Aboriginal Australian leaders are meeting at the sacred landmark of Uluru to decide how the country's first inhabitants, who date back about 50,000 years before British colonizers arrived, should be recognized in the constitution for the first time.

There are about 700,000 Aborigines in a population of 23 million but they suffer disproportionately high rates of suicide, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and imprisonment, tracking near the bottom in almost every economic and social indicator.

Constitutional recognition of Aborigines is a complex issue in a country which previously administered its indigenous people under flora and fauna laws.

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