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Revision as of 15:17, 15 April 2008

This is an article about a class of people as identified and defined within Australian law. For more general information on Australian Aborigines go to Indigenous Australians.

Australian Aborigines are a class of peoples who are identified by Australian law as being members of a race indigenous to the Australian continent.

In the High Court of Australia, Australian Aborigines have been specifically identified as a class of people who share, in common, biological ancestry back to the original occupants of this continent .

Justice Dean of the High Court famously described and defined an Australian Aboriginal person as:

"..a person of Aboriginal descent, albeit mixed, who identifies himself as such and who is recognised by the Aboriginal community as an Aboriginal.."

Eve Fesi, an Australian Aborigine from the Gabi Gabi people, published in the Aboriginal Law Bulletin describing how she and other Australian Aborigines preferred to be identified:

"The word 'aborigine' refers to an indigenous person of any country. If it is to be used to refer to us as a specific group of people, it should be spelt with a capital 'A', i.e. 'Aborigine'..."

See also

• Australian Aboriginal flag
• Indigenous Australians
• Native title

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References

1. Plevitz, Loretta D & Croft, Larry (2003) "Aboriginality Under The Microscope: The Biological Descent Test In Australian Law" QUT Law & Justice Journal Number 7Accessed 25 March 2008
2. Dean, J (1984) Tasmania v Commonwealth. 158 CLR. Page 243.
3. Fesi, Eve (1986) "‘Aborigine’ and ‘Aboriginal’" Aboriginal Law Bulletin. Number 39. Accessed 25 March 2008

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