Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Thursday 20 February
12:45 PM - 1:15 PM
Mark McMillan is a senior lecturer at Melbourne Law School, the 2013 NAIDOC scholar of the year, and a board member of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. Here, he brings his vast experience to bear in examining Indigenous Identity and the law.
Highlighting the difference between freedoms and protections when it comes to Indigenous peoples – and why Indigenous identity is still intrinsically linked with discrimination – Mark gives an insider’s perspective on several contentious issues including the 2011 Eatock vs Bolt case, in which columnist Andrew Bolt and his employers were found by the Federal Court to be in breach of the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act for publishing articles about fair-skinned Indigenous Australians in 2009. Mark analyses the efficacy of the Racial Discrimination Act, particularly in relation to freedom of speech.
Lunchbox/Soapbox
We love exploring ideas at the Wheeler Centre, and encouraging others to do the same. That’s why every Thursday lunchtime we hand the microphone over to the great thinkers, dreamers and orators of our time.
With a dazzling range of passionate speakers and unusual topics, our soapbox provides a platform for the eclectic, topical and enlightening stories you won’t hear elsewhere. This is the most memorable lunch break you’ll have all week.
If you’re in need of sustenance of body as well as mind, the MOAT lunch cart will be serving delicious $15 lunchboxes in the performance space from 12.20pm.
Featuring
Mark McMillan
Dr Mark McMillan is a Wiradjuri man from Trangie, NSW. He is a Professor and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous Education and Engagement) at RMIT University. In 2013 Mark was awarded the National NAIDOC Scholar of the Year award.
Mark has received his Bachelor of Laws from The Australian National University, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from The Australian National University, a Master of Laws and a Doctor of Juridical Science from the University of Arizona, a Certificate II in Indigenous Leadership from the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre and a Graduate Certificate in Wiradjuri Heritage, Language and Culture from Charles Sturt University.
Mark was admitted to the Roll of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory as a Legal Practitioner in 2001.
Mark is a current board member of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples and the Trangie Local Aboriginal Land Council.
His research interests are in the area of human rights and, in particular, the expression and fulfilment of those rights for Indigenous Australians. He is currently working on an ARC grant relating to Indigenous governance and jurisdiction for native nations. He intends on expanding his research outcomes to include the application of ‘constitutionalism’ for Indigenous Australians, with a particular emphasis on the use of current constitutional law for the protections envisioned for Indigenous people in the constitutional referendum of 1967.