Resources and publications

The Indigenous Facilitation and Mediation Project (‘IFaMP’ or ‘the Project’), located in the Native Title Research Unit at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, commenced in July 2003 and completed its third and final year in June 2006. The Project supported best practice approaches to Indigenous decision-making and conflict management, particularly in relation to the Native Title Act 1993, which emphasises agreement-making through non-adversarial approaches, such as mediation, facilitation and negotiation. This final report of the AIATSIS Indigenous Facilitation and Mediation Project provides a detailed discussion of the project, its findings and best practice approaches.

In June and July 2014 the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute (AIGI) conducted a survey into gaps in Indigenous governance research and practical tools. The survey, entitled ‘A short survey: mapping Indigenous governance research and resources’, was distributed across a broad network of organisations, institutions and individuals working in the field of Indigenous governance (including select international organisations) in preparation for the Indigenous Governance Development Forum: Mapping Current and Future Research and Resource Needs, held on 29–30 July 2014 at AIATSIS in Canberra. Thirty-eight survey responses were received.

This document presents a preliminary list of specific research initiatives and practical tools identified through the survey. The list is a working document. It is by no means exhaustive, and the authors would be grateful to hear about other initiatives that should be included.

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.

This revised comprehensive review of AIATSIS sets the highest standards of ethics and support for human rights in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research. While the principles in the 2012 edition are largely retained, they have been reorganised into a new framework and augmented to reflect emerging standards and developments.

National Native Title Conference 2016-Youth Forum 

This template will assist you to complete a ‘first glance’ survey of materials in your personal archives. While designed primarily to survey materials produced under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) 1976 (Cth) (ALRA) and the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA), the template will assist in surveying other materials. This template has been peer-reviewed but remains as a draft to be trialled and to obtain further advice around the documenting of digital archives. For updates see Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory: Documenting and preserving the records and memories.

This fact sheet on metadata explains what metadata is and why it is important.

This guide on metadata explains what  metadata is, why it is important and how it can be used for digital files.

This publication provides a summary of Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate (RNTBCs).

This Best Practice Guide is designed to provide practical guidance for government parties on the behaviours, attitudes and practices that can achieve flexible, broad and efficient resolutions of native title. It identifies a range of common factors indicative of successful broader land settlements that may be applied or adapted to the circumstances of particular settlements.

This native title newsletter provides an overview of PBCs' pricing structure. 

The report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS2) offers key insights for governments and communities into the current situation of Australian languages, how they are being supported and how best to continue this support. 

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.

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.

The Far West Coast journey from Applicant through to Consent Determination and holding Native Title has been an exciting one. There have been considerable challenges and we have faced many obstacles. Along the way we have also learnt many valuable lessons, not the least that we needed even more change and further development once Native Title was granted and we began a new life as a PBC.

Today, as a young PBC we are on track to be a self-supporting and stand-alone resource for our members. We now have commercial ventures, investments and an Aboriginal Trust that we own and operate. Our presentation seeks to share how we got here and the changes to structures, practices and our organisation to achieve early success as a PBC and a group of entities.

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.

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 looks at the dispute management processes within PBC constitutions, examining the use of NTRBs, independent mediation and elder’s councils to resolve disputes.