Join the Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies (ANCLAS) and the First Nations Portfolio in the third of a series of webinars to compare and contrast the experiences of Australia and Latin American countries with significant Indigenous populations in addressing Indigenous rights and recognition. The series aims to help inform discussion in Australia in the lead-up to the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution.

The third session will focus on the experience of Brazil, where the Constitution drafted in 1988 recognises, inter alia, the rights of Indigenous peoples to land and water and to be heard on proposals concerning the prospecting and mining of mineral wealth on Indigenous lands. These rights were challenged in practice under the previous administration. President Lula da Silva, who took office in January 2023, pledged to reverse his predecessor's policies and to expand Indigenous reserves, ban mining and restrict commercial farming. However, he faces an uphill battle to fulfil the pledge as his Partido dos Trabalhadores (Worker’s Party) does not command a majority in Congress.

A panel of experts from Brazil and Australia will discuss the interrelationship between the recognition and protection of Indigenous rights in the Brazilian Constitution, including the disjunction between the executive and legislative powers about their implementation in practice – and the relevance of Brazil’s experience to the upcoming referendum in Australia.

Moderators:

Noel Campbell (Director, Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies)

Thiago Nascimento da Silva (Lecturer and Assistant Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, ANU)

Panelists:

• Peter Yu (Vice President, First Nations Portfolio, ANU)
• Leonardo Barros Soares (Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Federal University of Viçosa)
• Priscylla Joca (Assistant Professor, Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University)
• Gasparini Kaingang (International Adviser to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil)

For further information:

Uluru Statement from the Heart

Media release on the Constitution Alteration Bill

Text of the 1998 Constitution of Brazil (as amended)