ANU hears of Canada’s journey to Indigenous reconciliation

Canada's Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has given the annual ANU Reconciliation Lecture outlining Canada's long road from colonial dispossession to inclusion and recognition for Canada's first peoples.

Ms Wilson-Raybould said Canadians were optimistic about reconciliation, which is backed by Constitutional rights for Indigenous people, a national apology for past wrongs, and the courts finding an inherent right to Indigenous self-government.

Ms Wilson-Raybould, the first Indigenous woman to be Canada's Justice Minister and Attorney-General, said a Truth and Reconciliation Commission into abuse of Indigenous children in residential schools also helped address reconciliation for survivors.

"Reconciliation is a journey, not a destination," she said.

"Canada is a federation, and we are going to celebrate our 150^th anniversary in 2017. And as we celebrate this milestone next year, I think for Canadians there is much hope and optimism-I don't think, I know," she said.

Ms Wilson-Raybould is the first international speaker to deliver the Reconciliation Lecture, hosted annually by the ANU National Centre for Indigenous Studies.

Her comments come as Australia works towards a referendum for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recognition in the Australian Constitution.

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008 also led an historic apology to Indigenous people for past mistreatment, particularly to members of the Stolen Generation who were forcibly removed from their families.

Ms Wilson-Raybould pointed to the similar historical mistreatment of Indigenous people in Canada and Australia, which began under colonial rule.

"Our countries have much in common. Both former British colonies, we are the product of colonialism with all of the resulting losses and harms to Indigenous lands, legal and governing systems, languages, cultures and even lives," she said.

"Our countries are both still coming to terms with our colonial pasts and rooting out colonial attitudes that undermine the modern relationships between the descendants of first peoples and the newcomers."

She said a key development for Canada was the 1982 Constitution Act which included a Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as specific provisions dealing with Aboriginal rights.

"Including these rights in our Constitution amounted to a promise to Indigenous peoples that their presence in Canada and their rights would no longer be denied, that assimilation and marginalisation were colonial relics of the past, and that Canadians were ready to work towards - work together with them to build a better Canada," she said.

The inherent right to self-government, and Indigenous land title, have also helped empower Indigenous communities, although much more needed to be done to ensure legal and political reconciliation.

"At the current pace, using existing mechanisms for legal and political reconciliation to support nation rebuilding, it would take generations for all nations to move through the post-colonial door," Ms Wilson-Raybould said.

"This is obviously not acceptable and clearly demands a need for a more concerted effort by government with new legislative tools and other mechanisms to support nation rebuilding-something that our government has committed to doing, working in partnership with indigenous peoples."

A full transcript the 2016 Reconciliation Lecture is available on the ANU website.