Legal (r)Evolution: "Indigenous Legal (r)Evolution" Stephen Gray Part 2 of 2

Stephen Gray's insightful and informative presentation outlines the misalignments between statute and its operation in reality, and the effect of this on the Indigenous population in the Northern Territory. He is a passionate advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians- this is evident in his presentation where he focuses on the highly contentious Northern Territory intervention. Stephen highlights that in the Northern Territory there are best practice laws in relation to fitness to plead and mental impairment. However, in reality, there are no facilities to assist those with mental impairment, with many people being kept in prisons. Money is instead being spent on new police stations. Stephen provides some other examples of the effect of the Northern Territory intervention, and the Emergency Response Act. He highlights how such law reform, done without consultation with the communities in the Northern Territory has served to undermine the importance and positive role customary law can play in the Northern Territory. Dr Stephen Gray is a Senior Lecturer at Monash Law School. His research interests are in criminal law, Indigenous people and the law, and intellectual property and Indigenous art, and stolen wages. He was a member of the Northern Territory Law Reform Committee from 1994 until 2005. He has published Criminal Laws Northern Territory (Federation Press) and The Artist is a Thief (Allen & Unwin, 2001).