It's Our Country

Why should Indigenous people have a direct say in the decisions that affect their lives? Australia is one of the only liberal democracies still grappling with such a fundamental question.

The idea of constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians has become a highly political and contentious issue. It is entangled in institutional processes that rarely allow the diversity of Indigenous opinion to be expressed.

With a referendum on the agenda, it is now urgent that Indigenous people have a direct say in the form of recognition that constitutional change might achieve.

It's Our Country: Indigenous Arguments for Meaningful Constitutional Recognition and Reform is a collection of essays by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander thinkers and leaders including Patrick Dodson, Noel Pearson, Dawn Casey, Nyunggai Warren Mundine and Mick Mansell. Each essay explores what recognition and constitutional reform might achieve—or not achieve—for Indigenous people.



Megan Davis (Author)
Megan Davis is a Professor of Law and Director of the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of New South Wales. She specialises in constitutional law, Aboriginal women and democratic participation and the UN. She is a Commissioner of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She is a UN expert member and chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Prof Davis is a Cobble Cobble Aboriginal woman from south-west and south-east QLD.

Marcia Langton (Author)
Marcia Langton AM is Foundation Professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. She is trained as an anthropologist and geographer, and contributes to policy and debates on Aboriginal land and resource issues, as well as the visual and performing arts and other social and cultural matters.