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Aborginal English in the Legal System1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Megan Suarez
Megan Suarez*
Affiliation:
University of Queensland, Brisbane
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Extract

The Australian legal system is based on the principle of equality before the law for all its citizens. The government of Australia also passed the international Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act in 1986, although these rights are not accessible to all Australians in the legal system (Bird 1995:3). The Australian legal system has failed to grant equality for all its people. The Aboriginal community is severely disadvantaged within the legal system because the Australian criminal justice system has “institutionalised discrimination” against Aboriginal people through communication barriers (Goldflam 1995: 29).

Type
Section D: Students' Perspectives
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , July 1999 , pp. 35 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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Footnotes

1.

Lecturer's Note:

The subject ID333, Aboriginal Politics and Political Issues, has enjoyed a relatively high number of international ‘study abroad students’ in its past and present enrolments. Megan Suarez, from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA, was a proactive student enrolled in Semester 1, 1999. This assignment illustrates the high level of research that our international students achieve at this University. They begin their studies with a very limited knowledge of the Australian social and political environment, yet within a month or two assignments of this quality are produced. I accept that the assignment is not academically perfect and may raise an eyebrow in some academic circles. However, it is very sobering to realize that this student, and many before (and no doubt many in the future) have achieved an understanding of and empathy with Indigenous Australian studies in just one semester. It is a credit to Megan's application of research methodology and should not go unrewarded, which is why I have recommended that the assignment be included in this publication. In future issues I hope to recommend further assignments for publication, written by Indigenous Australian students, to illustrate their dedication to study and research.

References

1. Lecturer's Note:

The subject ID333, Aboriginal Politics and Political Issues, has enjoyed a relatively high number of international ‘study abroad students’ in its past and present enrolments. Megan Suarez, from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA, was a proactive student enrolled in Semester 1, 1999. This assignment illustrates the high level of research that our international students achieve at this University. They begin their studies with a very limited knowledge of the Australian social and political environment, yet within a month or two assignments of this quality are produced. I accept that the assignment is not academically perfect and may raise an eyebrow in some academic circles. However, it is very sobering to realize that this student, and many before (and no doubt many in the future) have achieved an understanding of and empathy with Indigenous Australian studies in just one semester. It is a credit to Megan's application of research methodology and should not go unrewarded, which is why I have recommended that the assignment be included in this publication. In future issues I hope to recommend further assignments for publication, written by Indigenous Australian students, to illustrate their dedication to study and research.