Resources and publications
Title | Author /s | Summary | Date | Tag(s) | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anthropology and connection reports in native title claim applications | Dr Julie Finlayson | This paper discusses the purposes and form of the reports, their differentiation from the NNTT registration process, considerations anticipating litigation, confidentiality and potential conflicts of interest by the State as respondent. |
AIATSIS, Dispute management, Government, Indigenous knowledge, Legal | Article / paper | |
Caring for country and sustainable Indigenous development: Opportunities, constraints and innovation | John Altman, Peter Whitehead | This paper explores how Indigenous community-based natural resource management can generate both conservation benefit and economic development opportunity. We begin by noting that much of the Indigenous estate in north Australia is either thinly populated or unpopulated. There is emerging evidence that, in situations where Indigenous people live on their country, ecological and wider benefits are generated via favourable fire regimes, control over weed infestations, and potentially through feral animal harvesting. When people are on country, they generate economic benefit for themselves by harvesting wildlife for consumption and engage with the market sector by using natural resources in commercial enterprise like arts and crafts production. We argue that there is a strong correlation between such activities and cost-effective natural resource management. Links between landcare, wildlife use and biodiversity conservation need to be recognized, celebrated and supported. The removal of many barriers to enhanced and innovative Indigenous participation in such activities, and equitable public support through programs like Landcare, will facilitate sustainable economic development options that are compatible with Indigenous priorities, while ameliorating Indigenous disadvantage. |
CAEPR, Caring for Country, Commercial development, Community development, Environment, Fire, Land and sea management | Article / paper | |
International laws and developments relating to Indigenous knowledge in Australia | Maiko Sentina, Elizabeth Mason, Terri Janke, David Wenitong | This paper provides a snapshot of international instruments that Australia is a member to or is involved with across intellectual property, environment, human rights, cultural heritage and trade, shedding light on the discussions around Indigenous Knowledge protection and management. |
Environment, Heritage, Human rights, Indigenous knowledge, Legal | Article / paper | |
Karajarri: A West Kimberley Experience in Managing Native Title | Jessica Weir | In 2002 and 2004 Karajarri had their native title rights and interests recognised to over 31,000 square kilometres of land in the West Kimberley, south of Broome. This is an area about half the size of Tasmania. Here there are pastoral stations, mining interests, coastal and desert lands, and the large Aboriginal community of Bidyadanga. Karajarri had one of the first native title determinations to be recognised in the Kimberley and had the first native title application in which applicants were represented exclusively by the Kimberley Land Council. |
Agreements, AIATSIS, Governance, Land and sea management | Article / paper | |
Legal protection of Indigenous Knowledge in Australia | Maiko Sentina, Elizabeth Mason, Terri Janke, David Wenitong | This supplementary paper provides an overview of the Australian laws that are currently used to recognise and protect Indigenous Knowledge. |
Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous law, Legal | Article / paper | |
Native Title Anthropology after the Timber Creek Decision | Pamela Faye McGrath | In August 2016, the traditional owners of Timber Creek in the Northern Territory, the Ngaliwurru and Nungali peoples, were awarded over $3.3 million for the loss of their native title rights. $1.3 million of this award was a solatium payment, that is, compensation for hurt arising from damage caused by the loss of connection to the land. Griffiths v Northern Territory of Australia (No 3) [2016] FCA 900 (Timber Creek), which was heard by Justice John Mansfield, is the courts first litigated award of compensation for the loss or impairment of native title rights. In making his decision, Justice Mansfield relied on the evidence of anthropologists when assessing not only connections to country, but also the qualities and consequences of the social impacts that accompany the loss of connections to country. This paper considers the implications of the Timber Creek decision for the work of native title anthropologists and highlights some of the conceptual and methodological shifts required for research on native title compensation claims. The author draws attention to the demanding nature of native title compensation cases and the potential for research to aggravate existing trauma associated with loss of country, arguing for the need for all involved to be attentive to this risk when pursuing future claims. Recommended citation: McGrath, PF 2017, Native Title Anthropology after the Timber Creek Decision, Land, Rights, Laws: Issues of Native Title series, vol. 6, no. 5, AIATSIS Research Publications, Canberra. |
Compensation, Legal, Native Title Act | Article / paper | |
So, what’s new? Native Title Representative Bodies and Prescribed Bodies Corporate after Ward | David Ritter | This paper comments on some of the trends in Indigenous native title representation that have continued after the High Court's Ward decision. |
Land rights, Legal, Native Title Act, Water rights | Article / paper | |
To be, or not to be, a charity: that Is the question for Prescribed Bodies Corporate under the Native Title Act | Dr Fiona Martin | This article evaluates the taxation concessions and other advantages that flow from being a charity and how these might apply to native title groups under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). Specifically, it examines the role of the Prescribed Body Corporate (‘PBC’) under the Native Title Act and the potential for, and limitations of, these bodies carrying on business, engaging in community development and accumulating funds whilst also having charitable status. |
Business, Charity, Native Title Act, PBCs (Prescribed Body / Bodies Corporate) | Article / paper | |
Wearing two hats: The conflicting governance roles of native title corporations and community/shire councils in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities | Dr Tran Tran, Clair Stacey | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community governance can be greatly impacted by the nature of the land tenure held or managed by the community. The fragmented system of national and state regimes which provide grants or titles of land to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people has enabled a governance landscape where there are often overlapping rights to land. This creates a situation where relationships within an Indigenous community – and even within a traditional owner group – are competing for power and control. This is most notable with respect to how different community organisations compete for community funding, the durability of culturally appropriate governance structures and the taking of natural resources. The ability of an Indigenous community to resolve potential conflicts, created by the recognition of native title and adapt to the post-determination landscape also impacts upon a communities’ ability to respond to external pressures such as land use planning, water management and government initiated tenure reform processes. Often these conflicts appear between Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate and community or local shire councils – who have historically played the role of land manager and program administrator. This paper looks at the role of cultural governance in supporting the recognition of Indigenous landholdings and the reasons that Indigenous landholdings, in their current form, have failed to be effective in adequately mobilising economic, social and cultural resources to achieve social, cultural, environmental and health benefits in remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. |
Governance, ILUA (Indigenous Land Use Agreement), Joint Management, Legal, Native Title Act, PBCs (Prescribed Body / Bodies Corporate) | Article / paper |