NATIVE TITLE Business

Native Title
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  • Aboriginal people who are direct descendants of the apical ancestors listed in the native title determination are native title holders, their connection is by birth or customary adoption.
  • Connection to country is if your apical ancestor is from that country.
  • Only people from that country can speak for that country.
Ipima Ikaya

What is Native Title?

Native Title Holders have the right to:

  • Possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the area to the exclusion of all others (this applies to the majority of the NCY#1 and NCY#3 region).
  • Access, be present on, move about and travel over the area.
  • Hunt and fish in or on, gather from the area, take, use, share and exchange natural resources on the area.
  • Take water from the area for cultural, personal, domestic and communal purposes.
  • Live and camp on the area and erect shelters and other structures on their land.
  • Conduct ceremonies on the land they are connected to.
  • Be buried and to bury native title holders on their country.
  • Maintain places of importance and areas of significance to the native title holders under traditional laws and customs on the area and to protect those places and areas from harm.
  • Hold meetings on the land they are connected to.
  • Light fires on the area for cultural, spiritual or domestic purposes.
  • Teach others about the physical and spiritual attributes of the area.

Native Title Process & Consultation

Ipima Ikaya Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC

Represents the native title holders of this country and carries their voice to negotiations. Ipima Ikaya cannot make any decisions, the board must consult with the people connected to the specific land about all matters concerning their native title rights.

Directors are required to talk to their clan members about significant matters and gain opinions, they bring theses opinions back to the table and advise the Coordinator on the preference of clan members so that we understand how to move forward with matters and negotiations.

Before any approvals can be given an authorization meeting must be held with the native title holders connected to the area being discussed and documented. The native title holders must give consent before significant infrastructure development can proceed or land areas can be leased.

Native title business in the Northern Peninsula Area is complicated due to the different types of land tenure existing and the different types of leases registered with the State Government and Local Government Authorities.

There are three different local government authorities that the RNTBC has to work with within the region—NPA Regional Council, Torres Shire Council and Cook Shire Council.

There are three Trustees of Aboriginal land that the RNTBC also works with—Apudthama Land Trust (NCY#1), Old Mapoon Aboriginal Corporation (NCY#3),

NPA Regional Council (DOGIT NCY#1)

Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUA)
There are four registered ILUA’s for NCY#1 area:
1. NPA Regional Council concerning future acts
2. Education Injinoo Preprep Facility
3. Ergon Energy
4. Jardine River National Park Regional Areas and Heathlands Regional Area Protected Areas

There are no ILUA’s with Apudthama Land Trust, Old Mapoon Aboriginal Corporation, Cook Shire Council or Torres Shire Council, these are still to be developed.

The majority of this region is covered by exclusive native title which means that land trustees must always work closely with the RNTBC to lease land, to proceed with building developments, tree clearing and removals, road development, removal of natural resources.

The directors who are representatives of your clans are there to ensure that a fair deal is negotiated with those who want to use your land or take your natural resources and to ensure that appropriate compensation is made for the interruption to your native title rights to use and access your land as and when you want.

Directors cannot approve land leases without consulting with native title holders and have to hold an authorisation meeting with all native title holders connected to the specific area being discussed.

Some requests for land are considered to be for essential community infrastructure, as a result the council can negotiate for specific areas to be allocated under a section 24JAA, such as the dump, sewerage, housing lots etc.

The RNTBC cannot refuse these applications but can negotiate for them to be located in areas where cultural heritage is not affected and seek just compensation in return.

If the land request is for commercial purposes the RNTBC will always seek the best compensation deal for native title holders as someone will be making money off your land and interrupting your native title rights to do so.

Once a good deal is negotiated with the Trustee and the boxes are ticked then the RNTBC will organise an authorisation meeting with native title holders connected to the specific site to consider the information and authorise the lease. If native title holders are not agreeable to the arrangements negotiated and the lease is not authorised then the lease cannot proceed.

When the board is seeking consent for the use of Traditional Owners’ land for a revenue-generating activity, the following considerations should be taken into account and should be made clear to the Traditional Owners in the consultation process, this information must be provided by the party seeking to use the land before proper consideration can be given to the proposal.

  • Is this activity feasible, sustainable and legal?
  • Will this activity provide employment opportunities for Traditional Owners?
  • Will this activity provide long-term, sustainable economic benefit to Traditional Owners?
  • What are the potential environmental, social and cultural impacts of this activity?
  • Does this activity align to the Ipima Ikaya’s mission statement, values and strategy?
RNTBC ROLE

Native Title Matters

Ipima Ikaya’s role is:

  • To manage the administration side of native title matters concerning NCY#1 and NCY#3.
  • To represent and assist native title holders as required in negotiations about land and sea matters to ensure that their native title rights are not disturbed or impacted negatively.
  • To inform and educate others about native title
  • To be involved with anything that disturbs the ground in areas where native title is not extinguished. Such disturbances include:
    building and infrastructure development projects, roads, removal of trees, digging holes, removal of natural resources, mining, drilling, water bores, land use, water use.
  • To be responsible for cultural heritage such as:
    − maintaining significant sites,
    − maintaining culture – language, stories, dance, traditions, customs, practices
    − repatriation of artefacts
    − storage of data, artefacts, family trees
    – welcome to country at events
    – delivery of cultural awareness sessions to visitors to the area