Jacklyn Hartley

jacklyn hartley

Fulbright Postgraduate Alumni (WG Walker) Award

Media Profile

“Current federal government policy is focused on finding solutions to the poverty of Indigenous communities through mutual obligation. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development has shown that the Native American nations which are breaking the cycle of poverty are those where Indigenous people are the primary decision-makers. Self-determination can therefore be a powerful tool of promoting social justice for Indigenous peoples.”

Jacklyn Hartley has won the Fulbright Postgraduate (WG Walker) Award to undertake a Master of Laws in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy at the Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona, Tucson. The prestigious Alumni (WG Walker) Award goes to the highest ranked Postgraduate and is funded through an endowment fund supported by donations from Australian Fulbright Alumni.

Jacklyn is an Arts/Law graduate from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) who received first class honours and the University Medal in history. She currently teaches Public Law and Australian Environmental History at the University of New South Wales and has practised as a solicitor at Freehills. She will examine the status of Indigenous self-determination in international law and practice and analyse how these perspectives can assist the recognition of Indigenous self-determination in Australia.

There has been a policy shift from “rights-based” to “practical” reconciliation in Indigenous affairs in Australia. This environment along with the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission has left a gap in the amount of attention paid to how Australian law and policy can be reformed to recognise and promote Indigenous self-determination.

“Through a combination of coursework, research and clinical placements with a strong emphasis on the study of international and comparative law and policy, I aim to foster further cross-cultural exchange on these issues and to contribute to the development of law and policies which support the recognition of Indigenous rights.”

Jacklyn has been accepted into the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program (IPLP Program) and will undertake coursework in International Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples, Federal Indian Law, Native Economic Development, the Comparative Law of Indigenous Peoples, Tribal Courts and Critical Race Studies along with practical legal assistance to the

Indigenous Peoples Law Clinic and a research/thesis component. She will also take part in intensive seminars led by internationally recognised scholars and practitioners as part of the IPLP Program’s Colloquium Speakers Series.

“I will examine the status of self-determination in international human rights law and analyse models of Indigenous governance, and explore the attributes of Native American governance structures and how domestic and international law interacts with, supports or, indeed, impedes such structures. I anticipate examining not only the success stories, but the difficulties, challenges and limitations which have been encountered in the United States.”

Jacklyn’s academic success has been recognised through several awards and scholarships from UNSW including; Lucinda Adamovich Scholarship in Law, History Prize for Best Honours Thesis, Frank Crowley Prize for Australian History, University Honours Year Scholarship and the Clayton Utz Scholarship in Law. She has published in Indigenous history and law and is a member of the ReconciliACTION Network, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR), Amnesty International, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, the Law Society of New South Wales and New South Wales Young Lawyers.