Treaty-making : two hundred and fifty years later years later / Harry Hobbs, Alison Whittaker and Lindon Coombes ; with forward by Tony McAvoy.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Harry Hobbs, Alison Whittaker and Lindon Coombes -- 1. Talking treaty: a conversation on how Indigenous Nations can become Treaty Ready / Daryle Rigney, Damein Bell, and Alison Vivian -- 2. Treaty making in Australia: the Non-Indigenous Party / Cheryl Saunders -- 3. Making Black stories matter: Understanding media narratives on treaty and Aboriginal aspirations / Amy Thomas, Andrew Jakubowicz and Heidi Norman -- 4. Establishing a Neutral Legal Framework for Treaty in Australia / A. J. Wood -- 5. Rebalancing, renewing, re-structuring: Strengthening the Constitution of Aotearoa through a Treaty Relationship / Carwyn Jones -- 6. Being self determining in NSW – Treaty or Not! / Heidi Norman, Janet Hunt and Deirdre Howard-Wagner -- 7. Treaty making: critical reflection on critiques from abroad / Stephen Young and Harry Hobbs -- 8. The mess of colonialism, the complexity of treaty / Sarah Maddison, Julia Hurst and Dale Wandin (Wurundjeri) -- 9. We dare to hope: treaty-making in Australia / Emeritus Professor Mick Dodson AM -- 10. The work of the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commission to bring us closer to Treaties in Victoria / Jill Gallagher AO.

This continent was colonised without consent. No treaty was signed at first contact or in the years thereafter. Australia is a nation state on shaky ground, one of few without a treaty with Indigenous people. However, recently, Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland have committed to entering treaty processes with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations whose lands fall within their borders. This is the first time in Australian history that any government has opened a treaty process. While it is momentous, it is not without its challenges given the historical absence of a treaty. In this edited collection, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars and policy-makers from Australia and New Zealand engage with the legal, historical and political dimensions of treaty-making in Australia. These considered and nuanced contributions provide a roadmap for how to develop a legal artifice and treaty relationship that delivers justice.