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The disproportionate number of Aboriginal juveniles in state corrective institutions is a matter of serious concern to Aboriginals, policy-makers and administrators alike. Although it is difficult to obtain accurate statistical information in this area, and hence to fully comprehend the nature and complexity of the problem, what data we do have suggest that juvenile delinquency and ensuing institutionalisation is reaching crisis proportions. It would seem that in comparison with the non-Aboriginal population, Aboriginal juveniles are more likely to be charged with an offence, to be convicted, and to be committed to a corrective institution. Moreover, recidivism rates for Aboriginal juveniles are significantly higher than for non-Aboriginals and substantial numbers do not have homes to go to on release and are transferred to institutions or permanent foster care as wards of the State.

The decision of the Australian High Court on the Mabo case, which allowed native title to Aboriginal Australians, was a major political issue in 1993. The Labor Party's championing of this issue implies a fundamental change in Australian politics as predicted by "new politics" theorists, eg, Ronald Inglehart (1990). The formation of opinions on the Mabo case is examined with particular reference to new politics vs other theoretical approaches, including political partisanship, nonattitudes, rational choice, attitudinal predispositions, & group socialization. Little support is found for the standard postmaterialist/materialist cleavage, although aspects of the new politics thesis are supported, as are aspects of the other approaches. In light of these findings, a model of public opinion is outlined, incorporating elements of each approach. 3 Tables, 1 Appendix, 38 References. Adapted from the source document.

Aboriginal protest played a key role in undermining the celebratory settler-nationalism of the bicentennial in 1988. In the lead up to another major nationalist mobilisation, the centenary of the Gallipoli invasion on ANZAC Day 2015, extensive official efforts are being made to incorporate Aboriginal experiences into the day, through celebration of the role of Aboriginal people who served in Australia's armed forces. This article provides a critical analysis of the 2014 NAIDOC theme as a way of exploring some of the tensions in this process. The NAIDOC theme, 'Serving Country: Centenary and Beyond', presented a continuity between Aboriginal soldiers in WW1 and Aboriginal warriors who fought in defence of their land during the 19th Century Frontier Wars. In contrast, this article argues that the real historical continuity is between the massacres on the frontier, which often involved Aboriginal troopers fighting for the colonial powers, and the invasions undertaken by Australian soldiers in WW1. New research documenting the horrific scale on which Aboriginal people were killed by Native Police in Queensland in the second half of the 19th Century is integrated with studies of the political economy of Australian settler-capitalism in this period. This analysis is used to demonstrate how capitalist class interests drove both the Frontier Wars and the development of an Australian regional empire, which was consolidated by the mobilisation of Australian troops in WW1.

Aboriginal protest played a key role in undermining the celebratory settler-nationalism of the bicentennial in 1988. In the lead up to another major nationalist mobilisation, the centenary of the Gallipoli invasion on ANZAC Day 2015, extensive official efforts are being made to incorporate Aboriginal experiences into the day, through celebration of the role of Aboriginal people who served in Australia's armed forces. This article provides a critical analysis of the 2014 NAIDOC theme as a way of exploring some of the tensions in this process. The NAIDOC theme, 'Serving Country: Centenary and Beyond', presented a continuity between Aboriginal soldiers in WW1 and Aboriginal warriors who fought in defence of their land during the 19th Century Frontier Wars. In contrast, this article argues that the real historical continuity is between the massacres on the frontier, which often involved Aboriginal troopers fighting for the colonial powers, and the invasions undertaken by Australian soldiers in WW1. New research documenting the horrific scale on which Aboriginal people were killed by Native Police in Queensland in the second half of the 19th Century is integrated with studies of the political economy of Australian settler-capitalism in this period. This analysis is used to demonstrate how capitalist class interests drove both the Frontier Wars and the development of an Australian regional empire, which was consolidated by the mobilisation of Australian troops in WW1.

This paper examines an aspect of social inequality experienced by Aboriginal people living in a remote Queensland mining town. We contend that non‐Aboriginal perceptions and attitudes of Aboriginal drinking behaviour contribute directly to structural inequalities within the Mount Isa community.Social drinking in the township is, for reserve‐dwelling Aborigines, restricted mainly to one bar in one hotel and adjoining park and river bank area. The restrictions are preserved through both overt and covert discrimination. Aboriginal inebriation and excessive drinking are therefore more visible to the wider community and more accessible to police prosecution than that of any other ethnic group in the town.Although White folk tales concerning Aboriginal drinking often contain fear about acts of violence and crime directed towards the White community, soundly documented incidents are rare. This paper argues that the persistence of such attitudes is at the heart of a symbolic differential between the White and Black community in Queensland. Moreover, problems within the Aboriginal community that can be directly related to the excessive consumption of alcohol must also be seen as a product of these White reactions and perceptions.

Integrated discussions of the multi‐valency of objects and the use and appropriation of natural resources in colonial contexts are uncommon. By combining previously scattered historical, legal, and ethnographic sources, this article examines Australian Aboriginal dam and weir construction along the Roper River, focusing on the repeated re‐purposing, re‐contextualization and reinterpretation of the structures over time by both Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal protagonists. Through that process, it contributes to contemporary theoretical debates about intercultural colonial relations and about the relative autonomy of indigenous peoples within colonizing societies. In particular, the article highlights the historical evolution of constraints on local autonomy in colonial contexts and the role of individual agency in constituting and/or reconfiguring intercultural relations. Previously little known, these temporary water regulation structures are now the best historically documented instance of Aboriginal water management in Australia, enabling a diverse array of interpretations and the critical evaluation of key contemporary social‐theoretical concepts.