[2] Moves to state and territory treaties were boosted by the Victorian government's establishment of a legal framework for negotiations to progress, announced in 2016 and with the election of the First Peoples' Assembly in 2019.
However, following the failure of the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, progress towards treaties has either stalled or been reversed in the states and territories apart from Victoria.
The objects of treaties between governments and Indigenous peoples may include: Research by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development shows that self-determination is an essential component in redressing entrenched disadvantage.
[citation needed] This type of treaty would involve a formal agreement which defines the relationship between government and First Nations peoples, and could include binding contracts on specific issues as well as practical measures relating to health and education.
[4] British colonial representatives negotiated treaties with Indigenous peoples in New Zealand and in Canada during early phases of settlement.
British treaty-making in North America began as early as sixteenth century and continued until Canada gained self-government in 1867, after which time the Canadian federal government entered into the Numbered Treaties (1871 to 1921).
In 1832 the Governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), George Arthur remarked in the aftermath of the Black War in the colony that it was "a fatal error...that a treaty was not entered into with the natives".
He recommended to the Colonial Office that, before the colonisation of South Australia, an understanding be reached with the Aboriginal peoples there, in a bid "to prevent a long-continued warfare".
This was an agreement between John Batman, a pastoralist and businessman, and a group of Wurundjeri elders, for the purchase of land around Port Phillip, near the present site of Melbourne[10] The so-called treaty was declared void on 26 August 1835 by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke,[11] which declared that all land within the colony belonged to the Crown and that it had the sole authority to dispose of it.
[18] In July 2019, Ken Wyatt, recently appointed to the new role of Minister for Indigenous Australians, gave an address to the National Press Club, in which he spoke of the theme of NAIDOC Week 2019: "Voice.
He spoke of the development of a local, regional and national voice, and said "with respect to Treaty, it's important that states and territory jurisdictions take the lead.
[5] The New South Wales Labor party committed to funding and beginning treaty discussion as an election promise prior to winning government in March 2023.
[25] However, Harry Hobbs has stated that he believes the government has become much more vaguer and uncommitted when talking about treaty, having become apprehensive following the failure of the Voice referendum.
[43] On 13 August 2020, Premier Palaszczuk announced that the government would be supporting the recommendation to move forward on a Path to Treaty with First Nations Queenslanders.
[52] As of 2020[update] it is the largest native title settlement in Australian history, affecting about 30,000 Noongar People and encompassing around 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in south-western Western Australia.
[14] In 2016 the South Australian government of Jay Weatherill announced it intended to negotiate up to 40 treaties with Indigenous groups across the state, and that $4.4 million would be set aside over five years for the purpose.
[60] Michael Mansell, chair of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, said in August 2019 that non-Indigenous people need not fear a treaty, as it would "simply be an expression of true democracy and self-determination".
[61] In June 2020, Mansell and Greg Brown, Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation board member, had their first meeting with Premier Peter Gutwein, and raised the matter of a treaty.
[62] Mansell had been heartened by the support shown for Aboriginal issues across Australia in the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of US man George Floyd, and spoke at the Launceston rally of the need for a Treaty Commission.
[67] In June 2018 Gunner signed the "Barunga agreement", a memorandum of understanding committing his Government to negotiate with the Territory's four Aboriginal land councils over the next three years to develop a treaty process.