Resources and publications

Summary of what information must be included in a rulebook for corporations registered under the CATSI Act.

This guide complements the Rule book info kit and is for prescribed bodies corporate (PBCs) and Registered Native title bodies corporate (RNTBCs) who have extra responsibilities under the Native Title Act 1993. It describes some of the important issues that need to be considered when writing rules for these types of corporations. It also suggests some specific rules. It is designed for PBCs, RNTBCs and groups intending to hold or manage native title.

Since 2016, AIATSIS has contributed to a number of reviews of the CATSI Act including the Technical Review of the CATSI Act (2017) and CATSI Review Phase 1 (2020). Throughout this report, the AIATSIS researchers refer to the AIATSIS submissions for both of these reviews.

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.

This collection of papers examines the dilemmas and challenges involved in the Indigenous struggle for the development and recognition of systems of governance that they recognise as both legitimate and effective.

This guide is designed to help corporation auditors and accountants (or bookkeepers) prepare reports

The Prescribed Body Corporate (PBC) research snapshot series has been developed to share findings from the Native Title Research Unit’s (NTRU) investigation into the constitutions and financial reports of PBCs. This research forms part of the PBC Capability project which aims to develop a long-term national picture of the PBC sector. This snapshot examines the decision-making processes identified by PBCs within their constitutions including voting processes, quorum requirements and the use of independent directors.

ORIC information sheet about deductible gift recipient fund, provides DGR rules for PBC rule books.

An Ethics Workshop will be held for PBCs and Traditional Owners to be aware of best practice ethical research standards that should be used by researchers when working with Traditional Owners.

The workshop will introduce you to the themes and principles outlined in AIATSIS’s Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies (GERAIS). Examples and case studies will help you understand how and why the GERAIS principles should be the minimum standards applied to any research on your land and sea country.

There is a concern that the PBCs and Traditional Owners are not as familiar with ethical standards as the researchers are and how they should be applied to any research. This seems to be a one-sided conversation. GERAIS will educate and inform PBCs and TOs about ethical standards in research taking place across Indigenous estates – IPAs, Ranger work including compliance and enforcement issues, Indigenous engagement in Government processes and other research as well as Native Title and PBC research. It is so critically important that PBCs and TOs know what to expect from both the researcher and the participants so that they are well informed before they enter into a research agreement.

An emerging bibliography on free prior and informed consent, engagement and consultation.

The topic 'Getting started' from the Indigenous Governance Toolkit has four sections,

1. Getting started on building your governance
2. Assessing your governance
3. Mapping your community for governance
4. Case studies

This revised comprehensive review of AIATSIS sets the highest standards of ethics and support for human rights in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research. While the principles in the 2012 edition are largely retained, they have been reorganised into a new framework and augmented to reflect emerging standards and developments.

Steps to adopting the condensed rules under the CATSI Act

This is the second research report by the Indigenous Community Governance Project (ICGP). The ICGP is exploring the nature of Indigenous community governance in Australia - to understand what works, what doesn’t work, and why. The first report, based on 2005 fieldwork, was published as CAEPR Working Paper No. 31/2006.

This report brings together findings from the fieldwork conducted during 2006, based on evidence drawn from case studies of Indigenous governance in action within differing community, geographical, cultural and political settings across the nation.

AIATSIS completed three case studies in the joint management of conservation and Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in partnership with the Australian Collaboration, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the Poola Foundation (Tom Kantor Fund), as part of the AIATSIS 'Success in Aboriginal Organisations' Project.

Within this project, Ms Toni Bauman completed a case study of Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park. Mr Dermot Smyth carried out two case studies on the Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area and the Booderee National Park in the ACT.

In 2017 the APONT Aboriginal Governance & Management Program facilitated a NT-wide forum for senior managers and board members of NT Aboriginal organisations, bringing them together to network and share stories to strengthen and build their capacity in management and governance. This report provides an overview of the presentations from this forum.

On 3 and 4 April 2012, the Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETAS) and the Native Title Research Unit (NTRU) at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) convened a workshop of state, territory and Commonwealth government staff working in joint management and native title at the Alice Springs Desert Park. The workshop was titled Joint Management of Protected Areas in Australia: Native Title and Other Pathways towards a Community of Practice.

This report captures the workshop where government staff working in joint management shared information about their approach and identified practical issues in developing a community of practice.

This paper draws on interviews with leaders of successful Aboriginal organisations to understand the factors behind the successes that they are achieving in their communities.

Much of the attention paid to native title in Australia has focused on court proceedings and other legalities, but what does it actually mean to live with native title? This book presents the experiences of native title holders and the corporations they have established to look after their native title interests.

The influence of the renowned High Court Mabo case is such that there are already more than 100 Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate (RNTBCs) across Australia with responsibilities for about 18 per cent of the continent. RNTBCs operate in a profoundly intercultural context where ‘western’ and Indigenous laws are constantly interpreted and negotiated as part of a new suite of landholding and land management practices for contemporary Australia.

Through seven case studies from the Torres Strait, Far North Queensland, the Kimberley and Central Australia, Living with native title documents the experiences of RNTBCs, including those that are parties to large mining agreements. Each case study is accompanied by a short update written immediately prior to publication.

Living with native title is a product of the AIATSIS research project Prescribed Bodies Corporate: Research Action Partnerships.