The 'Uluru statement from the heart': investigating Indigenous Australian sovereignty

The Uluru Statement from the Heart, issued in 2017 by representatives of Indigenous Australians, has reactivated simmering debates in Australia about political and legal recognition of Indigenous sovereignty. The Uluru Statement's calls for constitutional reform and bicultural treaty negotiations are premised on an understanding of sovereignty that is problematic because it elides fundamental doctrinal and political obstacles to attaining Indigenous sovereignty in its most expansive form while overlooking important gains already achieved or achievable for Indigenous control or shared management of natural resources and territory. This article critically evaluates the Uluru Statement in light of a deeper understanding of the political and legal permutations of the concept 'sovereignty' and existing governance reforms in Australia that offer a degree of 'internal sovereignty' short of separate nationhood status for Indigenous peoples.