Traditional aboriginal dancers perform a ceremony, Sydney, Australia, Jan. 26, 2016 (AP photo by Rob Griffith).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries. In July, footage was made public of guards at a juvenile detention center in Australia’s Northern Territory using hoods, restraints and tear gas on aboriginal children, in what could be a violation of the U.N. treaty barring torture. In an email interview, Libby Porter, a principal research fellow at RMIT University in Melbourne, discusses indigenous rights in Australia. WPR: What is the legal status of Australia’s indigenous peoples, and what are the key issues […]

A turtle swims over bleached coral at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, February 2016 (Photo by XL Catlin Seaview Survey/Underwater Earth).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on countries’ risk exposure, contribution and response to climate change. South Australia closed the state’s last coal-fired power plant in May, resulting in a massive increase in energy prices and prompting a backlash against the wind and solar energy sources that replaced it. The episode has raised questions about the viability of Australia’s renewable energy policy. In an email interview, Mark Howden, the director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University, discusses Australia’s climate change policy. WPR: What is Australia’s risk exposure to climate change, what […]