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General Issue

Reparations and First Nations’ Legal Rights in Australia

Author

Bethany Butchers, Dani Linder and Amy Maguire

This article explores concepts of loss and reparations under the Australian legal system, examining whether either conceptualisation adequately attends to First Nations’ experiences of intangible loss. Using two case studies – the Stolen Generations and dust disease – this article critiques the typical approaches taken by the Australian legal system in response to injustices inflicted on First Nations Peoples. This article advocates for the Australian legal system to approach reparations and compensation by centring intangible loss. This will allow for a framework to be developed that can cater for First Nations’ distinctive experiences of loss, in contrast to the current system which has limited consideration and understanding of such experiences and losses.

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(2023) 46(3) UNSWLJ 791: https://doi.org/10.53637/PXSA5866