An Aboriginal passport refers to various travel documents issued by the self-declared

Aboriginal Provisional Government The Aboriginal Provisional Government (APG) is an Indigenous Australian independence movement. History Earlier activity The idea of an Aboriginal government was developed by some Aboriginal delegates of the Federation of Land Councils at its ...

(APG), an

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

group. Such documents are not recognized as valid by the Australian government or its

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was an Australian federal government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border and facilitating the movement of legitimate international travelers and ...

, although some people have been permitted to re-enter Australia using such documents.Joshua Robertson
Tolerance of travellers with Aboriginal passports amounts to recognition, says activist
''The Guardian'' (April 20, 2015).

Use by activists

In the late 1980s Tasmanian activist

Michael Mansell Michael Alexander Mansell (born 5 June 1951 in northern Tasmania) is a Tasmanian Aboriginal leader who, as an activist and lawyer, has worked for social, political and legal changes to improve the lives and social standing of Tasmanian Aborigi ...

introduced an Aboriginal Passport. The passport was issued to a delegation that visited

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

in 1988. The passports were used to get into Libya and Mansell in an interview said that it was the "first time I've had any other country recognise the fact that I'm not Australian". On the delegation's return to Australia they were detained by immigration officials until they produced Australian documentation. The

, an organization seeking to create an Aboriginal nation, continued to issue Aboriginal Passports into the 1990s. The group regards the

Australian passport Australian passports are travel documents issued to Australian citizens under the ''Australian Passports Act 2005'' by the Australian Passport Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia), Department of Foreign Affairs and ...

issued by the Australian government as "a foreign and colonial travel document" and so issues Aboriginal passports as "an act of Aboriginal sovereignty." Under Australian's Migration Act of 1958 everyone entering the country must have a legal travel document, which under the act is termed as a passport. Barbara Hocking claims that under Australian law a passport is deemed to be a document which looks like a passport. Hocking asserts that since the APG issues Aboriginal passports that look like passports Hocking claims that customs agents cannot refuse entry while using Aboriginal passports because under the terms of Australian law they have a travel document issued by the APG that looks like a passport.Page 91 - - Total pages: 293 In September 2012, the Indigenous Social Justice Association, an Australian group which wants recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty, showed their support for

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

founder Julian Assange by giving him an Aboriginal Nations passport. In September 2014, four Indigenous Australian activists were permitted to re-enter Australia from Canada using "Aboriginal Provisional Government" passports but were warned not to attempt it again.Indigenous campaigners re-enter Australia on Aboriginal passports

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(September 19, 2014).

References

External links

Aboriginal Passport Ceremony
{{Passports Passports Identity documents of Australia Indigenous Australian politics