Resources and publications
Title | Author /s | Summary | Date | Tag(s) | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | |
Native Title Report 2008 | Australian Human Rights Commission | Under the Native Title Act 1993, the Social Justice Commissioner is required to prepare a Native Title Report each year for federal Parliament. Through these reports the Commissioner gives a human rights perspective on native title issues and advocates for practical co-existence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups in using land. |
Caring for Country, Environment, Indigenous knowledge, Land and sea management, Water rights | Report | |
Native Title Report 2012 | Australian Human Rights Commission | Under the Native Title Act 1993, the Social Justice Commissioner is required to prepare a Native Title Report each year for federal Parliament. Through these reports the Commissioner gives a human rights perspective on native title issues and advocates for practical co-existence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups in using land. The 2012 Native Title report includes a section on Indigneous Governance and a human rights approach to Indigenous governance. |
Carbon farming, Compensation, Governance, Human rights, Indigenous knowledge | Report | |
PBC decision-making, certification and fees for service discussion paper | CATSI Act, Compensation, Decision making, Exemptible rules, Fee for service, ILUA (Indigenous Land Use Agreement), Legal, Members, Native Title Act, Native title holder, PBC Regulations, PBCs (Prescribed Body / Bodies Corporate), Rule book | Fact sheet | |||
Planning for the future: maximising native title compensation through the use of future funds | Pamela Kaye, Glenys Hayes | A number of native title groups have seeded their own Future Funds and are growing an asset base to meet the needs of future generations. We will discuss the governance policies, investment strategies and transparent reporting structures of Future Funds, including their ability to take a long term view of investments and ride out world economic cycles. In Griffiths v Northern Territory of Australia (Timber Creek Decision) the Federal Court ordered that the Northern Territory Government pay $3.3M including $1,488,261 for interest, to the Traditional Owners as compensation. The court considered that ‘the appropriate interest calculation is simple interest’ as there was insufficient commercial activity to justify compounding returns. In this presentation we will explore how investing a portion of available funds in a Future Fund may influence the courts to apply compound interest. Economic modelling will demonstrate that with a Future Fund the settlement amount could’ve been entirely different. |
Compensation, Finance, Funding, Trusts | Presentation | |
Planning for your community | Rhonda Jacobsen, Jasmine Clubb, Alwyn Lyall | The future act regime provides a mechanism through which some native title holders are in a position to negotiate compensation for the impact of the future acts on their native title rights and interests. In representing clients in negotiations and assisting with implementation of agreements, we were concerned that the native title groups had for so long focused on securing their native title determinations that they had not had the opportunity to review their community aspirations and needs. Such a review would provide the groups with a stronger negotiating position and implementation of the agreement can be more rigorous. In 2013 the Future Act Mining and Exploration (FAME) Unit embarked on a new initiative of 'Community Planning' with certain native title groups who were affected by mining and exploration. In 2016, the 'Western Yalanji People Community Plan' was nominated for, and won a commendation award in the Public Engagement and Community Planning category of the Planning Institute of Australia Awards, held in Brisbane. This presentation explores the community planning process and discusses the outcomes and achievements arising from the Western Yalanji People Community Plan. |
Community development, Compensation, Future acts, ILUA (Indigenous Land Use Agreement), PBCs (Prescribed Body / Bodies Corporate) | Presentation | |
Report on breakout session: The future of connection material | Grace Koch | This report of the discussion, which considered current practice for the treatment of connection material and other documents collected in the claim process, forms part of the 2005 Native Title Conference. |
AIATSIS, Native title materials, NTRB (Native Title Representative Body) | Report | |
Report on survey of NTRBs (April-May 2005) | Grace Koch | In April-May 2005, the Native Title Research and Access Officer, Ms Grace Koch conducted a survey of NTRBs to find out about current storage practices and plans for the future of documents that have been either collected or generated by the native title process. |
AIATSIS, Native title materials, NTRB (Native Title Representative Body) | Report | |
Report on workshop for NTRBs on databases and access and use issues | Grace Koch | In June 2006, representatives from 13 NTRBs met in Canberra to discuss databases and the needs of their organisations for collection management practices. Through this report, a list of ideal fields of information was drawn up along with some guidelines for access of native title material. Several NTRBs have used the information from this workshop to design their own databases. |
Native title materials, NTRB (Native Title Representative Body) | Report | |
Returning native title materials - 30 years in the too hard basket | Lisa Strelein and Christiane Keller | Presentation provided to the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) training workshop for native title anthropologists. It gives an overview of the three year project, its case studies, challenges and results. |
Heritage, Native title materials, Training | Presentation | |
Returning native title materials: RRKAC workshop summary | Christiane Keller, Jeffrey Paul | On the 14th May 2019 AIATSIS visited YMAC to discuss the process of returning native title materials from their perspective. This summary concerns the second field trip, to the RRKAC office for the receiving parties’ point of view. |
AIATSIS, Native title materials | Report | |
Returning Native Title Materials: YMAC workshop summary | Dr Christiane Keller, Stacey Little | This report presents a summary of a two-day workshop on 14-15 May 2019 at the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) office in Perth. |
AIATSIS, Native title materials, PBCs (Prescribed Body / Bodies Corporate) | Report | |
Sustainable development through asset leasing | Graeme Smith, Ray McInnes, Gordon Noonan | This panel explores an approach to leveraging the income streams of native title groups and other Indigenous organisations in order to finance community development projects or local businesses. The approach involves the use of asset leasing solutions developed by IBA which supports Indigenous groups to sustainably manage their business or community development assets. IBA has been able to support a number of Indigenous organisations around Australia using asset leasing solutions to acquire a very diverse range of assets, including for civil construction assets, demountable accommodation, vehicles, machinery and equipment. The panel will explore a case-study, where IBA and Manungurra Aboriginal Corporation have been working together to finance the acquisition of Manungurra’s community development assets including vehicles and solar panels with battery storage for outstation housing. These assets are part of a broader Manungurra community development plan which aims to ensure traditional owners are supported in their goal to live independently on-country Ray McInnes' presentation can be downloaded here. Graeme Smith & Gordon Noonan's presentation can be downloaded below. |
Business, Commercial development, Community development, Environment, Land and sea management | Presentation | |
The future of connection material held by Native Title Representative Bodies: Final report | Grace Koch | The native title process has created valuable research resources assembled during the claim research. Although some of this material has come from other sources, the arrangement of the documents coupled with original field research gives a unique description of Indigenous societies and their connections with the land. Also, much of the field material is irreplaceable because the elders who gave the information may have passed away. This connection material is of great value, not only to claimants, but to the wider community because it offers a valuable contribution to Australian history, anthropology, sociology, land management and other disciplines. |
AIATSIS, Native title materials, NTRB (Native Title Representative Body) | Report | |
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 | |
Valuing native title compensation after De Rose and Griffiths (No. 3) | Vance Hughston | Mr Hughston SC will discuss the approach taken by the Court in Griffiths v Northern Territory of Australia (No 3) [2016] FCA 900 (Timber Creek) to the assessment of compensation and in particular the division of the award of compensation into components of economic and non-economic loss. Mr Hughston SC will discuss the uncertainties associated with both components. |
Compensation, Future acts, Legal, Native Title Act, Past acts | Presentation | |
Visit collections checklist | PBC website | This template can be used as checklist when you visit the AIATSIS collection or other collection institutions when researching your native title claim or materials relevant to your PBC's work. |
AIATSIS, Native title materials, Research | Checklist |