ABORIGINAL LAND MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
Early in 2009, the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, (DECC) held a series of consultations to discuss the development of an Aboriginal Land Management Framework (ALMF).
Two of the key aims of the proposed ALMF were to improve access to public land for Aboriginal people, and to improve the coordination of service delivery to Aboriginal land holders.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) strongly supports these aims.
However, during the consultations process representatives from NSWALC and Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs) raised concerns about the failure of the ALMF Discussion Paper to distinguish between Aboriginal private land ownership and Aboriginal access to public land.
The Discussion Paper also failed to acknowledge, the central role that NSWALC and LALCs play, in the management of land in NSW on behalf of the broader Aboriginal community, both culturally and economically, as charted by the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
On 24th April, NSWALC provided a comprehensive submission to DECC in response to the ALMF Discussion Paper.
[Click here for an Executive Summary or for a full copy of the Submission.]
The two key recommendations in NSWALC's submission were that:
- The proposed ALMF be renamed and refocused, to ensure that the Framework focuses on access for Aboriginal people to public land only.
- The ALMF remove any references to the management of private Aboriginal lands, and that DECC pursue a separate process to improve the coordination of services to private Aboriginal land holders, in partnership with the NSWALC and LALCs.
DECC has accepted NSWALC's recommendations and is now planning to pursue a 'two pronged approach' which will clearly separate the issues of public and private lands.
DECC has also agreed to extend the timeline for the development of the ALMF, to allow time for the draft ALMF to be released to the community for consultation.
The revised timeline for the release of the draft ALMF is 2010.
LALCs wishing to discuss any issues raised in NSWALC's submission to DECC should contact their respective Zone Office or NSWALC's Director of Land, Policy and Research, on (02) 9689 4444.