Over-regulation of Indigenous law? The Burial and Cremation Bill 2019 (NT)

Abstract

The Northern Territory’s Burial and Cremation Bill 2019 has been criticised as a gross form of disrespect to traditional Aboriginal law, with Indigenous people arguing that the Bill criminalises the operation of Aboriginal law on Aboriginal land, and may lead to an increase in already high incarceration rates. Should the law in this area seek to strike a ‘balance’ between Aboriginal law and the policy goals of non-Aboriginal law, including policing and record-keeping; or should Indigenous people be left free to carry out traditional law in an area of great cultural and historical sensitivity?