Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1. The law of the colonisers -- 1. Dispossession and colonisation -- 2. Warfare to welfare : genocide to racial discrimination -- 3. Reparation and redress -- 4. Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander children's welfare -- Part 2. Equal before the law -- 5. Juvenile justice -- 6. Criminalisation and policing in indigenous communities -- 7. Courts, sentencing and punishment -- Part 3. Law, land and culture -- 8. Land rights -- 9. Native title -- 10. Protecting culture -- Part 4. Law, rights and governance -- 11. Racial discrimination and the law -- 12. Constitutional change : strenghening rights protection -- 13. Indigenous governance : amending the mainstream -- 14. A new order : self-determination -- 15. Unfinished business.

"This book looks at Indigenous peoples' contact with Anglo-Australian law, and deals primarily with the problems the imposed law has had in its relationship with Indigenous people in Australia. This is supplemented by comparative sections on Indigenous peoples' experience of imposed law in other settler jurisdictions such as NZ, Canada and the US. The book covers issues relating to sovereignty, jurisdiction and territorial acquisition; family law and child protection; criminal law, policing and sentencing; land rights and native title; cultural heritage, heritage protection and intellectual property; anti-discrimination law; international human rights law; constitutional law; social justice, self-determination and treaty issues."--Information provided by publisher.