Larissa Behrendt critiques Australian law through Euahlayi worldviews

Larissa Behrendt explores the intersection of Australian legal systems and Indigenous knowledge in her book, Finding Justice: From Courtroom to Country.

She uses her experience in law, academia, and governance to argue that the Australian state prioritizes Western legal traditions that favor order and precedent over fairness and truth. Behrendt asserts that these institutions currently operate on an assumption of white ownership and authority.

The author provides a specific example of how these power structures function by recounting the 2007 events in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. She describes how then-minister for Indigenous Affairs Mal Brough offered the Tangentyere Council funding for housing repairs in exchange for long-term land leases. After the council refused, the government deployed the army and took land, while also suspending the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

Behrendt notes that the media-fueled panic regarding the camps was based on unsubstantiated allegations from an adviser to Brough. Behrendt proposes a shift toward First Nations knowledge systems, which focus on community self-determination and justice that heals. She introduces the Euahlayi principle of Baluwaa, which emphasizes balance and persistence. The book suggests that Australia can build a stronger national portrait by pursuing constitutional reform that prioritizes relationships, care, and collective responsibility.