Deconstructing aqua ius: Reclaiming Aboriginal water rights and communal identity in Australia

This paper examines and analyses the historical flawed treatment of Indigenous peoples water rights and interests by Australian governments in the development of national water reform, and how the early stages of the reform process failed to account for Indigenous peoples inherent rights to water, its use, management and ownership. It is not the purpose of this paper to examine or interpret Australias current common law and statutory water regimes. Rather, the paper argues that governments lack of inclusion of Indigenous water rights and interests resembles Australias western framing of Indigenous land rightsshaped by the doctrine of terra iusand reconstructs Indigenous water rights as aqua ius or water belonging to no one.