Resources and publications

This report shows the development of a user-friendly ‘first glance’ guide and template that will facilitate a broad assessment of an archive, particularly in the absence of the collection holder and provides the basis for discussions about deposits, returns and the legal status of particular documents.

This AGM roadmap has been updated to reflect the significant rule changes that have recently been made for virtual meetings. It remains a user-friendly tool that can be adapted to your entity’s specific needs. In addition to a clear list of deliverables, the roadmap provides you with a regulatory background for each step and prompts you to take action within automatically-generated deadlines.

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.

This paper examines the potential for native title organisations with limited asset bases to engage in successful commercial activity through joint venture enterprises. 

Firstly, we describe the development of the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations as a state ‘peak-body’ of local native title organisations. We then discuss the Federation’s program of economic and commercial development both for its members and as an entity in itself, including the establishment of its incorporated joint ventures; Barpa Constructions Pty Ltd and On Country Heritage and Consulting Pty Ltd and commentary on the significance of the Commonwealth’s Indigenous Procurement Policy as a factor in this process.

The final section of the paper draws upon the experience of the Federation to examine how the legitimacy bestowed by the community ownership of native title organisations’ businesses creates a market advantage which is attractive to joint venture partners and can more than offset and deficit in terms of monetary resources available for investment in a newly established enterprise.

The paper concludes by reflecting that the market advantage bestowed by community ownership may well be a product of the racism inherent in Australian society’s hostility to wealthy Indigenous individuals.

Checklist to help prepare for large community meetings.

Explanation of closed and open questions.

Outlines different methods of decision-making.

The topic 'Rules and policies' from the Indigenous Governance Toolkit has six sections,

1. Governance rules and policies
2. What are governance rules?
3. Governance rules and culture
4. Running effective meetings
5. Policies for organisations
6. Case studies

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. 

Information sheet about decision-making for PBCs.

Native title materials created in the process of native title, land claim and cultural heritage work include individual statements, expert reports, genealogies, field notes and other materials. This paper addresses some of the legal issues arising in relation to the transfer of research material from NTRB/SPs to RNTBCs.

This supplementary paper provides an overview of the Australian laws that are currently used to recognise and protect Indigenous Knowledge.

Policy and procedure guide for Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC

ORIC newsletter about making decisions. 

Series of templates and example policy documents for organisations registered under the CATSI Act.

Guide for running general meetings for corporations registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act).

Factsheet about keeping meeting minutes for Indigenous corporations registered under the CATSI Act.

The Mornington Island Restorative Justice (MIRJ) Project has worked with families to establish a community-based alternative dispute resolution (mediation or peacemaking) service inclusive of Island culture and conforming to the requirements of the criminal justice system.

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.