Arjun Malhotra
Member of the YMCA SA Youth Press Gallery
Winds of change were blowing through the chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, as the Youth Aboriginal Repatriation Notion (YARN) Bill was unveiled by the Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation (IAR) Committee and passionately debated by a group of participants from the 29th cohort of the YMCA SA Youth Parliament in both the upper (Legislative Council) and lower houses (House of Assembly). This bill, meticulously crafted by a dedicated group of Youth Parliamentarians in collaboration with the IAR Mentors, proposed a comprehensive framework for addressing Indigenous restitution efforts in South Australia, and the subsequent actions which must be taken to complement those positive developments.
The IAR Committee in the Legislative Council.
Photo: YMCA SA Youth Parliament Media & Communications
The YARN Bill itself is perhaps the first of its kind in South Australia. Kasia, an IAR Mentor, stated that the IAR committee initially in their bill wanted to have “a [official] committee to facilitate repatriation,” but it was soon discovered that there was some “conflicting legislation,” referring to the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1998. The Taskforce later decided they would retain the official “committee” in their bill to oversee the process of facilitating repatriation, in the form of the Society for Aboriginal Repatriation and Preservation (SARP), but only alter the capacity in which it acted, such that it would provide additional support to repatriation efforts through recommendations. The alterations, although seemingly minor, indicate that the IAR Committee developed a bill divergent from current legislation, suggesting that there may be no other legislation like the YARN Bill, in the state.
The Bill is proudly championed by its authors, due to its prominent focus on First Nations restitution activities, and its calling for the return of culturally significant artefacts to rightful owners —that too, in a structured manner. Youth Parliamentarian, the Honourable Emily Parsons, who was actively involved in drafting the bill, claimed “there is not a lot in existing legislature about formalising the process of trying to get Indigenous artefacts repatriated.” She went on to say that many informal First Nations repatriation programs exist, but only formalised legislation would “get the conversation moving” and pass agency back to First Nations Australians. Concurrently, Part 2 of the YARN Bill outlines the creation and composition of a committee called the Society for Aboriginal Repatriation and Preservation (SARP), which will consist of four Indigenous Elders, two elected members of the South Australia First Nations Voice to Parliament, one Indigenous artefacts expert, and one archaeology expert, amongst others. The SARP committee will be composed of members appointed by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and a chairperson will be elected from its membership through a voting process. To streamline repatriation efforts in the state, SARP has the authority to:
make and publish recommendations in the Government Gazette, which relate to, and are intended to guide, the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) and the South Australian Museum; and
establish and oversee the Indigenous Artefact Art Initiative (IAAI).
The IAAI is detailed in Part 4 of the IAR Bill and is constituted of two clauses, which enable SARP to:
function as a mediator through an established tribunal to determine rightful ownership disputes between Indigenous parties; and
give funding to individual indigenous artisans to create art to replace other artworks which have been repatriated from museums.
The Honourable Emily Parsons, Member of the Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation Committee
Photo: YMCA SA Youth Parliament Media and Communications
Parsons is fully behind the IAAI, as she believes commissioning contemporary Indigenous artisans to create art that can be put into museums is the “most important initiative” outlined in the YARN Bill, with Sasha McGee, an IAR Mentor, expressing similar views. Parsons’ reasoning is that while “in theory museums sound great. There are so many cultures there for you to consume,” the reality is that museums have a history that is “not great”, marked by “colonialism, [and] very European attempts to qualify non-Western cultures as inferior and primitive.” She argues that this past has been used “in a nasty way to position Europeans as above everybody else and to put these non-white cultures on display [in museums] as objects of scrutiny.” Emily believes the IAAI offers a chance to rectify this, stating, “the idea of putting the power back in the hands of Indigenous artisans, and actually ensuring that the artefacts that are going to end up in museums from now on, are not stolen and they are not put on display for the purpose of really tearing down Indigenous people, but instead, an Indigenous person is properly compensated within the realm of their own knowledge, [and] their prior, full consent.”
The unveiling of the YARN Bill marks a pivotal step towards bettering Indigenous restitution efforts in South Australia. The bill acknowledges and attempts to address the complexities and nuances of repatriation, through the establishment of SARP and the creation of the IAAI, both of which aim to empower First Nations voices. While informal repatriation programs exist, the committee argues that formal legislation is essential for advancing repatriation discussions, and restoring the agency of First Nations Australians - which is precisely what this Bill aims to do. Parsons states, “a lot of repatriation efforts have been successful, and it's not that repatriation efforts aren't usually successful. It's just more about trying to round off the experience in a way that truly is emblematic of what we're trying to do.”
Originally published on The Y South Australia.
The YMCA SA Youth Press Gallery is a program for young people aged 15-17, where they gain valuable experience serving in the Press Gallery for the 2024 YMCA SA Youth Parliament. Youth Press Gallery members develop and distribute articles about the Youth Parliament and the issues being debated, and have their work published.
