Citizens without Rights: Aborigines and Australian Citizenship

This is the first comprehensive study of the ways in which Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have been excluded from the rights of Australian citizenship over the past 100 years. Drawing extensively on archival material, the authors look at how the colonies initiated a policy of exclusion that was then replicated by the Commonwealth and State governments following federation. The book includes careful examination of government policies and practice from the 1880s to the 1990s. It argues that there was never any constitutional reason why Aborigines could not be granted full citizenship.

"The authors offer an in-depth perpsective that frames the contemporary debate about moving beyond civil to indigenous rights, and about the conditions for reconciliation more generally. Upper-division undergraduates and above." Choice

"...those who do not know or need to be reminded why the makers of the constitution inserted the so-called "discriminatory" clauses will find the authors' lucid account invaluable." American Historical Review

"This is a well-researched, well-written and well-argued book. It should be essential reading for anyone trying to come seriously to grips with Australia's past and present policies towards Aborigines. It should also be essential reading for anyone interested more generally in debates about Australian citizenship." Will Sanders, Pacific Affairs