The Northern Territory Law Reform Committee released a report last month which calls for an overhaul of Commonwealth legislation.
Certain sections of the federal Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) prohibit Northern Territory courts from considering local Aboriginal customary laws when deciding bail and sentencing for indigenous offenders of federal offences.
The Committee called the Commonwealth legislation ‘discriminatory’ and ‘deeply offensive’, and said it was founded upon the false premise that local Aboriginal laws would be used to justify sexual assault and violence. It “has had a very limited legal impact, but it has had significant political, social and discursive impact,” in alienating local indigenous people and eroding trust in the criminal justice system.