of South Australia, SA became the first state in the country to legislate a state-based Voice to Parliament in 2023. In late May 2025, South Australian Aboriginal leaders, including Melissa Clarke, one of the signatories to the Uluru Statement, called on the government to restart the process; however, Maher said that while the government was still committed to restarting negotiations, it was unlikely to get any agreements signed before the next election, nine months away. He said that he was considering the model adopted by Victoria, as well as others in Canada and New Zealand. Tasmania On Australia Day in 2015, the Tasmanian Greens called for a formal treaty to be negotiated between the Tasmanian Government and the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. Michael Mansell, chair of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, said in August 2019 that non-Indigenous people need not fear a treaty, as it would "simply be an expression of true democracy and self-determination". At that point, only of the of Tasmania had been returned under the Aboriginal Lands Act 1995 (Tas). He said that returning a few key areas of uninhabited wilderness which was now Crown land would mean jobs for Aboriginal people. In June 2020, Mansell and Greg Brown, Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation board member, had their first meeting with Premier Peter Gutwein, and raised the matter of a treaty. Mansell had been heartened by the support shown for Aboriginal issues across Australia in the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of US man George Floyd, and spoke at the Launceston rally of the need for a Treaty Commission. In 2021, Premier Peter Gutwein announced the beginning of a treaty and truth telling process, beginning with consultations with the State's Aboriginal population. An Aboriginal Advisory Group held its first meeting in February 2023. However, certain Indigenous groups have described their distrust of the government and have alleged that the government 'only willing to listen to six people as part of their government-selected group'. The treaty process was abandoned by the government in May 2025. Northern Territory In 2018 the Northern Territory Government of Michael Gunner pledged to undertake a treaty process with Indigenous peoples of the Territory, In June 2018 Gunner signed the "Barunga agreement", a memorandum of understanding committing his Government to negotiate with the Territory's four Aboriginal land councils over the next three years to develop a treaty process. The process will be overseen by an independent treaty commissioner, who in the first stage will undertake consultations for one year with the Indigenous communities to gauge their interest in a treaty. In the second stage, a public discussion paper will be released, translated into major Aboriginal languages for consultation and feedback. A final report will then be tabled in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly within 18 months of stage one's completion. In 2023, the Commission was abolished, with the Territory government arguing that further time and consultation was needed before moving forward on treaty. The government denied that it was no longer acting on treaty issues, with directly government treaty symposia held in April 2024. The NT opposition Country Liberal Party (CLP) ended the treaty process after winning government in 2024. ==See also==