concluSionS and recommendationS
14. Support the development of an aboriginal network or networks across the State with interests in cnrm issues
Aboriginal people in NSW need opportunities to learn from each others’ experiences and to develop and articulate their own priorities to State and Federal agencies for their engagement in CNRM. Support for conferences, networks and possibly a State-wide CNRM network if that were desired, could contribute to Aboriginal capacity building and provide valuable opportunities for dialogue between Aboriginal people engaged in CNRM and non-Indigenous agencies.
noteS
1. Land belonging to Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALC), land purchased through the ILC, including Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs), and land handed back under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Aboriginal Ownership) Act 1996.
2. Booroogen Djugun Aboriginal Corporation is undertaking major tree planting to offset its own carbon emissions, and NSWALC is involved in carbon trading.
3. Dr Hunt also attended Empowering Aboriginal Women for Strong Communities and Towards Healthy Country, a conference for women involved in NRM in NSW and the ACT, held at Nelson Bay in May 2009. This report is also informed by issues raised at that conference.
4. This total figure is the Estimated Resident Population calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. All other figures are from the 2006 Census count data.
5. Figures are rounded from most recent public Departmental Annual Reports.
6. ICNRM is the term used in these studies.
7. Our calculation brings this total to $3 million in total in net present value.
8. Northern Territory of Australia v Arnhem Land Aboriginal Land Trust [2008] HCA 29 (30 July 2008).
9. For examples of Aboriginal people in NSW acquiring and managing land for conservation purposes see DAA 2004.
10. Information obtained from NSWALC(a), figures current to July 2008.
11. Goodall highlights how much Aboriginal people contributed to the development of pastoral industries, forming some 30% of the workforce in the cattle industry up to the 1920s and beyond, and contemporaneously fulfilling cultural responsibilities, in what she terms a ‘dual occupation.’ She highlights the consistent Indigenous calls for secure land tenure for economic and cultural reasons (Goodall 2001: 108).
12. The current five Aboriginal-owned parks under this legislation are: Mutawintji NP (1998), far west, north east of Broken Hill; Mt Grenfell Historic Site (2004), west of Cobar; Biamanga NP and Gulaga NP (2006), far south coast; and the Worimi Conservation Lands (not one of the original seven eligible, but arising from an agreement following a land claim).
13. Aboriginal Owners are identified by the Registrar of Aboriginal Owners under the NSW Land Rights Act. See discussion in section relating to opportunities on public land in this report.
14. An agreement arising from a native title claim has also led to Wiradjuri people’s access to Wellington Common and the opportunity for Wiradjuri people to look after and revegetate the Common (Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements 1995).
15. See section above on opportunities to extend Aboriginal participation in CNRM in NSW to attain greater social benefits..
16. Cultural flows are defined by MLDRIN as ‘water entitlements that are legally and beneficially owned by the Indigenous Nations of a sufficient and adequate quantity and quality to improve the spiritual, cultural, environment social and economic conditions of those Indigenous Nations’ (ATSI Social Justice Commissioner 2009: 284)
17. There are no data on the total number of commercial Indigenous fishers in NSW, which presents a significant information gap.
18. The Western Division refers to 31 million hectares of western NSW, some 42% of the State, most of it Crown Land administered under various Crown Land Acts, particularly the Western Lands Act 1901. Most of this land is held under perpetual leasehold from the Crown, and native title cannot be claimed.
19. See DECC Protecting our Places Project Summaries 2008. Accessed at
<http://www.environment.gov.au/grants/2008PPsummary.htm>.
20. Indigenous people in NSW generally prefer to be known as ‘Aboriginal people’. The terms
‘Indigenous’ and ‘Aboriginal’ will be used throughout this report, with ‘Aboriginal’ preferred where we specifically discuss NSW and ‘Indigenous’ where the reference is broader, or where we are specifically referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in NSW.
21. By this they meant regaining control over and access to their country through a series of ILUAs.
22. See The Bunjalung People of Byron Bay (Arakwal), The Bunjalung Byron Bay Aboriginal Corporation (Arakwal) and The NSW Marine Parks Authority (n.d.).
23. Booroogen Djugun Aboriginal Corporation is undertaking major tree planting to offset its own carbon emissions, and NSWALC is involved in carbon trading.
24. It should be recognised that the most conflict appears to be between environmental and animal welfare organisations in other jurisdictions e.g. The Wilderness Society in North Queensland over Wild Rivers legislation and with animal welfare groups in Northern Territory over crocodile safari proposals (Koch 2009; Toohey 2009).
25. Notwithstanding very recently announced changes to penalties and arrangements under the Cultural Heritage regime (Clennell 2009).
26. Specific programmes and initiatives that have been developed as part of the Australian Government’s commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity include the Working on Country Program, the IPA Program, the Indigenous Land Management Facilitators Program, the promotion of Indigenous involvement in regional NRM, and the joint management of NPs established on Indigenous-owned land.
27. It is worth noting at this point that according to Aboriginal customary law, traditional owners should be the group to whom land is transferred, but the legislation in NSW refers to LALCs. LALCs should always ensure they are working with, and in support of, the traditional owners of lands.
28. The Crown Lands Division is currently streamlining land administration. Perpetual leases and Crown roads may be converted to freehold title if they are no longer required for a public purpose (Department of Lands n.d.).
29. For example, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Commonwealth) requires organisations with 100 or more staff to establish EEO programs and otherwise comply with the Act. If they don’t comply they can be ‘named and shamed’ in the Parliament, and are unable to tender for government contracts and industry assistance. See Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, viewed 8 December 2009
<http://www.eowa.gov.au/reporting_and_compliance/the_Quick_guide.asp>.
Also, in 2005 women-specific indicators were inserted into in Commonwealth/State funding agreements (Sawer 2007).
30. For further details see ‘FATE and kangaroos’, viewed 8 December 2009
<http://www.fate.unsw.edu.au/detail/kangaroos.htm>.