The New South Wales state election is on this Saturday, the 25th of March.
Here's what the major parties are on promising on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs at the election.
Treaty
New South Wales and Western Australia are the two remaining states that have not begun a formal treaty process, despite NSW having the highest First Nations population in the country.
The Liberal-National Coalition have explicitly stated they will have no plans to change that.
In contrast the Labor party say they will start a process to initiate a Treaty with First Nations people, stating
The Greens meanwhile say their policy ensures that any Treaty or treaties recognise the sovereignty of First Nations peoples, and that they will ensure Treaty is underpinned by self determination.
Closing the Gap
The Liberal-National coalition have not released new closing the gap policies in the lead up to the state election.
Their most recent announcement was
The Labor are maintaining a bi-partisan approach to Closing the Gap.
The party say they would investigate signing a Charter Letter with Coalition Aboriginal Peak Organisations (CAPO).
The Greens have emphasised they are committed to working with First Nations communities to ensure that Closing the Gap targets are achieved.
Justice
While the NSW Coalition have not announced any new justice policies that specifically affect First Nations people, the Labor party have some proposals.
They state they are committed to a whole-of-government approach to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates.
The party have shown support for trials of programs to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-incarceration, such as Justice Reinvestment and the Youth Koori Court.
They say they are committed to reduce interactions between young people and the criminal justice system and support diversionary programs that focus on care and education.
They also say they are also committed to reducing domestic and family violence, particularly against First Nations women.
As ever, the Greens have many proposals to change the way the justice system operates.
They are committed to establishing a commission that will oversee the implementation of the Recommendations from Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and want to establish a statewide place-based, trauma informed Justice Reinvestment framework.
They have also committed to introducing new independent oversight for the prison system to ensure better accountability.
They support fully funding, and expanding, justice reinvestment and diversionary programs to become the statewide responses to youth offending.
The Greens say they will raise the age of criminal responsibility.
Cultural heritage
No formal heritage policies have been released by the NSW Coalition government in the lead up to the state election.
Cultural heritage initiatives were announced in the 2022-2023 budget.
The minister for heritage James Griffin announced the 2023-2025 NSW Heritage Grants program which includes Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Grants where applicants can apply for up to $80,000.
NSW Labor say they are committed to introducing standalone Aboriginal Cultural Heritage legislation.
The new Act would create a new state-level Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council (ACH Council), with equal composition of native title holders, Aboriginal Land Councils and Aboriginal Owners.
The Greens NSW say they are committed to consulting on and introducing legislation for stand alone cultural heritage laws in NSW that are controlled by Aboriginal people.
