Cultural Expertise and History in Australia

Abstract

This chapter focuses on how historians and historical evidence are utilised by parties to litigation and how judges treat expert evidence provided by historians in Australian courtrooms. It examines (a) the types of cases in which historical evidence might be drawn upon; (b) the rules of civil procedure under which historical data can be received into evidence (with a discussion of the utility of these rules); and (c) current trends in the Australian superior courts as to how historians' work is treated. The seminal cases of Mabo (1992) and Wik (1996) are used as examples to highlight some of the methodological and political concerns with the reliance on historical evidence in judgments. After reading this chapter, you will have learnt how historians are involved in the process of litigation in the Federal and High Court of Australia; how judges might treat the evidence given by historians; and some of the more common problems with the interpretation of historical evidence in the courtroom.