Nicole Watson is a member of the Birri-Gubba People and the Yugambeh language group. Nicole has a bachelor of laws from the University of Queensland, a master of laws from the Queensland University of Technology and is currently enrolled in the PhD program at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, ANU. The topic of Nicole's thesis is a comparative analysis of the privatisation of Indigenous lands in Australia, the United States of America and New Zealand.
Nicole was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1999. She has worked for Legal Aid Queensland, the National Native Title Tribunal and the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency. Nicole is also a former editor of the Indigenous Law Bulletin.
Nicole's area of research is the legal recognition of Indigenous relationships with land.
Publications
Nicole Watson, 'The Repatriation of Indigenous Remains in the United States of America and Australia: A Comparative Analysis' (2003) 8(1) Australian Indigenous Law Reporter 33.
Nicole Watson and Russell Black, 'New Cultural Heritage Legislation: One small step for Murris, one giant leap forward for the Queensland Government' (2001) 5(13) Indigenous LAw Bulletin 8.
http://www.austlii.edu.au//cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/journals/ILB/2001/78.html
Nicole Watson, 'A denial of Religious Freedoms: Section 190C(3) of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)' (2001) 5(7) Indigenous Law Bulletin 4.
http://beta.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ILB/2001/17.html
Nicole Watson, 'Indigenous People in Legal Education: Staring into a Mirror without Reflection' (2004) 6(8) Indigenous Law Bulletin 4.
http://kirra.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ILB/2005/1.html
Nicole Watson, 'Howard's End: The Real Agenda behind the Proposed Review of Indigenous Land Titles' (2005) 9(4) Australian Indigenous Law Reporter 1.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AILR/2005/64.html
Nicole Watson, 'Privatisation versus Communal Lands' (2005) 80 Arena 10.
Nicole Watson and Megan Davis, (2006) 'It's the Same Old Song': Draconian Counter-Terrorism Laws and the Deja vu of Indigenous Australians', Borderlands E-journal, 5(1).
http://www.borderlandsejournal.adelaide.edu.au/vol5no1_2006/daviswatson_song.htm
Nicole Watson, 'The Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Bill 2005 (Cth): Coming soon to a Community Organisation near You' (2006) 6(19) Indigenous Law Bulletin 13.
Nicole Watson, 'Implications of Land Rights Reform for Indigenous Health' Medical Journal of Australia, 21 May 2007.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/186_10_210507/wat10483_fm.html
Submissions
Submission by the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning to the Review of the Permit System in the Northern Territory.
Media Commentary
Nicole Watson, 'Modern Day Version of Emperor's New Suit', National Indigenous Times, 22 October 2005.
http://www.nit.com.au/Opinion/story.aspx?id=5957
Nicole Watson, 'Tell Him He's Dreaming', National Indigenous Times, 15 June 2006.
http://www.nit.com.au/News/story.aspx?id=7214
Nicole Watson, 'History Repeats, Over and Over', National Indigenous Times, 25 January 2007.
http://www.nit.com.au/Opinion/story.aspx?id=9268
Nicole Watson, 'Getting to the Truth of a Can of Worms', National Indigenous Times, 22 March 2007.
http://www.nit.com.au/Opinion/story.aspx?id=10108
Larissa Behrendt and Nicole Watson, 'Good Intentions are not Good Enough', Australian Literary Review 2 May 2007.
http://www.antar.org.au/content/view/382/127/
Nicole Watson, 'Reflections on the 1967 Referendum', National Indigenous Times, 31 May 2007.
http://www.nit.com.au/opinion/story.aspx?id=11395
