Indigenous Australians, genomics, and the law

Abstract

This article utilises three key characteristics of human genetic information—namely, its ubiquitous nature, its familial relationships and its predictive capacity—to explore how such research continues to exacerbate existing health inequalities for Indigenous Australians. By utilising substantive equality as its theoretical framework, this article explores key regulatory issues as follows: first, and regarding genetic information’s ubiquity, the article discusses how property laws in Australia fail to adequately protect Indigenous Australians from unauthorised usage of historical DNA samples; second, the familial nature of genetic information can leave Indigenous Australian’s liable to hyper-precise genetic definitions of Aboriginality, leading to a potentially adverse impact on claims of Native Title, due to the application of a biological definition to something which has always been more contextual and flexible; finally, the predictive element of genetic information is explored, and it is suggested that without proper regulation, could lead to increased genetic discrimination.