Australian Indigenous Law Reporter
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The Land Fund and the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) were established in recognition of Indigenous peoples' rights to land. They were established by the Land Fund and Indigenous Land Corporation (ATSIC Amendment) Act 1995 ('the Land Fund Act') as the second part of the Commonwealth Government's response to the High Court decision Mabo v. The State of Queensland (No. 2) (hereinafter Mabo No. 2). [1] The Commonwealth Government's initial response to Mabo No. 2 was the enactment of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) ('the NTA'). [2] The purpose of the ILC is to assist Indigenous peoples to acquire and manage land in a sustainable way in order to realise cultural, social and economic benefits for present and future generations3 and to build up a land base for dispossessed Indigenous peoples. [4]
The Commonwealth recognised that the nature of dispossession was such that many Indigenous peoples would not benefit from the NTA, either because their native title had been extinguished, or because they would be unable to demonstrate the continuous association necessary to prove native title.
The Land Fund received an initial allocation of $200 million in 1994û1995 and is being established over a ten year period by further annual allocations of $121 million until 2003û2004. During this period a portion of the allocation is retained and invested and the remainder is available for expenditure on land acquisition and land management programs. In the first two years these responsibilities are shared by ATSIC and the ILC and then carried by the ILC alone from July 1997. It is intended that the Land Fund be self-sustaining after 2004 and that it will generate sufficient income to fund future land acquisition and land management expenditure by the ILC.
The ILC is a statutory authority established to help redress the dispossession of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. It commenced operations on I June, 1995.
The Land Fund Act requires the ILC to prepare national and regional strategies on land acquisition and land management so that it may perform its land acquisition and land management functions in a considered, equitable and accountable manner. In May 1996, the ILC's National Indigenous Land Strategy 1996û2001 was tabled in the Federal Parliament and was formally launched by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Minister, Hon Senator John Herron and ILC Chairperson, Mr David Ross at the opening of the ILC Head Office in Adelaide on 7 May, 1996.
The Executive Summary and Chapters 3, 4 and 7 are reproduced below.
The National Indigenous Land Strategy 1996û2001 (the National Strategy) is effective from 1 May 1996. The National Strategy is the key strategic plan of the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC), and describes the policies and priorities that the ILC has adopted. It addresses land acquisition for dispossessed indigenous peoples, and land management, including environmental issues on indigenous-held land. The National Strategy is designed to provide indigenous people with an understanding of the way that the ILC will work and how the ILC can assist them. It also aims to assist indigenous people and their representative organisations to develop plans to address dispossession at the regional level, consistent with ILC policies. The National Strategy is not a static or fixed document. It will be subject to regular review and will be amended and updated as necessary.
The ILC is also required to prepare Regional Indigenous Land Strategies (Regional Strategies). The Regional Strategies cover each of the seven ILC regional areas, which are based on the borders of the six States and the Northern Territory.
Each State has different laws affecting land issues for indigenous peoples. Each of the Regional Strategies describes these laws within the region and how the ILC proposes to respond to those differences in its own policies and strategies.
The Regional Strategies also provide a broad description of the consultation process the ILC has undertaken and how the results of those consultations will be considered by the ILC in its land acquisition and land management functions.
ILC policies and priorities will promote equal access for dispossessed indigenous peoples and equal strategic benefit across all regions.
The ILC is aware that almost all regional organisations, including statutory bodies such as ATSIC Regional Councils and Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs), cover an area which is less than the whole State or Territory in which they are located.
Consequently, the ILC recognises that the complex pattern of indigenous attachment to country does not necessarily conform to State or Territory borders.
The ILC therefore recognises that within the boundaries of each of the ILC regional areas that most strategic planning and regional information will be based around smaller area (or 'sub-regions'). The ILC regional areas are not formal administrative regions for the purpose of ILC land acquisition and land management functions.
In general, the ILC will respond strategically to the plans and priorities that indigenous people develop based on regions defined by indigenous peoples themselves. In many cases these regions or sub-regions will be the same as ATSIC Regional Council areas, NTRB boundaries, or both.
The ILC recognises that the identification of indigenous land needs based on cultural significance, and the development of strategic land needs planning in the regions, can be a lengthy process.
Under this National Strategy, the ILC will commence its land acquisition and land management functions, while it undertakes comprehensive analysis of the land needs of indigenous groups in all regions.
The Regional Strategies have been prepared in conjunction with the National Strategy, and the policies and priorities of the Regional Strategies are consistent with the perspective detailed in the National Strategy.
The National Strategy retains flexibility, so as to be able to communicate regional differences where they impact on ILC functions.
The ILC must have regard to the National Strategy and the relevant Regional Strategies in performing its functions. In addition to the strategic direction provided in the Strategies, the ILC will publish guidelines on its policies and procedures, in order to assist regional indigenous organisations to undertake their planning and community consultations.
The ILC has considered a number of policy issues in preparing the National Strategy since it commenced operations on 1 June 1995. A range of stakeholders, including governments, government agencies, non-government organisations, and indigenous people have diverse views about what the role of the ILC should be, and how it should operate to address dispossession.
Neither the National Strategy nor the Regional Strategies contain information which is commercially sensitive.
During the term of the first National Strategy, the ILC will place priority on land acquisition, in recognition of the many unmet land needs of dispossessed people. This will have priority over addressing the broad commercial, economic, social and environmental development needs on indigenous-held land.
The ILC has set a priority on acquiring land of cultural significance for indigenous peoples. Cultural significance means land to which indigenous groups have:
' traditional links based on the customs and laws of the group;
' historical links which result from the impact of non-indigenous settlement of the country; or
' contemporary links based on more recent recognition of indigenous rights and indigenous identity.
Proposals in which the land is not a central component, such as commercial projects, accommodation for service organisations, and housing and infrastructure will not be given priority.
Indigenous people will be invited to tell the ILC about their land needs. Initially this will be through regional organisations which represent the indigenous community on land matters.
Information on land needs collected from regional organisations is part of a National Land Needs Survey. This information on land needs and other regional information will be registered in the Land Needs Database of the ILC, which is designed to build a comprehensive picture of dispossession, which the ILC can address in a systematic and strategic manner during the National Strategy.
The ILC has determined that, when it considers land acquisition proposals, initial and ongoing costs are accounted for. This is so that an integrated approach to economic development, maintenance and operational costs is achieved.
The ILC will also give priority to land where a native title claim has not been lodged, and where it is unlikely that a claim would be successful. Consideration will also be given to other land rights mechanisms available to assist indigenous people to regain their land.
Wherever possible, the ILC will aim to ensure that traditional owners (or people with traditional links to the land) become the title-holders under a corporation.
Once land needs are identified in a region, and a strategic approach to addressing those needs has been applied, the ILC will operate as commercially as possible in order to take advantage of opportunities that will arise in the property market.
The ILC recognises that there are many complex issues facing indigenous landowners and land managers. The ILC is also aware that strategic and effective policies in the area of land management will require national consultation, analysis and research.
The aim of the ILC during the first National Strategy is to carefully and strategically formulate its long-term role in land management.
The ILC will set out its land management strategies under the broad heading of a National Land Management Response.
This will be completed during the first two years of the National Strategy to allow the ILC to investigate the most effective ways of performing its land management functions. This will include the feasibility of creating subsidiaries, working with regional indigenous organisations, co-operation with State and Local Government agencies, and working with the private sector.
The ILC is committed to providing a professional and focussed co-ordination role, so that it can assist indigenous land owners to gain access to the resources, advice and expertise required to manage their land in a sustainable way.
...
The High Court Mabo decision of 1992 was an important milestone for indigenous peoples, because it established the existence of native title under Australia's common law. In rejecting the legal concept of terra nullius, the court recognised the prior ownership of Australia by its indigenous inhabitants.
In introducing the ILC Bill into the Parliament, the then Prime Minister Paul Keating said:
The Native Title Act added huge symbolic weight to the Mabo decision. It announced that the Australian people supported the great principles of justice inherent in the court's decision and were determined to see them applied. But the application was limited to those people who were able to prove a continuing association with their land. Many indigenes were, of course, dispossessed of their land in earlier periods, and many remain on the margins of this country's economic, social and cultural life. The Native Title Act, though great in significance and utility, cannot by its nature solve the problems of dispossession and alienation.
House of Representatives, Hansard, 28 February 1995, p. 1008
The Land Fund and the ILC have therefore been established to complement the Native Title Act. They are funding mechanisms through which land can be acquired for indigenous peoples who have had their native title legally extinguished, or for whom the historical processes of dispossession and displacement have prevented continuous association with, and cultural links to, their traditional lands.
In general terms, the Native Title Act recognises and protects native title determined by the Mabo decisions, and also validates past acts of extinguishment by governments, where there was a clear intention to extinguish native title.
The High Court's Mabo decision describes the historical factors which have led to the extinguishment of native title:
And there may be other areas of Australia where native title has not been extinguished and where an Aboriginal people, maintaining their identity and their customs, are entitled to enjoy their native title. Even if there be no such areas, it is appropriate to identify the events which resulted in the dispossession of the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, in order to dispel the misconception that it is the common law rather than the action of governments which made many of the indigenous people of this country trespassers on their own land.
High Court Mabo decision 1992, per Brennan J at 69
For indigenous people, a successful determination of native title to land will require evidence of continuing association with the land, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the claimant group.
For many indigenous peoples in Australia, the issuing of freehold and other forms of title over their lands, or the loss of continuing association with their land, will mean that they will be unable to have their native title determined through the processes available under the Native Title Act.
The ILC is aiming to provide dispossessed indigenous people with a land base that may serve a range of purposes, and which will assist indigenous peoples to re-establish the social, cultural and economic structures they choose for themselves.
The ILC contribution to the reconciliation process includes the recognition of prior indigenous ownership of the land, the reality of dispossession over the last 200 years, and a clear commitment to the rights of indigenous peoples to negotiate and to participate fully in regional land issues.
Land in its own right is central to the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples, and land provides the basis of the social, cultural and economic well-being of many indigenous peoples today.
In recognition of the centrality of land to indigenous peoples, the ILC was set up to be an agency with the sole purpose of focusing on acquiring land for indigenous peoples and assisting the sustainable management of indigenous-held land.
The ILC recognises that, for many indigenous peoples, a reclaimed land base may assist in the continuing survival (and in some cases, the revival) of a living, dynamic, indigenous culture.
The relationship of indigenous peoples to their land is not necessarily to obtain commercial advantage, although improved social, cultural and economic well-being will be achieved through land ownership. The Mabo decision referred to the central role of land to indigenous Australians:
Under the laws or customs of the relevant locality, particular tribes or clans were, either on their own or with others, custodians of the areas of land from which they derived their sustenance and from which they often took their tribal names. Their laws or customs were elaborate and obligatory. The boundaries of their traditional lands were likely to be long-standing and defined. The special relationship between a particular tribe or clan and its land was recognised by other tribes or groups within the relevant local native system and was reflected in differences in dialect over relatively short distances. In different ways and to varying degrees of intensity, they used their homelands for all the purposes of their lives: social, ritual, economic.
High Court Mabo decision 1992, per Deane J and Gaudron J, at 99-100
The ILC recognises the centrality of the indigenous relationship to land as a defining principle in setting priorities in its land acquisition and land management functions.
Most indigenous peoples believe that Australia is their country, and that they have never voluntarily given up their ownership and rights to land. Through a variety of legal and historical means, indigenous peoples have seen their land taken away, occupied, and otherwise alienated.
They were dispossessed by the Crown's exercise of its sovereign powers to grant land to whom it chose and to appropriate to itself the beneficial ownership of parcels of land for the Crown's purposes. Aboriginal rights and interests were not stripped away by operation of the common law on first settlement by British colonists, but by the exercise of a sovereign authority over land exercised recurrently by Governments. To treat the dispossession of the Australian Aborigines as the working out of the Crown's acquisition of ownership of all land on first settlement is contrary to history. Aborigines were dispossessed of their land parcel by parcel, to make way for expanding colonial settlement. Their dispossession underwrote the development of the nation.
High Court Mabo decision 1992, per Brennan J at 68-69
The history of dispossession and disruption of most indigenous people in Australia has laid the foundation for the creation of non-indigenous wealth. As described in the Mabo decision
An early flash point with one clan of Aborigines illustrates the first stages of the conflagration of oppression and conflict which was, over the following century, to spread across the continent to dispossess, degrade and devastate the Aboriginal peoples and leave a national legacy of unutterable shame.
High Court Mabo decision 1992 per Deane J and Gaudron J, at 104
As economically productive land was occupied by settlers, indigenous people were forced into marginal country and over-crowded reserves, where they suffered - and continue to suffer - powerlessness, deprivation and lack of control over their lives.
The extent of dispossession and displacement in most of the settled regions of Australia mean that many indigenous people have lost traditional attachment to their country, or are now living on land which is the traditional country of other tribal or clan groups.
The ILC will encourage comprehensive consultation where necessary, between traditional landowners and historically displaced peoples, in order to achieve an effective land acquisition strategy for the region.
This role will be particularly important for those regions and towns where the historical forces of dispossession have resulted in a large number of displaced people now being resident, alongside people with traditional attachment.
The National Strategy is required to cover the acquisition of interests in land for the purpose of making grants of those interests to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander corporations.
The following will form the ILC's land acquisition strategies over the next five years.
The true extent of land acquisition and land management needs is not known accurately, therefore, the ILC will complete a National Land Needs Survey over a two to three year period.
This will allow the ILC to develop a strategic approach which will assist regional organisations to identify priority land needs (based on cultural significance) in their regions, and also provide a methodology to address land needs over the longer term. The Land Needs Survey will provide the ILC with the basic information on land needs, in order to shape its funding strategies. The Land Needs Survey will be dynamic and regularly updated.
The Land Needs Survey is the key strategic database for the ILC. It will record in a systematic way the land needs of indigenous groups from all regions, and will provide the information base for ILC decision-making.
The Land Needs Survey will help the ILC to establish a fundamentally different and strategic relationship with the indigenous community.
The ILC will give priority to land which is of cultural significance to indigenous people and where particular attachment as a group, as part of their customs, laws, and history, is demonstrated. The following classes have been defined:
' traditional attachment - significance of land based on customs and traditions which pre-date colonial occupation (for example, traditional homelands, sacred sites, fishing places, etc);
' historical attachment - significance of land based on events which have occurred since colonial occupation of the region, and may have resulted in disruption of pre-contact customs and traditions (for example, massacre sites, burial sites, former missions, workplaces, etc);
' contemporary attachment - significance of land based on the more recent assertion and recognition of indigenous rights (both land rights and cultural heritage), and aimed at re-establishing indigenous identity or recognition in an area (for example, special land and/or buildings in rural or urban centres, etc).
The cultural significance of land is not inconsistent with a wide range of land uses which could provide economic, environmental or social benefits. The ILC, however, will not have the capacity to support a wide range of economic development demands and needs and the provision of capital assets for service organisations, where the cultural significance of the land is not a central component.
The ILC aims to complement other land rights and land acquisition laws, including the Native Title Act and State-based legislation related, for example, to land rights and sacred sites. As a general principle, the ILC will give priority to meeting identified land needs where other mechanisms for indigenous groups to gain access to rights over land cannot or have not met the land needs of indigenous peoples.
The ILC will prioritise the acquisition of land for groups who are unlikely to have land needs met because their native title has been extinguished, or a native title claim has not been successful. The ILC is also required to inform itself of any native title claims to land which is being considered for acquisition. In considering the acquisition of land the ILC will have regard to whether other legislative mechanisms for claim, acquisition, or protection have proven unsuccessful, or are unavailable.
In considering the acquisition of a pastoral lease the ILC will seek advice from appropriate bodies on whether a native title claim would be likely to succeed, if made under s. 47 of the Native Title Act.
A priority for the ILC is to establish a new working relationship with indigenous peoples, in order to understand regional land needs, and to respond to those needs as effectively as possible.
The ILC will aim to develop a close working relationship with NTRBs, ATSIC Regional Councils, and other regional organisations which represent communities on land matters.
The development of a good working relationship will cover the three stages of ILC activity: identifying land needs and priorities in each region; land acquisition and the grant of title; and advice and support to indigenous landowners where appropriate.
This requires the ILC to develop and maintain lines of communication with the indigenous community, both in the provision of information, and in the collection of information on a regional level.
The ILC is aware that the identification of some culturally significant land could include the disclosure of sacred or sensitive material for some indigenous groups.
The ILC will respect all such disclosures, and process the information with confidentiality as required by the Act. It will seek the advice of indigenous groups or their representative organisations where appropriate, in respect of the appropriate persons to access any such sacred or sensitive material related to land needs.
The primary ILC strategy is to achieve a representative land base for the maximum number of (self-defining) family, clan or language groups in each regional area.
A representative land base is defined as a parcel (or parcels) of land which would help address the dispossession of a group in a specific region, and where the land has high priority, in accordance with their traditional, historical or contemporary links to the land.
A self-defining group is a broad term to describe indigenous peoples in a region who identify collectively to particular land(s), with that identity based on cultural ties, including traditional attachment (prior ownership), historical factors arising from the process of dispossession or contemporary attachment.
The ILC will work with regional representative bodies to build a picture of regional self-defined groups, the nature of their dispossession, and their priority land needs. The ILC recognises the wide variations that exist, in terms of how indigenous people define membership to a group, and their affiliation to land in the region.
The ILC will consult widely, so as to enable groups to identify land need priorities within the regional context.
The ILC is committed to strategies and priorities which do not favour nor disadvantage regions unfairly, and which provide equity of access to diverse communities with varying levels of needs and expectations, within the limits of ILC funding.
In identifying land needs and considering land acquisition proposals, the ILC will seek information from regional groups on who might and should hold the proposed title, and the type of corporate body which will be required.
Priority will be placed on land which is, or will be, owned and used communally, and where the goals of the group include ownership of the land in perpetuity. The ILC Act does not permit a group to dispose of or otherwise allow a charge over land acquired through the ILC, without the consent of the ILC.
Title of land acquired by the ILC may be granted to a small incorporated body, for the benefit of a larger community group. The ILC will give priority to acquiring land itself, in order to be responsive to the property market. The ILC may assist the proposed landowners or their representatives on the most appropriate form of incorporation where necessary. The ILC can only grant land to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations.
Where possible, the ILC will aim to ensure that traditional owners (or people with traditional links to the land) become the title-holders under a corporation, because the ILC is committed to recognition of prior ownership and restoring an association to land wherever possible.
Through this policy, the ILC aims to avoid causing conflict and tension at the regional level. The ILC does not plan to purchase land for one group in what is the traditional country of another group, without proper consultation.
The ILC recognises that the identification of groups with traditional attachment to land, and the identification of specific land proposals, can be the source of conflict and dispute.
The ILC strategy in respect of dispute resolution is to seek, wherever possible, the advice of regional organisations with knowledge and responsibility for land matters.
As a general principle, the ILC will defer the acquisition of land if the proposal has the potential to generate or increase regional conflict and tensions. While the ILC aims to address the identified land needs of as many indigenous peoples as possible, the ILC will also expect regional organisations and groups to resolve differences, and not to rely on the ILC to resolve conflicts.
The ILC recognises that land need priorities reflect multiple objectives and purposes for the land. ILC strategies aim to provide an opportunity for regional groups to determine local priorities based on the cultural importance of the land. Regional organisations will not be asked to rank or give priority to particular groups or specific land proposals. The ILC recognises that many indigenous peoples are dispossessed of their lands, and that the process of ranking relative needs can be a potential source of disputation.
It is expected that some identified land needs will have commercial or economic purposes, in addition to the cultural significance of the land in the proposal. In this context, 'commercial' describes profit-making entities, operating under sound business principles, with associated commercial risks. 'Economic' describes projects where there may be significant income from operations, but the project may require additional support for a period, because of identified social benefits.
The ILC strategy for economic and commercial projects is to consider only the land and fixed asset part of the proposal. For purely commercial projects, loan guarantees for the acquisition of the land and fixed assets may be considered.
Groups or corporations who request funding or assistance for commercial and economic projects will need to have a business plan and demonstrate the financial viability of the project. They will also need to demonstrate the capacity of the proposed owners to manage and develop the project over the longer term. New owners may seek assistance from the ILC in terms of managerial, financial and technical advice, and other support.
Commercial and economic proposals will need to demonstrate the nature of the cultural significance of the land, and how the proposal will address dispossession and land needs in the region.
During regional consultations, the ILC was made aware that the provision of land and fixed assets (such as accommodation) for service and community organisations can be a priority for some regional groups.
The ILC strategy for acquiring land for such purposes is to consider the extent to which the land has cultural significance, and how the proposal will help address dispossession. The ILC will then consider how the proposal provides economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits.
Given the limits to ILC funding, it is not the intention of the ILC to provide a range of land and fixed assets for service providers, where they should be the responsibility of other agencies.
The ILC will aim to act strategically, in the sense that the acquisition of particular land may bring 'value-added' benefits, such as contributions from other agencies at all levels of government, and the private sector.
In considering land acquisition proposals, the ILC will require information to help it assess any initial or future costs associated with indigenous ownership of the land, and the proposed land uses.
As a general principle, the ILC will not acquire land unless the proposals demonstrates a viable and achievable plan to use the land for the proposed purposes. The purposes proposed for the land should aim to achieve economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits.
The ILC may also require the proposal to identify how the proposed landowners plan to obtain funding from other sources to set up or sustain the proposed uses of the land.
Where additional land management funding is sought from the ILC at the time of acquisition, the ILC will consider the overall project in terms of viability, and the outcomes achievable for the funding required. The ILC will not give priority to acquisition of land where there would be substantial ongoing costs with little return or benefit.
The ILC will give priority to land proposals which provide sustainable outcomes for indigenous people, in terms of providing social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits.
The ILC, however, has neither the capacity nor the responsibility to directly address all adverse effects of dispossession, including marginalisation, health, housing, and employment. Its role is to provide land as a first step in addressing dispossession.
In the process of considering land proposals, the ILC will focus on the outcomes arising from the acquisition of a specific parcel of land. In simple terms, this is an assessment of how land will provide measurable benefits to the proposed land owners, compared to their land needs remaining unfulfilled.
The ILC recognises that measuring outcomes can be very difficult, particularly if the benefits include secure land tenure, empowerment within a community, longer-term psychological benefits, recognition of indigenous rights or cultural heritage, resolving questions of identify, and building self-esteem.
These are intrinsic land-related issues, and are based on a recognition of the central role of land to many indigenous peoples. They are aimed at building a land base for indigenous people whose marginalisation and dispossession can be lessened if secure tenure to indigenous land can be achieved through the ILC.
Once land needs are identified in a region, and a strategic approach to addressing those needs has been applied, the ILC will operate as commercially as possible, in order to take advantage of opportunities that will arise in the property market within each region.
The ILC will also be as responsive as possible to the market, and retain sufficient flexibility so that opportunities for significant land purchases are not lost through inflexible or time-consuming procedures.
The ILC will assess land needs proposals against three sets of criteria:
Strategic Criteria: which will assess land needs and specific proposals, in terms of how they demonstrate cultural significance and are a regional priority;
Specific Criteria: which will assess the viability and outcomes achievable through specific land proposals, in terms of how economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits would be gained by the group seeking the land; and
Regional Criteria: which will assess specific proposals, and whether other Commonwealth, State or Territory schemes may be available to obtain access or right to the land. The ILC has limits to its funding, and therefore will aim to ensure that it allocates its funds as effectively as possible, and not duplicate or replace the responsibilities of other agencies to address land needs.
The ILC will establish and complete a Land Tenure Database, in association with indigenous landowners and land managers. The Land Tenure Database will aim to provide the ILC with accurate and comprehensive information on land tenure, land management, and environmental issues on indigenous-held land.
The ILC will not simply duplicate the information collection and storage of land mapping agencies and other services providers but will aim to work with them to achieve the best analytical results. The ILC will also aim to advise and assist NTRBs and other organisations with land-related functions, in respect of their land information and mapping needs.
The ILC recognises that the long-term effectiveness of its land acquisition and land management functions will reply on a systematic approach to research and consultation at the national and regional level.
The ILC will give priority to obtaining the best possible information on patterns of traditional attachment, the nature and history of dispossession, and regional land needs and priorities. This will require an ongoing commitment to research and consultation, in order to provide the most appropriate responses to diverse land needs and opportunities.
During the term of the first National Strategy, the ILC will aim to work in close co-operation with government, research, scientific, and private sector agencies with responsibilities for land management and environmental issues, with the aim of increasing the research effort for the benefit of indigenous-held land, and indigenous land managers
The ILC is committed to providing a professional and focused coordination role, so it can assist indigenous landowners to gain access to the resources, advice and expertise required to manager their land in a sustainable way.
The ILC recognises that, in some regions of Australia, the opportunities to acquire land of significance to indigenous peoples can be limited by rapid developments in the property market. The ILC will, therefore, develop procedures which, following approval by the Board, will maximise the capacity of the ILC to act in the commercial property market.
See also 1(1) AILR 44.
A copy of the report can be obtained from the Indigenous Land Corporation, GPO Box 652, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia, or by telephone on (08) 8407 5900 or facsimile (08) 8212 7264. l
Endnotes
[1] [1992] HCA 23; (1992) 175 CLR 1.
[2] There were three parts to the Government's response to Mabo No. 2, first, the enactment of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth); second, the establishment of ILC; and third, the 'social-justice package'. The 'social justice package' is so far represented by three reports produced by three separate national bodies: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation,
Going Forward: Social Justice for the First Australians (1995); Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Native Title Social Justice Advisory Committee, Recognition, Rights and Reform: A Report to Government on Native Title Social
Justice Measures (1995) and; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Michael Dodson, Indigenous Social Justice (1995), Vols 1-3. See P. Jull 'An Aboriginal Policy for the Millennium: The Three Social Reports' 1(1) AILR 1. The Summary of Recommendations for Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation report and the Overview of the Main Report to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission report are reproduced in: 1(1) AILR, 67 and 76 respectively.
[3] Land Fund and Indigenous Land Corporation (ATSIC Amendment) Bill, Second Reading speech by the Hon, Paul Keating MP, Prime Minister, House of Representatives, 28 February 1995, Hansard, p. 1108. The speech is also reproduced in 1(1) AILR 45.
[4] lbid, '... the central aim of building up an indigenous land base and maintaining it for future generations' p.109.
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