Resources and publications

This discussion paper presents the issues faced in Australia for the protection and management of Indigenous Knowledge. 

Overview of IPAs from Parks Australia

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. 

Vimeo page by Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa. Includes videos about their,

• Leadership program
• Partnerships
• Land management

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

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.

The North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance Ltd (NAILSMA) is a leader in finding practical solutions to support Indigenous people manage their land and sea resources into the future. NAILSMA, a not-for-profit company, has over a decade of experience in delivering complex and challenging programs across north Australia.

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.

The 2012 Native Title report includes a section on Indigneous Governance and a human rights approach to Indigenous governance.

This report presents a research analysis of evidence on organisational governance models—both incorporated and non-incorporated forms—including several new case studies that have been produced specifically for AGMP. The research on which this report is based has been commissioned by the Aboriginal Governance and Management Program (AGMP), established in 2013 by the Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory (APONT) 1 to provide Aboriginal communities, groups and organisations across the Northern Territory (NT) with ongoing support and training to build resilient and effective forms of governance and management.

Our Country Our Way has been written for the managers of IPAs, IPA and Co-Management Consultation Projects, and their staff. Their primary aim is to provide practical guidance about how to achieve Management Plans that recognise the connections between Indigenous people, country, traditional law and culture, while also meeting national and international standards for protected area management. In so doing, this document invites planners and others to enter an Indigenous conceptual terrain and consider some highly innovative and at times challenging intercultural adaptations.

The Guidelines draw on examples from IPAs and Co-Management Consultation Projects around Australia to illustrate the unique cultural settings and vibrant Indigenous  management strategies on country. 

The first document sets out some background information about what a lawyer is and their duty to you as a client. The second document outlines some questions that you may like to ask a lawyer when you are seeking advice on native title matters.

AIATSIS is at the forefront of community-led research and projects, and collaborates with numerous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partners across the country. In this guide, we outline foundational principles for meaningfully engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The guide is written for non-Indigenous policymakers who have none or limited experience working with Indigenous peoples. It is a starting point for further learning and capability building.

In this award-winning work Carlson explores the complexities surrounding Aboriginal identity today. Drawing on a range of historical and research literature, interviews and surveys, The politics of identity explores Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal understandings of Aboriginality and the way these are produced and reproduced across a range of sites and contexts.

Emphasising Indigenous debates and claims about Aboriginality, The politics of identity explores both the community and external tensions around appropriate measures of identity and the pressures and effects of identification. An analysis of online Indigenous communities on social media that have emerged as sites of contestation adds to the growing knowledge in this area, both nationally and globally.

This is a brave and personal contribution to the often vexed subject of Aboriginal identity and offers a distinctive and fresh line of analysis.

The papers in this collection reflect on the various social effects of native title. In particular, the authors consider the ways in which the implementation of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth), and the native title process for which this Act legislates, allow for the recognition and translation of Aboriginal law and custom, and facilitate particular kinds of coexistence between Aboriginal title holders and other Australians.