Q&A Factsheet

Aboriginal Land Rights

The 9 of December 2009 is the 33rd Anniversary of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. The Act, which came into effect in early 1977, was a significant step in the legislative acknowledgement of Aboriginal rights to land and today is recognised as a high water mark in land rights laws. Today, around twenty percent of the Australian land-mass is owned by Aboriginal people. Here are some straightforward answers to questions you might have about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights.
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Why are land rights laws important? When was the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act (ALRA NT) passed? Who worked to get the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 passed and why? What are land councils? Who are Traditional Owners? What is the difference between land rights and native title? How does the ALRA (NT) affect Aboriginal people today? Why should Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get a say in developments on their land? Why are land rights laws important? Land rights laws are one of the ways in Australian law through which Indigenous Australians can be recognised as owners of their land due to traditional occupation or long-term association. Land rights laws are especially significant to Indigenous Australians because until native title was recognised by the High Court, they were the only way to obtain secure tenure to their land which has been, and continues to be, central to culture and wellbeing. When was the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act (ALRA NT) passed? The ALRA (NT), applicable only in the Northern Territory, was signed into law by the Governor-General of Australia on 16 December 1976 and became operational on Australia Day in 1977. It was the first law in Australia to allow a claim of title if Aboriginal claimants could show evidence of their traditional association with the land. The Act was followed by further land rights acts in other states and territories. The ALRA (NT) meant that most land which was already part of Aboriginal reserves, plus other land where traditional association could be proven and which wasnt owned or being used by other people, could be transferred to Aboriginal land trusts to be held in perpetuity for traditional owners. 21 December 2009

Who worked to get the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 passed and why? The push for land rights laws gained momentum with the growing Aboriginal struggle for social justice and equality in the 1960s. In 1963, Yolngu people from the community of Yirrkala in Arnhem Land sent a bark petition to Parliament to protest the proposed use of more than 300 square kilometres of their land for mining. Their battle was lost in the Northern Territory Supreme Court eight years later because the Court, while acknowledging their connection to country, decided that it could not be recognised by Australian law. This was changed by the Mabo case 20 years later which gave Common Law recognition to native title. During this period Aboriginal people were protesting against poor living and working conditions on cattle stations in Newcastle Waters and Wave Hill in the Northern Territory. The protests led to increasing pressure for a means to recognise Aboriginal land rights in Australia. In response to this movement, the then Labor Government set up a Royal Commission (the Woodward Enquiry) into how Aboriginal rights to land in the Northern Territory should be recognised. The Commission led to a bipartisan commitment to Land Rights in the Northern Territory. The Federal Government, led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, introduced the Land Rights Bill which had not been passed when Whitlam lost government in 1975. After the change of government, the new Coalition Government under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser passed a slightly modified ALRA (NT) into law. What are land councils? The ALRA set up two principal statutory authorities called land councils, the Central Land Council and the Northern Land Council, to represent Aboriginal people in developing and managing their land. Today there are four land councils in the NT to act on behalf of and to protect the interests of Traditional Owners. Land councils consult traditional landowners and other Aboriginal people on proposals for the use of their land and attempt to resolve disputes over land. They also help Aboriginal people in managing their land and protecting sacred sites. For example, the Central Land Council in the Northern Territory is made up of 90 Aboriginal people elected from communities in the southern half of the Northern Territory. Among many other things, the Council represents and works for Traditional Owners in land claims, negotiations with mining and pastoral companies, and runs community development and land management programs. The other two land councils in the Northern Territorythe Northern Land Council, the Tiwi Land Council and the Anindilyakawa Land Councilperform similar functions in their areas. Who are Traditional Owners? Traditional Owners, often called TOs, are Aboriginal people who have legally proven their ongoing connections to their traditional Country in land claims or who have been identified as the Traditional Owners of lands reserved under Crown Land Ordinances and then transferred to Aboriginal land trusts after passage of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act. What is the difference between land rights and native title? Although they are sometimes referred to as though they are the same thing, land rights and native title are quite different. With land rights the government recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander interest in the land where, for example, they have a traditional connection to the land or where traditional owners have lived in an area for many years on reserves or missions. A government may then protect these interests by giving legal tenure to the land to the 21 December 2009

Indigenous community through Acts of parliament. The community owns the land as inalienable freehold title. Land rights are recognised in all state laws as well as by Commonwealth law in the NT and the ACT. Native title resulted from the finding in the High Court judgment in the case of Eddie Mabo in 1993 which threw out the previous legal foundation of terra nullius that was founded on the idea the Australian land had belonged to no one before European settlement in 1788. The Mabo decision meant that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who had retained their connection to land had rights to land that could be recognised by the common law if these rights had not been extinguished through ownership by other interests. The Native Title Act 1993 (NTA) was a law passed to provide a framework for determining where native title still exists, but also to ensure that existing (mostly non-Indigenous) interests in land were validated and that there were processes for creating interests over native title land such as mining tenements. Under the NTA if land is unalienated (i.e. no one else has taken legal ownership) it can be claimed by native title claimants who can demonstrate continuity of rights and interests under traditional laws acknowledged and traditional customs observed and can demonstrate maintenance of connection since colonisation. How does the ALRA (NT) affect Aboriginal people today? The ALRA (NT) has returned a significant amount of land to Aboriginal traditional owners in the Northern Territory. Around 45% of the Northern Territory is now Aboriginal-owned land. This has resulted in Aboriginal people having a much stronger voice in Northern Territory and national affairs as well as ownership of land management processes including joint management of some national parks. However, Aboriginal people have gained little lasting economic benefit from the land they hold. This is a result of a number of complex issues, including problems with the provision of education, health and housing services, and the continuing disadvantage of rural communities compared to urban Australia. The recent Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 2006 was intended to promote economic development on Aboriginal land by providing greater opportunities for Aboriginal people to own homes and businesses in townships. It aimed to establish quicker and clearer processes for exploration and mining and more flexibility in the leasing of Aboriginal land. However, the Amendment has drawn much criticism with some people arguing that the original legislation has been significantly weakened as a result. For example, it has been claimed that the Amendment has undermined the independence of land councils and was actually intended to enable the expansion of uranium mining at the expense of local communities. Protecting and enhancing the benefits gained from land rights remains an ongoing struggle for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Why should Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Northern Territory get a say in developments on their land? Like all other private land owners in Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land owners have rights in relation to their land that involve being able to have a say in development plans. Often developments like mining can be destructive, and cause pollution and lasting damage so owners need to be able to weigh up the costs and benefits. Having a say in developments also means that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land owners are often able to negotiate benefits in the form of money, community infrastructure (clinics, 21 December 2009

schools etc), business development, employment and training, and funds to maintain significant sites.

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