Resources and publications

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

This report provides insights into a digital approach to returning native title materials using digital forensic analysis. Great volumes of hardcopy and digital materials can be interrogated with a keyword search once ingested into a NUIX database to retrieve relevant documents. It provides step-by step diagrams and the ETNTAC Native Title Materials Policy and Procedure.

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.

The Yanyuwa people of the south-west Gulf of Carpentaria, have developed the Yanyuwa Sea Country Plan to explain the relationship between Yanyuwa people and our Sea Country; explain Yanyuwa people's concerns about current and future management of our Sea Country; set out objectives, strategies and actions to address Yanyuwa concerns and aspirations about sea country management; and propose options for working with government agencies, industry and other stakeholders to achieve our objectives, strategies and actions. 

The Native Nations Institute’s web-based Constitutions Resource Center (CRC) brings together extensive research on Indigenous constitutions, examples of the constitutional changes that Native nations are making, and videos of Native leaders and other governance experts talking about constitutional change. The site provides Native nations with access to a comprehensive set of tools and Native nation examples that can be helpful in the process of constitutional reform.

This resource provides guidance and important questions for organisations to consider when establishing an archive of their own. It includes what an archive is, why archives are important, what can go in an archive, and outlines steps which could be taken to set up an archive.  Links to other resources and contacts are also contained in the booklet.

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.

Bridging historical scholarship and Aboriginal oral tradition, this innovative book tells the story of the Gugu Badhun people of the Valley of Lagoons in North Queensland. It provides new insights into Aboriginal–European interactions, and new understandings of how Aboriginal people sustained their identities and exercised agency.

It lays bare violence and oppression, but also recognises the inter-racial cooperation and friendships which were equally part of Gugu Badhun experience. It tells of a people whose options were limited by state power and public racism but who remained proud and undaunted, making their own decisions for their collective and individual benefit.

Much of the story is told in the words of Gugu Badhun people themselves. Interviews are interspersed with commentary and analysis by the four authors, one of whom, Yvonne Cadet-James, is herself a Gugu Badhun elder.

This collaborative approach has produced a timely book for an Australia in which notions of Indigenous autonomy and self-determination are being re-imagined and re-configured.

To purchase this book please visit the AIATSIS shop via think link.

Steps to adopting the condensed rules under the CATSI 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.

This Sea Country Plan is an important step in re-asserting our responsibilities for the management and protection of the natural resources of our country. 

The Kurtijar Land and Saltwater Country Plan is a strategic document that provides a framework for our people and our partners to work together to care for all the natural and cultural values of our country, while providing a sustainable livelihood for our community and others with rights and interests in our land and saltwater country.

Guide to developing a corporation's vision, preamble, guiding principles and objectives.

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 provides an overview of the main findings from this research and identifies key areas where PBCs have adapted their constitutions from the default rules offered by the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC).

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. 

This report examines:

human rights and native title

• the extinguishment of native title
• native title and sea rights 
• indigenous heritage and native title.

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.

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.

One of the key aspirations of native title holders is the ability to independently make decisions about and take care of country. This aspiration is often realised through collaborative management arrangements such as joint management. For many native title groups, joint management is often the only substantive land management outcome, yet there has been little research into either its planning process or its drivers.

Between October 2013 and December 2014, AIATSIS undertook case study research in partnership with Central Desert Native Title Services and the Wiluna native title holders — Martu people — to document their land management journey and the critical success factors that have contributed to positive outcomes in Matuwa (Lorna Glen) and Kurrara Kurrara (Earaheedy). This report describes the research and planning undertaken as a part of the partnership.

A key purpose of the plan was to better educate government and nongovernment agencies, researchers and the wider Australian public on Ngarrindjeri connection to Country and their associated rights and obligations to Yarluwar-Ruwe. 

ORIC newsletter about making changes to a corporation rulebook (constitution)