Mabo Culture

Culture is a concept that can be interpreted in multiple ways depending on an individual’s perspective of the word. To one individual culture may refer to the customs and beliefs a society or certain group of people has regarding their religion. However, to a different individual, their definition of culture may be based on the customs and beliefs a group of people has due to the generation they grew up in. Regardless of the definition of culture that is being discussed, it is impossible to ignore the fact that in the world of human rights culture plays an important role. The many understandings of culture make it so that it sometimes fits well with human rights while other times it can be more of a liability. Furthermore, when culture is used
Queensland cases of 1982 is a prime example of how Australia’s political culture was an asset to the protection of human rights. In this case Eddie Mabo, an indigenous man from the Torres Strait argued that when land was taken from his people by the Australian government it had been done so in an improper procedure. When the High Court of Australia reviewed this they ruled that because “land rights where not properly acted upon” (Lecture 9, Zook), it was against the law so therefore the indigenous people’s still had a right to that land. With this case we see that Australia’s political culture made it possible for one of its indigenous groups to maintain their rights to their land after they had been taken away from them
This is important because it ensures that the culture of the indigenous and aboriginal people of Australia is protected. However, with that protection there are cases where the protection of those rights may be inadequate due to some practices that are attached to that indigenous culture. Professor Zook discussed one example of this inadequate protection, in Lecture 10. He explained how in 2002, there was a 15 year old girl who went to the police claiming that she had been raped by a 50 year old elder. A judge however ruled that his wasn’t a crime because in aboriginal culture “this was a traditional practice for many years” (Lecture 10, Zook). Professor Zook discussed another case similar to this in Lecture 10, explaining how in December of the year 2007, a “judge gave only probation or suspended sentences to 9 aboriginal men found guilty of raping a 10 year old aboriginal girl.” (Lecture 10, Zook). This ruling was once again due to the idea that aboriginal culture should be preserved and protected. These two cases showed how the importance of indigenous culture was more important than the protection of the children. This is another example that shows once again how culture can become a barrier in human rights, when it is used as an excuse as to why other rights of humans shouldn’t be