Native Title Report 2004: Media Pack
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- Launch Speech by Mr Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
- Media Release : New opportunity for native title to achieve sustainable goals
- Press conference: Tabling of Social Justice Report 2004 and Native Title Report 2004
- Chapter Summary | Download as PDF
- Summary | Download as PDF
New opportunity for native title to achieve sustainable goals
8 April 2005
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said that native title needs to move beyond the current legal framework towards achieving the economic and social development goals of Indigenous peoples.
"Governments and Indigenous peoples must work more cooperatively on native title and build on the Government's goals for Indigenous affairs by further developing and supporting native title agreement making processes and policies to ensure that sustainable, meaningful advancements for Indigenous Australians are realised within this generation," said Mr Calma.
The Commissioner made the comments following the release of this year's Native Title Report 2004, which provides a set of principles that aim to build economic and social development opportunities from the recognition of traditional rights, interests and ownership of land.
"The native title process, as it is presently constructed within the legal system, often fails to deliver substantial outcomes for Indigenous peoples. The price of a native title determination is too high and many cases run for years and involve complex issues of law and fact," the Commissioner said.
"There is also the emotional cost with Indigenous people having to prove who they are and whether they have lived their lives in a 'traditional' way. Then there is the real possibility that after all this the legal tests will be too difficult to satisfy and some or all of the native title rights claimed will have been extinguished by the creation of non-Indigenous interests.
"We need to broaden our focus from the legal framework of native title and recognise that the real injustice of denying Indigenous people their traditional land for so long lies in the economic and social degradation that this causes."
The report presents an approach that is consistent with and could contribute to the objectives of the federal Government's new arrangements and demonstrates how a synergy between the goals, concepts and processes of the new arrangements and native title policy could be established to achieve sustainable outcomes.
"An opportunity presently exists to reappraise native title policy, its direction and its processes," Mr Calma said.
"The public sector is making significant and radical changes in the way it develops and implements government policy and these new processes and concepts are being tested in the Indigenous policy arena. This offers exciting opportunities to improve the wellbeing of traditional owners and their communities and improve the workability and sustainability of Indigenous policies overall."
The Native Title Report 2004, executive summaries and a media kit are available online at
Media contact: Paul Oliver (02) 9284 9880 or 0408 469 347
Media Pack