In this chapter we look at the ways in which the Australian settler-colonial constitutional order has recognised, and denied, the status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as polities.We aim to show that in settler law traditional owner communities, alone or in aggregation, are largely characterised as racial groups, not as bodies politic. We trace developments in the recognition of traditional ownership, and (in glimpses) of traditional law and custom, in Australian law since the 1960s. The story is largely one of settler resistance to Indigenous legal and political authority, in the face of sustained intergenerational Indigenous advocacy. We point in particular to the fact that because they are mischaracterised as racial communities, the efforts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to self-determine are made vulnerable to claims that their distinctive rights and institutions discriminate against non-Indigenous Australians.

In Australia, the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous mental health and well-being is a major human rights issue, and escalating suicide rates represent a national emergency. This chapter describes the Australian human rights context and developments within the discipline and profession of psychology to address these inequities, with the reconciliation action plan developed by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) as one commitment to change. The focus on respectful relationships, cultural safety, and promoting self-determination is part of the background leading to the APS apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The apology highlighted the importance of a commitment by all psychologists to reconciliation and to modifying their attitudes and work practices to ensure a culturally appropriate, responsive, and safe workforce. The Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP) represents a focus on the education and employment of the psychology workforce and illustrates collaboration with key stakeholders in psychology education to provide frameworks and guidelines for embedding cultural awareness, responsiveness, and competence throughout all psychology education.