During the 1970's a variety of special educational programs were set up for adult Aboriginal people. In general these programs were designed to meet the needs of people who for a variety of reasons, were at an educational or social disadvantage in comparison to the rest of the Australian population. The Djwani project stood out in sharp contrast to these other programs. This project was designed to serve Aboriginal people who had demonstrated their ability to cope with tertiary education,and who were likely to be able to occupy important positions in Aboriginal Affairs. The Djwani project aimed to maximise beginning tertiary qualifications for the professions that the students intended to enter, and pr pare them to operate in positions of leadership. This was to be achieved by an upgrading tertiary program, coupled with a field experience system. The project was operated at the Canberra College of Advanced Education in the later part of the 1970's. It was discontinued in 1978. This document is a report of an evaluative study carried out during the operation of the Djwani project. It provides a framework in which the administration and activities associated with the project can be, recorded and examined. This study of the Djwani project, is escentially a case study of the project, which also uses a number of evaluative deviceses developed by the author in other situations. This study examines the activities of the actual Djwani project, it does not attempt to provide longitudinal information on the students after they leave the project. It does however attempt to compare the project with other adult educational projects mounted for Aborigines, and to appraise the projects value in Aboriginal Affairs in general.

First Nations in Canada have long struggled to participate effectively in resource development decisions. In 2004, the Supreme Court established that the federal and provincial governments of Canada have a duty to consult First Nations in cases where their treaty rights, land claims, or traditions may be adversely affected by government decision-making or third-party development. To determine whether the duty to consult has made an impact on the empowerment of First Nations in these decisions, I assess three case studies using four criteria. This research finds that, while the duty to consult has made a positive impact on the empowerment of First Nations, it still does not go far enough in truly empowering communities to achieve sustainable development on their own terms. This study concludes that the duty to consult may be supplemented with Aboriginal self-government – signaling the potential for positive change in the empowerment of communities seeking environmental justice.

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