试论澳大利亚原住民的母语权及语言赔偿 = Native tongue title: compensation for the loss of Aboriginal languages in Australia

Abstract

This article proposes the enactment of an ex gratia compensation scheme for the loss of Indigenous languages in Australia． While some states enacted ex gratia compensation schemes for the victims of the Stolen Generation policies，the victims of“linguicide”( language killing) were largely overlooked by the Australian government． The proposed compensation scheme for the loss of aboriginal languages should support the effort to reclaim and revive the lost languages． We first outline the history of‘linguicide’during the colonization in Australia． We then put a case for reviving the lost aboriginal languages by highlighting the benefits of language revival． After evaluating the limits of the existing Australian law in supporting the language revival efforts，this article proposes a statute-based ex gratia compensation scheme，which can be entitled Native Tongue Title．