Resources and publications

This report, conducted for the Department of Regional Development, addresses the question of how effective agreements arising from native title determinations are at meeting the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal peoples who have achieved, or are pursuing (through registered native title claims), legal recognition as native title holders. The report research is based on a review of relevant academic and ‘grey’ literature as well as case studies of the experiences of three Western Australian Aboriginal native title groups in their efforts to leverage agreements with government and industry to enhance their wellbeing and pursue their aspirations.

This board induction checklist provides a downloadable template for your PBC to formalise the induction process of new board members. It contains suggestions on documents to be included in an induction kit and when and by whom the new board is inducted. 

The Coober Pedy region of South Australia is the traditional country of the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara people. The Native Title journey of the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara people started in 1995 when their claim commenced. After achieving Native Title determination, successfully negotiating a number of ILUAs and winning their first major commercial contract, their journey continues today.

This session will discuss the experiences of the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara people and how they have used Native Title to help achieve their community aspirations. Ian Crombie, Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation vice-chairman and Elder, will describe the many obstacles, decisions, learnings and successes, that have brought the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara people to where they are in their journey today. Importantly, he will discuss the challenges of balancing immediate community needs with both commercial opportunities and future goals. 

PBCs have to think about succession. This workbook is for PBCs who want to engage with young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in their community and region. It provides information, practical tips and ideas how to communicate and get them involved.

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

Factsheet about reporting requirements for Indigenous Corporations registered under the CATSI Act.

The Country Needs People campaign is fighting for the growth and security of opportunities for land and sea country management by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

While gender and age are often noted as being important dimensions of Indigenous leadership and governance, they have rarely been examined in detail. This paper focuses specifically on the gender and age of directors on the boards of prescribed bodies corporate (PBCs), the corporations established to hold and/or manage native title rights and interests.

A predominant view persists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women as excluded or marginalised in native title. Statistical data for the year 2011–12 reveals, however, that women’s representation on PBC boards is higher than that found in mainstream sectors, while the literature reveals a complex picture of cultural, historical, demographic, institutional and intercultural factors that influence men’s and women’s participation and power in the native title arena.

A key generational concern is the relatively low number of older people and the growing number of young people in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. Viewed in relation to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and projected changes, the pool of potential PBC directors looks likely to grow in coming years. This paper argues that, as an increasingly significant sector, PBCs have the potential to both contribute to and benefit from the strengthening of community capacity but this potential will not be realised until the constraints on the capacity of PBCs to meet their statutory obligations and pursue native title holder aspirations are addressed.

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

The Gkuthaarn and Kukatj 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. 

The Good Governance Guide is a practical resource for anyone involved in the decision-making process in Victoria’s local government sector. It focuses on the areas where good governance has the most impact and offers suggestions for how it can work.

This resource aims to support the many local community initiatives that could go a long way to addressing our communities’ needs and dreams — if only the resources, time and money were available. 

The topic 'Leadership' from the Indigenous Governance Toolkit has seven sections,

1. Leadership for governance
2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership
3. The challenges of leadership
4. Evaluating your leadership
5. Youth leadership and succession planning
6. Building leadership capacity to govern
7. Case studies

Policy and procedure guide for Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC

Ourcommunity.com.au provides useful resources for succession planning in Not-for-Profit organisations. 

This website details the changes and processes of the board, staffing, and donors, whilst also covering topics on documentation, recruitment, and induction.

This handout offers some ways of thinking about grant proposals and advice about the process of  planning and writing a proposal. 

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.

Anthropologists play a significant role in the native title system in Australia, especially in undertaking connection research to demonstrate the evidentiary basis of claims. In 2010, recognising the lack of sufficiently qualified anthropologists working in native title, the Australian Government introduced a grants program to attract and retain practitioners. This paper describes a field school in the Northern Territory that was funded through the Native Title Anthropologist Grants Program. Through dialogue and interaction with the Aboriginal community, the organisers aimed to expose and interpret ideas, practices, memories, mythologies, relationships and other aspects of society and culture in the terms required for the demonstration of native title. Both novel and successful, the field school points the way for future training initiatives in native title anthropology.