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AbstractThis article argues that the call for establishment of a national Indigenous 'voice' ought to be seen by the Australian government in historical context, primarily as a call for remediation for historical injustices, not just as an opportunity for improvement in the lives and governance of Indigenous Australians. Viewed this way, the call carries with it an imperative for government both to recognise the moral weight underpinning it and to be active in seeking to settle the matter, either by agreeing to the reform proposal or otherwise by negotiating an acceptable outcome. The article closes by considering possible ways in which settlement might occur.

AbstractSignificant reforms to Australia's adult safeguarding laws and practices are in the process of occurring in the context of increasingly market‐oriented social care provision and rising human rights consciousness. Recent safeguarding developments have included federal regulatory reforms concerning disability and aged care service provision, together with significant reform activity stemming from a national inquiry into elder abuse. Despite this national activity, adult safeguarding continues largely to be an arena of state and territory responsibility. This article examines recent reform developments and asks how safeguarding laws and practices can be reformed to take account of increased federal involvement in social care regulation and the more market‐oriented ways in which social care is being provided. The article argues that while state and territory safeguarding laws and practices are unlikely to become uniform, 10 principles ought to guide continued adult safeguarding reform. These principles seek to balance respect for the autonomy of individuals with society's obligation to support those in need.

This article examines the effect that two important legal and social policy developments are having on adult protection laws and practices in Australia. The first concerns the increasing reach of human rights norms, which encourage minimal reliance to be placed on substitute decision‐making arrangements, such as adult guardianship, in favour of providing greater support for people to make and implement their own decisions. The second concerns the consumer choice focus of current aged care and disability reforms in Australia. While both these developments will lead to improvements in the lives of many people, they also present regulatory challenges when it comes to protecting the well‐being of at‐risk adults, especially adults with significant cognitive impairments or with significant mental ill health. The article draws on work undertaken as part of a Churchill Fellowship and contains reform suggestions that seek to improve our protection of at‐risk adults in an era increasingly characterised by freedom of choice.

This article considers the Victorian government's decision to review the state's guardianship legislation and notes the significant place international human rights developments are playing in that review. The article recognises the opportunities these developments present for reworking the guardianship legislation to increase the autonomy and decision‐making power of people with disabilities, but also considers the challenge these developments present to ensuring that society continues to protect its most vulnerable citizens.

This article examines the dearth of any representative Indigenous role in national Indigenous affairs policy‐making and suggests a remedy. After making the case for a specific Indigenous place in national policy‐making, the article considers the reasons for the failure of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), the body that filled this brief for a decade and a half. The article then considers three possible ways of ensuring an Indigenous role in the policy‐making process: a replacement for ATSIC with specific policy powers; set seats for Indigenous representatives in federal parliament; and the creation of a new elected body whose role would be to review Indigenous affairs legislation. The article concludes that the latter proposal in particular is worth trialling as it would ensure a significant Indigenous voice in national policy‐making while learning from the mistakes that led to ATSIC's demise.