Situating the erosion of rights of indigenous children

The paper discusses rights erosion affecting Indigenous children, past and present. It does so by first examining normative human rights exdusions and their impacts. It then turns to discussing how exdusion from core human rights has created systemic exceptionalism. Systematic exceptionalism is demonstrated by examining: first, how Indigenous peoples have been 'banished' from the rights accorded to others, including through physical exile and denigration of identities; and second, how racism and its underpinning of white privilege have been markers of rights erosion in post-colonial Australia. The paper condudes by ruminating on the future. It contemplates whether emotional responses to Indigenous children might be a forerunner to a transformative approach that is emancipatory for Indigenous children and families. Such an approach calls for a new type of conversation that may create more effective engagement of the mainstream with Indigenous Australians and organisations that represent them. It also accords with the way Indigenous peoples have shown they can walk in the shoes of others, an ethic from which non-Indigenous societies can learn.