A treaty is a binding agreement between two or more parties that sets out the terms of engagement and obligations of all sides to maintain the agreement. When European colonial powers encountered Indigenous peoples, they often negotiated treaties, but Australia does not have a treaty with its Indigenous peoples. The absence of a treaty is one of the major challenges facing the treaty debate in Australia, and without a history of treaty-making, the concept of what a treaty is or involves remains vague for many people, including the government.

Australia has signed up to a range of international legal instruments that concern the rights of Indigenous peoples, and these legal instruments set a clear standard for what makes an agreement a treaty. A treaty must satisfy three conditions: it must be a political agreement reached by a fair process of negotiation between equals, it must be a written agreement, and it must be binding under international law.

Modern treaties differ from those negotiated in colonial periods. They are more technical and legally complex, and they are negotiated against a long history of inequitable relationships. In Victoria, for example, the First Peoples Assembly and State government have agreed to a Treaty Negotiation Framework that sets out principles to guide Treaty talks.

Treaties are seen as a way to address the historical injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples and to provide a framework for future relationships between Indigenous peoples and the Australian government.