Larissa Yasmin Behrendt (born 1969) is an Australian legal academic, writer,
filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
and Indigenous rights advocate. she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the
University of Technology Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...
, and holds the inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research at UTS.
Early life and education
Behrendt was born in
Cooma, New South Wales, in 1969,
[ of Eualeyai/ Kamillaroi descent][ on her father's side. Her mother, who was non-Indigenous, worked in ]naval intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
, while her father was an air traffic controller
Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...
and later an Aboriginal Studies academic. He established the Aboriginal Research and Resource Centre at the University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...
, Sydney in 1988, around the time when Behrendt commenced studying there.
After attending Kirrawee High School,[ Behrendt completed a ]Bachelor of Jurisprudence
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...
and Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
degree at the University of New South Wales in 1992.[ In the same year, she was admitted by the ]Supreme Court of New South Wales
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...
to practise as a solicitor. After a stint of working in family law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriage ...
and legal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to c ...
, she travelled on a scholarship to the United States,[ where she completed a Master of Laws at ]Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each c ...
in 1994, and a Doctor of Juridical Science
A Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD; ), or a Doctor of Science of Law (JSD; ), is a research doctorate in law equivalent to the more commonly awarded Doctor of Philosophy degree.
Australia
The S.J.D. is offered by the Australian National Univ ...
from the same institution in 1998.[ Behrendt was the first indigenous Australian to graduate from Harvard Law School.
She also earned a Graduate Diploma in Screenwriting (2012) and Graduate Diploma in Documentary (2013) at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), and is a graduate of the ]Australian Institute of Company Directors
The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI).
History
The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...
(2013).[
]
Career
Legal and academic
After graduating from Harvard Law School in the mid-1990s, Behrendt worked in Canada for a year with a range of First Nations organisations. In 1999, she worked with the Assembly of First Nations
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is an assembly of Canadian First Nations (Indian bands) represented by their chiefs. Established in 1982 and modelled on the United Nations General Assembly, it emerged from the National Indian Brotherhood, ...
in developing a gender equality policy, and she represented the Assembly at the United Nations. The same year, she did a study for the Slavey people
The Slavey (also Slave and South Slavey) are a First Nations indigenous peoples of the Dene group, indigenous to the Great Slave Lake region, in Canada's Northwest Territories, and extending into northeastern British Columbia and northwe ...
comparing native title
Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...
developments in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Behrendt returned to Australia to become a postdoctoral researcher
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...
at the Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...
, moving to University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 2000.[ In 2000, she was admitted by the ]Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory
The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory is the highest court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters and hears the most serious criminal matters.
The court ha ...
to practise as a barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...
. Behrendt is a republican, opposing the institution of monarchy in Australia.
Behrendt has been involved in several pro bono test cases involving adverse treatment of Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system, including appearing as junior counsel in the NSW Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Cour ...
case of ''Campbell v Director of Public Prosecutions'' 008 She worked inside the NSW prison system between 2003 and 2012 in her role as Alternative Chair of the Serious Offenders Review Council. She has also held judicial positions on the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (Equal Opportunity Division) and as a Land Commissioner on the Land and Environment Court.
Current positions
she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs[ at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney, and holds the inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research, a leadership position that advises the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) on Indigenous strategy. She is also a fellow of the ]Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...
and a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.
Other work
In education and community
Behrendt has been active in issues around Indigenous education including literacy. In 2002, she was the co-recipient of the inaugural Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 19225 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy ...
National Teaching Award. She has served on the board of Tranby Aboriginal College
Tranby is a heritage-listed former residence and now adult education centre for Aboriginal Australians in Sydney, commonly known as Tranby Aboriginal College.
It is located at 13 Mansfield Street in the inner western Sydney suburb of Glebe i ...
in Glebe, Sydney
Glebe is an inner-western suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region.
Glebe is surrounded by Blackwattle Bay a ...
and has been ambassador for the Gawura Campus (an Indigenous primary school) of St Andrew's Cathedral School since at least 2012. She was a founder of the Sydney Story Factory in 2012, which established a literacy program in Redfern.[
In April 2011, Behrendt was appointed to chair the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People for the ]federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...
. The Review, tasked with providing a roadmap for Indigenous university education, delivered its report in September 2012 and received a widely positive response for its emphasis on achievable parity targets and the re-allocation of existing resources to support meaningful outcomes such as "fostering a 'professional class' of Indigenous graduates". In releasing the report on 14 September 2012, Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education, accepted all of its recommendations.
From 2009 to 2012, she co-chaired the City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...
's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel.
In the arts
Behrendt has played an active role in creating and supporting arts organisations and initiatives and is a consistent advocate of increased funding for the arts. She was the inaugural chair of National Indigenous Television
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...
(NITV), the first broadcast television network in Australia dedicated to Indigenous programming, from 2006 to 2009.[
In 2008, she was appointed to the board of the ]Bangarra Dance Theatre
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born C ...
and was chair from 2010 20 2014.[ She was appointed to the board of Museums and Galleries NSW in 2012, a role which continues .][
Behrendt has served on the board of the Sydney Writers' Festival since 2015, the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, chairing their Indigenous Advisory Panel (2007–2012).][
She was a board member of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG) from 2013 to 2014, was a judge of non-fiction on the ]New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...
(2013–2014) and has been a member of the Australia Council
The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...
Major Performing Arts Panel since 2015.[
]
Writing
Behrendt has written extensively on legal and Indigenous social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...
issues. Her books include ''Aboriginal Dispute Resolution'' (1995) and ''Achieving Social Justice'' (2003). In 2005 she co-authored the book ''Treaty''.
Behrendt has also written three works of fiction, including a novel, ''Home'', which won the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards
The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...
, the David Unaipon
David Ngunaitponi (28 September 1872 – 7 February 1967), known as David Unaipon, was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Ngarrindjeri people. He was a preacher, inventor and author. Unaipon's contribution to Australian society helped to bre ...
Award in 2002, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
for Best First Novel in the south-east Asian/South Pacific region in 2005. Her second novel, ''Legacy'', won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award
The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...
for Prize for Indigenous Writing (2010).[ Her third novel, After Story, was published in 2021.
In 2012, Behrendt published ''Indigenous Australia For Dummies''.
]
Film
Behrendt has written, directed, and/or produced a number of documentary films since 2013, including ''Innocence Betrayed'' (2013, writer) ''In My Blood It Runs
Maya Newell is an Australian filmmaker, known for the feature-length documentaries '' Gayby Baby'' (2015) and ''In My Blood It Runs'' (2019). She works at Closer Productions in Adelaide, South Australia.
Newell had intended to study internation ...
'' (2019, producer) and ''Maralinga Tjarutja'' (2020, writer), the latter about the British nuclear tests at Maralinga in South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
. She was Indigenous consultant for the TV documentary miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...
'' Australia: The Story of Us'' in 2015, '' Who do you think you are?'' (2018–2019) and other projects.
In 2016 Behrendt (as director) Michaela Perske (producer) and were awarded the Indigenous Feature Documentary Initiative funding by the Adelaide Film Festival
The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October ...
in conjunction with Screen Australia
Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...
and KOJO to work on their feature documentary project, '' After the Apology'', and on 9 October 2017, AFF held the world première of the resulting film. The film looks at the increase in Indigenous child removal in the years following Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
's Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples. It won Best Direction of a Documentary Feature Film from the Australian Directors Guild in 2018, and was nominated in three categories in the 2018 AACTA Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industr ...
, including Best Direction in Nonfiction Television.
Behrendt directed '' Maralinga Tjarutja'', a May 2020 television documentary made by Blackfella Films for ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to:
*ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or
*ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
ABC Television or ABC ...
, which tells the story of the people of Maralinga, South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
, since the 1950s British nuclear tests at Maralinga. It was deliberately broadcast around the same time that the drama series '' Operation Buffalo'' was on, to give voice to the Indigenous people of the area and show how it disrupted their lives. Screenhub gave it 4.5 stars, calling it an "excellent documentary". The film shows the resilience of the Maralinga Tjarutja people, and how they have continued to fight for their rights to look after the contaminated land.
In 2020 Behrendt worked as a writer for Season 2 of ''Total Control'' (TV series),[ and as writer/director on a documentary film entitled ''The Fight Together''.][
In 2021 Behrendt released the documentary Araatika: Rise Up!.
]
Radio
Behrendt presents radio programme ''Speaking Out'', covering "politics, arts and culture from a range of Indigenous perspectives". it broadcasts on ABC Radio National
Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.
History
1937: Predecessors a ...
on Fridays at 12pm (noon) and on ABC Local Radio
ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...
on Sundays at 9pm.
Recognition
*In 1993, Behrendt was the winner of the Lionel Murphy
Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...
Foundation Scholarship.
*In 2002, she was the co-recipient of the inaugural Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 19225 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy ...
National Teaching Award.
*2002 David Unaipon Award in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards for her fiction work ''Home''.[
*In 2004 she won the award for outstanding achievement in literature in the 2004 Deadlys.]
*2005 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
– Best first novel (Asia/Pacific).[
*In 2009, Behrendt was named National NAIDOC Person of the Year.
*2009 ]Victorian Premier's Literary Award
The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...
, Prize for Indigenous Writing for ''Legacy''.
*In 2011, she was named the NSW Australian of the Year
The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territ ...
.
*2012 AFTRS
The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority.
History
Establishe ...
's AW Myer Indigenous Award.[
*2018 Australian Directors Guild award for Best Direction of a Documentary Feature Film for ''After the Apology''.][
*In the 2020 Australia Day Honours, Behrendt was made an Officer in the General Division of the ]Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...
(AO), for her "distinguished service to Indigenous education and research, the law and the visual and performing arts".
*In the 2021 Human Rights Awards (Australia), she won the Human Rights medal.
Personal life
Behrendt married US artist Kris Faller in 1997 while at Harvard. They separated amicably in 2001 and were later divorced.
She had a long-term relationship with Geoff Scott, a senior Indigenous bureaucrat, former CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and current CEO of NSW Aboriginal Land Council.
In 2009, Behrendt began a relationship with Michael Lavarch
Michael Hugh Lavarch AO (born 8 June 1961) is an Australian lawyer, educator and former politician. He was the Attorney-General for Australia between 1993 and 1996, and from 2004 to 2012 was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Queensland U ...
, former Attorney-General of Australia
The Attorney-GeneralThe title is officially "Attorney-General". For the purposes of distinguishing the office from other attorneys-general, and in accordance with usual practice in the United Kingdom and other common law jurisdictions, the Aust ...
; they married in 2011.
Bibliography
Novels
*
* ''Legacy'', University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, QLD, 2009,
*'' After Story'', University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, QLD, 2021,
Short Stories
* The Space Between Us, in Behrendt et al., ''10 short stories you must read in 2011'', the Australia Council for the Arts, Australia, 2011, , Chapter 3: pp. 47–67
Children's fiction
* ''Crossroads'', Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, VIC, 2011,
Non-fiction
* ''Aboriginal Dispute Resolution: A step towards self-determination and community autonomy'', Federation Press, Leichhardt, NSW 1995,
* ''Achieving social justice: indigenous rights and Australia's future'', Federation Press, Annandale, NSW, 2003,
* ''Resolving Indigenous Disputes: Land conflict and beyond'', co-authored with Loretta Kelly, Federation Press, Leichhardt, NSW, 2008,
*
* ''Indigenous Australia for Dummies'', John Wiley & Sons, Milton, QLD, 2012,
* ''Rabbit-proof Fence'', Currency Press, Sydney, NSW, 2012,
* ''Finding Eliza: Power and colonial storytelling'', University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, QLD, 2016,
2011 tweet storm and ''Eatock v Bolt''
Comments made by Behrendt on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that appeared to disparage Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Territory Minister, and Aboriginal elder Bess Price
Bess Nungarrayi Price (born 22 October 1960) is an Aboriginal Australian activist and politician. She was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2016, representing the electorate of Stuart, an ...
caused controversy despite Behrendt's continued insistence that the tweet was taken out of context. She maintains that she was referring not to Price, but to the acrimonious tenor of a debate on the television program '' Q+A''. Behrendt had replied to a Twitter comment that had expressed outrage about Price's support for the Northern Territory intervention
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response, also known as "The Intervention" or the Northern Territory Intervention, and sometimes the abbreviation "NTER" (for Northern Territory Emergency Response) was a package of measures enforced by ...
, writing "I watched a show where a guy had sex with a horse and I'm sure it was less offensive than Bess Price", referring to TV series '' Deadwood''. Behrendt apologised both publicly and privately to Price, who did not formally accept her apology.[ Behrendt said that the throwaway comment has made her a target for a campaign of ]character assassination
"Character Assassination" is a four-issue Spider-Man story arc written by Marc Guggenheim with art by John Romita, Jr. and published by Marvel Comics. The arc appears in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #584-#588. An interlude, "The Spartacus Gambit" w ...
,[ with several commentators agreeing, most notably ]Robert Manne
Robert Michael Manne (born 31 October 1947) is an Emeritus Professor of politics and Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He is a leading Australian public intellectual.
Background
Robert Manne was born in Mel ...
. ''The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' published 15 stories on Behrendt within two weeks of the tweet.
The disparagement of Behrendt was subsequently characterised as a coordinated response to a court case in which she and eight others were simultaneously involved against News Corp
News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the original News Corporation, it was formed on June 28, 2013, following a ...
, known as ''Eatock v Bolt
''Eatock v Bolt'' was a 2011 decision of the Federal Court of Australia which held that two articles written by columnist and commentator Andrew Bolt and published in ''The Herald Sun'' newspaper had contravened section 18C, of the ''Racial Di ...
''. ''Herald Sun
The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald ...
'' columnist Andrew Bolt
Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian right-wing social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succ ...
had used Behrendt's name in two articles about "political" Aboriginal people. Bolt asserted that Behrendt and other fair-skinned Aboriginal people claimed Aboriginality
Aboriginal Australian identity, sometimes known as Aboriginality, is the perception of oneself as Aboriginal Australian, or the recognition by others of that identity. This is often related to the existence of (or the belief of the existence of) ...
to advance their careers. The Federal Court ruled that the articles were inflammatory, offensive and contravened the ''Racial Discrimination Act
The ''Racial Discrimination Act 1975'' (Cth). is an Act of the Australian Parliament, which was enacted on 11 June 1975 and passed by the Whitlam government. The Act makes racial discrimination in certain contexts unlawful in Australia, and als ...
''.[.]
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
*
*
''After the Apology''
* 15-minute video, presented by Stan Grant in the program '' Matter of Fact with Stan Grant'', which includes Behrendt and one of the grandmothers who features in the film.
* (Online rental of complete film)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrendt, Larissa
1969 births
20th-century Australian novelists
Living people
Australian non-fiction writers
Australian women novelists
Australian republicans
Harvard Law School alumni
Indigenous Australian writers
University of New South Wales Law School alumni
20th-century Australian women writers
University of Technology Sydney faculty
Australian feminist writers
Fellows of the Australian Academy of Law
Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
Indigenous Australian academics
Indigenous Australian women academics
Officers of the Order of Australia
Australian women academics
Australian feminists