The bitter debate sparked by Senator Jacqui Lambie's claims about her Aboriginal identity highlights problems with Cape York leader Noel Pearson's proposed constitutionally entrenched Indigenous advisory body, says Jesuit priest and law professor Frank Brennan.
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Mr Pearson is championing a model of Indigenous constitutional recognition that includes an "Australian Declaration of Recognition", which would sit outside the constitution, and a constitutional amendment to create a national Indigenous representative body that would provide advice to Parliament on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The advisory body would be at least partly elected, but its operations would not be reviewable by the courts.
But Professor Brennan said such a body would require judicial oversight, if only to determine who was eligible to nominate for and stand in its elections.
He questioned what would happen if Senator Lambie were to seek election to the body or to seek to cast a vote for candidates.
In her maiden speech in September, Senator Lambie spoke of her Aboriginal ancestry, which her family traced back six generations to Mannalargenna, a celebrated Tasmanian Aboriginal chieftain.
But Senator Lambie's claims were disputed by Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Council chairman Clyde Mansell, who branded Senator Lambie's claims "totally unfounded".
Professor Brennan, a professor of law at Australian Catholic University, said such a dispute "could ultimately be decided only by a court".
He will speak about Indigenous constitutional recognition alongside the director of the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of NSW, Megan Davis, at an event to be hosted by the Sydney Institute on Wednesday.
Professor Brennan has praised Mr Pearson's proposal for a body to give Indigenous people a greater voice in policy-making, but has argued it should be established by legislation and "road tested" rather than asking voters to entrench it in the constitution in the referendum expected in May 2017.
Mr Abbott has nominated May 27, 2017 - the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which gave the Commonwealth the power to make special laws for Aboriginal people and count them in population statistics - as "a richly symbolic time to complete our constitution".
But he has not committed to that date, arguing the success of the referendum was more important than timing.
A parliamentary committee charged with charting a course to constitutional change will present its final report to Parliament next month.
