Although there exists some ambiguity over the precise constitution of Oceania, given the scattering of islands across the Pacific Ocean, it is broadly accepted that the region comprises Australia and the islands to Australia’s immediate north, northeast and east contained within the sub-regions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. The region is often delineated between Near Oceania and Remote Oceania.

Colonialism and colonial legacies in Oceania

Australia (in 1788) and New Zealand (in 1840) were the first European colonies with a physical, ongoing presence in Oceania. The French established a South Pacific presence in Tahiti–Polynesia (1840) and New Caledonia (1853) as the region offered potential sea route ports of calls to Australia and New Zealand. Britain colonized Fiji in 1874, and between 1884 and 1900, with the emergence of Imperialist Germany, annexations throughout the South Pacific occurred by Britain, France and Germany.

Colonialism in Australia has brought about an ongoing struggle between Indigenous Australians and the colonizers. Contemporaneously, Indigenous Australians still struggle with issues such a lack of access to justice and other services and over-representation in the criminal justice system (see chapters by Chris Cunneen in Harkness et al, 2016; Harkness and White, 2021). In New Zealand, such impacts have similarly been felt by the Māori people. In both countries there exist a strong inter-relationship between social, economic and health inequalities and criminal justice system exposure, issues often exacerbated by remoteness and rurality.

Oceania was a strategic source of power for Western nations, geographically, during the twentieth century: notably for military purposes in the Pacific theatre of World War Two, and for atmospheric and underground nuclear testing. The effect of European colonization on Oceanic island nation states has had enormous impacts: though treatment of Indigenous peoples; culturally in terms of art, sport and language; and both the positive and negative outcomes of a tourism industry.

Various non-government organizations based in Australia and New Zealand maintain an ongoing presence and role in facilitating access to justice and delivery of justice services throughout the Oceanic region: Caratas Australia, for instance, supports a range of programmes in the Solomon Islands, Samoa and Fiji.