The Four Dimensions of an Indigenous-State Treaty

On 13 November 2025, the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria and the State government signed the first formal treaty between an Australian government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. That same day, the Statewide Treaty Act 2025 (Vic), which gives legal effect to the Statewide Treaty, received Royal Assent and became law. But what are Indigenous-State treaties? In this article, I examine how Canadian courts characterise and interpret historic and modern treaties negotiated between the Crown and First Nations. Drawing on this jurisprudence, I argue that Indigenous-State treaties possess four dimensions. These agreements possess the qualities of a contract, a statute, an international agreement, and contain a constitutional character. When an Australian court is confronted with a dispute arising out of an Indigenous-State treaty, these four characters should be borne in mind.