Resources and publications

This report is the final report resulting from the federal parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of the Juukan Gorge Aboriginal heritage sites by Rio Tinto on 24 May 2020. This tragic event, and the national condemnation of the actions of Rio Tinto, has sparked action to address the legislative failings that allowed the destruction of the Juukan Gorge sites–and similar sites around the nation. The Juukan Gorge disaster is just one example of countless instances where cultural heritage has been the victim of the drive for development and commercial gain. The report makes a number of recommendations aimed at preventing future destruction.

Factsheet about having independent directors on the board.

This report documents findings from research undertaken by Urbis to assess the social outcomes of Working on Country (WoC).
WoC is an Australian Government program that provides employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in regional and remote Australia to undertake natural resource management (NRM) work that aligns with Australian Government and local community environmental and cultural priorities. The program aims to employ and train over 690 rangers by June 2013, with this target growing to 730 rangers by June 2016.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors is committed to excellence in governance. They are involved in governance education, director development and advocacy. They have a membership of more than 40,000 including directors and senior leaders from business, government and the not-for-profit sectors. Their website contains a range of resources for directors as well as information about training courses.

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. 

This paper explores how Indigenous community-based natural resource management can generate both conservation benefit and economic development opportunity. We begin by noting that much of the Indigenous estate in north Australia is either thinly populated or unpopulated. There is emerging evidence that, in situations where Indigenous people live on their country, ecological and wider benefits are generated via favourable fire regimes, control over weed infestations, and potentially through feral animal harvesting. When people are on country, they generate economic benefit for themselves by harvesting wildlife for consumption and engage with the market sector by using natural resources in commercial enterprise like arts and crafts production. We argue that there is a strong correlation between such activities and cost-effective natural resource management. Links between landcare, wildlife use and biodiversity conservation need to be recognized, celebrated and supported. The removal of many barriers to enhanced and innovative Indigenous participation in such activities, and equitable public support through programs like Landcare, will facilitate sustainable economic development options that are compatible with Indigenous priorities, while ameliorating Indigenous disadvantage.

While Indigenous people make up just five percent of the global population, the areas they manage contain approximately 80 percent of the Earth’s biodiversity. 

In this context, there is an undeniably central role for Indigenous people to play in conservation management, but conversely, a significant risk that indigenous rights will be negatively impacted or undermined by conservation agendas. 

This panel will explore Indigenous experiences with conservation management, highlighting the opportunities and challenges faced by native title holders within this context.

PM&C commissioned SVA Consulting to understand, measure or estimate and value the changes resulting from the investment in five IPAs across Australia. The Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology was used to complete each of these analyses, which were informed by interviews with 143 stakeholders as well as desktop research canvassing relevant qualitative and quantitative data.

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.

Outlining the roles and responsibilities of directors and officers for corporations under the CATSI Act.

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.

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.

This guidebook provides information on how to select independent directors for the Aboriginal boardroom. 

Independent Directory connects skilled and interested people looking to become an independent director with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations looking to appoint the right independent directors to their boards. It is a free service that allows: *Individuals to register an interest in being an independent director, identifying their experience and skills. *Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations to promote board vacancies. The service finds matches and allows candidates and corporations to initiate contact with each other. Candidates and corporations are in control of how much detail they reveal about themselves to the public and what they show only to their connections.

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.

Policy and procedure guide for Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC

This guidebook provides information about how a board member in a non-profit or voluntary organization manages conflict. 

The Native Title Information Handbooks provide a summary of resources and information relating to key areas of native title.

The Handbooks provide information about:

• Native title legislation and case law
• Federal, state and territory governments' native title policies and procedures
• Native title representative bodies, registered native title bodies corporate, government agencies and other organisations involved in native title
• Native title applications and determinations
• Indigenous land use agreements, future acts and other native title related agreements
• Land rights legislation
• Indigenous Land Corporation acquisitions, Indigenous land management and Indigenous protected areas
• Indigenous population profiles.