Imagining a Makarrata Commission

• Main Authors: Shireen Morris, Harry Hobbs
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the law; Comparative law; Law and humanities; Constitutional law; constitutional recognition; constitutional reform; Uluru Statement from the Heart; First Nations voice; treaty; truth; Indigenous rights; agreement making; Canada; New Zealand; First Nations
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.26180/22081931.v3; https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Imagining_a_Makarrata_Commission/22081931

The Uluru Statement from the Heart advocates for a First Nations constitutional voice and a legislated Makarrata Commission to supervise agreement-making and truth-telling. A First Nations voice is the immediate priority and the necessary focus of scholarly and practical discussion. However, while advocates envisage a Makarrata Commission being established following a First Nations voice, there is negligible research imagining how a Makarrata Commission might operate. This article addresses that gap. Drawing on agreement-making and truth-telling processes in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada, it imagines how a national institution to supervise agreement-making and truth-telling could function.