Summary of Reforms and the Way Forward

This chapter begins by summarising the various constitutional reformsUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoplesconstitutional reforms, correlation with recommended in preceding chapters, putting them into the form of nine textual amendments to the constitution. The chapter then correlates the amendments with theRightsUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous PeoplesConstitutional reformUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples, correlation with, showing how each amendment gives effect to various Articles of the Declaration. As discussed in Chap. 1 , the failure to put principle ahead of pragmatism and conservative opposition to reform, have been the main impediments toConstitutional reformimpediments to constitutional change in Australia. This chapter argues that a new approach is needed and calls on political leaders to commit to Indigenous constitutional reform andCivics educationconstitutional reform and in particular to use their position to persuade voters of the merits of reform in circumstances where public opinion initially opposes it. The chapter also discusses the fact that voters have a low level of constitutional literacy and are therefore predisposed to vote against changes to a system that they do not understand. As a remedy for this, the chapter argues for a reform of civics education by making it a mandatory subject throughout secondary school, by including philosophy in the curriculum and by teaching students not only how to understand, but also how to critique, the constitution.