A strong emphasis is placed on the obstacles faced by people of Aboriginal and non-English speaking backgrounds in this study. It uses court and police transcripts to illustrate the ways in which language can affect the outcome of a legal case.

Eleven Australian lawyers and linguists contribute essays to a discussion of how language affects the administration of justice, especially in the case of the Aboriginal people. The discussions use transcripts to illustrate the way language influences a court case, including landmark cases such as the Stuart Royal Commission in 1959, the Kelvin Condren case, the Elquo Island inquest, and the Kenbi Land Claim. In conclusion, two papers consider the meaning of “offensive language,” especially when the verbal abuse has been adopted from one culture into another which has no particular stake in the insult.