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1.1 That the Australian Government immediately appoint an independent person to conduct a comprehensive review of the whole native title system and report back to the Attorney-General by 30 June 2010. This review is to:

Indigenous peoples from all over the world have suffered the long-standing effects of colonisation. Consequently, we continue to struggle with the challenges that I have raised in this Report; particularly those that concern our identity, culture and access to and protection of our lands, territories and resources.

On 3 April 2009, the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (Minister for Indigenous Affairs) delivered a formal statement in support of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration).[1] In this statement, the Minister acknowledged that ‘[w]e need to find more ways of hearing Indigenous voices’.[2]

</B>The Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara and other Indigenous people of the town of Yulara, in the shadows of Uluru, had their claim for compensation for extinguishment of native title rejected by Justice Sackville in the Federal Court (the Jango case)1in 2006. The Noongar people (the Noongar case)2 had their claim for native title over the metropolitan area of Perth upheld. Further north, around Darwin, the Larrakia people (the Larrakia case)3 learned that the common law would not recognise their native title when Justice Mansfied handed down his decision.

Seventy-two Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBCs) have been registered as Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate to either hold native title rights on trust for, or to act as the agent of, native title holders.[3]

[1] Information in this Appendix is a collation of extracts from responses provided by various Federal, State and Territory Government Departments in Correspondence to T Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, for the Native Title Report 2008.

If a group’s traditional country is not in a mining area they escape the injury to country that mining represents but have little opportunity to really develop industry and commerce that could support their communities.1

The experience of people in rural and remote Australia has always featured prominently in the Commission's work. During the reporting year the Commission undertook two major projects addressing the human rights of children and young people in rural and remote Australia.

While feedback in relation to the legal system was actively sought throughout all of the consultations, a number of targeted consultation sessions with individuals and organisations specifically involved or engaged in the legal system were also undertaken. These included:

In 2006, the Australian Government added a new section 19A to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) (ALRA) to provide that (with Ministerial consent) a Land Trust may grant a 99-year headlease over an Aboriginal township to an approved entity of the Commonwealth or the Northern Territory Government.

In 2006, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner conducted a national survey of Indigenous Australians living on Indigenous land. There were 54 survey respondents, which included traditional land owners, as well as other Indigenous Australians with interests in land and land-use. The survey questions asked Indigenous respondents to identify their aspirations for their land and to identify their capacity to earn an income from the land. The survey findings are as follows:

Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Native Title Program &ndash; Guidelines for Support of Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBCs)1

This Chapter considers options for addressing lateral violence in environments that concern our lands, territories and resources. Although this is the beginning of the conversation, the Chapter aims to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities some ideas about how to address lateral violence through the establishment of strong structural foundations and principles. It also seeks to assist governments to help us confront this problem by reinforcing these structures through legislation and policy.

Human rights principles require that Indigenous people's relationships to land, based on traditional laws and customs, be given legal recognition and protection. International legal principles also recognise that Indigenous peoples have economic, social and cultural human rights. Native title, as it is constructed through the Australian legal system, has a limited capacity to meet these human rights standards.

A special measure is an exception to the general rule that all racial groups must be treated the same. Special measures are permitted by section 8(1) of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Section 8(1) implements Articles 1(4) and 2(2) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), as follows:

Obligations to ensure effective participation exist in nearly all the main human rights treaties. These obligations have been synthesised into the principle of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples.