Damages for Loss of Cultural Fulfilment in Indigenous Community Life
Author(s)
Orr, Graeme
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
1997
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
It has been fifteen years since Napaluma v Baker,[1] the first reported case in which Australian courts openly incorporated assessment of indigenous cultural realities into the quantification of damages in civil claims. In that case, Zelling J in the South Australian Supreme Court accepted the principle that loss of cultural standing and fulfilment ought to be considered in an assessment of the general damages for loss of amenities and enjoyment of life of an indigenous plaintiff who had suffered negligent physical injuries.
Whilst recognising that compensation is but one aspect of any appropriate societal and legal response ...
View more >It has been fifteen years since Napaluma v Baker,[1] the first reported case in which Australian courts openly incorporated assessment of indigenous cultural realities into the quantification of damages in civil claims. In that case, Zelling J in the South Australian Supreme Court accepted the principle that loss of cultural standing and fulfilment ought to be considered in an assessment of the general damages for loss of amenities and enjoyment of life of an indigenous plaintiff who had suffered negligent physical injuries. Whilst recognising that compensation is but one aspect of any appropriate societal and legal response to the wrongful harm and treatment of indigenous peoples and their cultures,[2] cultural factors and losses are central issues in any common law or even statutory process of individualised compensation for members of the stolen generations and their families. Indeed, the Bringing them Home report[3] listed loss of cultural rights and fulfilment as one of ten potentially relevant heads of damage. It is timely, therefore, to examine the case law which has developed in the last fifteen years. Of course, stolen generations litigation may generate a considerable number of successful claims, provided the pitfalls and hurdles of liability can be surmounted.[4] Such claims would not be based on the relatively narrow factual ground of future deprivation of cultural standing or fulfilment because of personal injury. They would involve the more fundamental argument that forced removal and dislocation completely denied the natural development of indigenous cultural attachment and identity, in the past and into the future. Further, the cultural harms to the parents and communities deprived of their young are in a different class to the loss of cultural fulfilment of the individuals who directly suffered the deprivation.
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View more >It has been fifteen years since Napaluma v Baker,[1] the first reported case in which Australian courts openly incorporated assessment of indigenous cultural realities into the quantification of damages in civil claims. In that case, Zelling J in the South Australian Supreme Court accepted the principle that loss of cultural standing and fulfilment ought to be considered in an assessment of the general damages for loss of amenities and enjoyment of life of an indigenous plaintiff who had suffered negligent physical injuries. Whilst recognising that compensation is but one aspect of any appropriate societal and legal response to the wrongful harm and treatment of indigenous peoples and their cultures,[2] cultural factors and losses are central issues in any common law or even statutory process of individualised compensation for members of the stolen generations and their families. Indeed, the Bringing them Home report[3] listed loss of cultural rights and fulfilment as one of ten potentially relevant heads of damage. It is timely, therefore, to examine the case law which has developed in the last fifteen years. Of course, stolen generations litigation may generate a considerable number of successful claims, provided the pitfalls and hurdles of liability can be surmounted.[4] Such claims would not be based on the relatively narrow factual ground of future deprivation of cultural standing or fulfilment because of personal injury. They would involve the more fundamental argument that forced removal and dislocation completely denied the natural development of indigenous cultural attachment and identity, in the past and into the future. Further, the cultural harms to the parents and communities deprived of their young are in a different class to the loss of cultural fulfilment of the individuals who directly suffered the deprivation.
View less >
Journal Title
Indigenous Law Bulletin
Volume
4
Issue
6
Publisher URI
Subject
Policy and Administration
Law