Western Australia's Law Reform commission is to conduct Australia's first
extensive inquiry into Aboriginal tribal law and how it can be recognised
in a state's legal system.

Attorney General Jim McGinty says the examination of customary law is long
overdue and its progress will be watched with huge interest across the
country and overseas.

Tribal punishment has already been considered in a WA legal judgement.

Last year, an Aboriginal man convicted of manslaughter, Damian Rictor, was
given a substantially reduced jail term by a WA judge who took into
account among other factors, that members of the man's community had
already speared him 12 times.

The commission's inquiry is expected to take two to three years to
complete.