Editorial.(Editorial)

As a multi-disciplinary journal, Australian Aboriginal Studies is a forum for papers that consider and discuss a broad range of often interrelated topics and issues. In this non-thematic edition, they are distributed across health, psychology, sport, linguistics, information technology, art history, archaeology, heritage, mediation and anthropology.

The first paper, by Peter Sutton, examines the similarities and differences between older customary mediator roles and those of the modern native title process. Sutton's paper, 'Mediating conflict in the age of native title', draws upon historical and contemporary accounts and analyses, as well as personal observation, to consider various roles and processes within Indigenous conflict management, and also how non-Indigenous people have been brought into these arenas. His observations about differences that may occur between Indigenous and non-Indigenous mediation styles is informative in the current native title era; for example, in the 'Right People for Country' project in the Victorian Native Title Settlement Framework.

Sutton's paper contributes to a growing body of work on Indigenous mediation and the recognition of its importance in the contemporary context. For example, 2009 saw the completion of the Indigenous Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management Case Study Project, which was partly undertaken by AIATSIS. The findings of this project are documented in 'Solid Work You Mob Are Doing': Case studies in Indigenous dispute resolution & conflict management in Australia (available from the Institute …