<p>What is a treaty?</p><p>A treaty is a settlement or agreement arrived at through negotiation. A treaty gives rise to binding obligations between parties who make them. It may outline the rights and responsibilities of the parties as they are agreed upon.</p><p>In international law, the word ‘treaty’ has been used to cover a variety of international agreements. According to the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a treaty is an agreement between two or more nation-states over matters that they have agreed upon. Enforcement and interpretation of these treaties is governed by international law.</p><p>However, a ‘treaty’ can also refer to any agreement or contract and in this sense it can be used to describe agreements made between parties other than nation-states.</p><p>Treaties were commonly used by the European nations who recognised Indigenous peoples’ occupancy, ownership and governance of the countries they wanted to colonise.</p><p>Although treaties were signed between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples in countries such as Canada, the United States and New Zealand, none were made in Australia with Aboriginal peoples or Torres Strait Islander peoples.</p>