| The Western Australian Aboriginal Native Title Working Group (WAANTWG) is a federation of all the Native Title Representative Bodies (Land Councils) in Western Australia which have statutory functions under the Native Title Act, and representatives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission's (ATSIC) elected arm.
It was established immediately after the Native Title High Court case in March 1995 (see Western Australia v the Commonwealth; Woorora Peoples v Western Australia; Biljabu v Western Australia (1995) 183 CLR 373) to provide a coordinated forum for dealing with native title issues in Western Australia.
The aim of WAANTWG is to negotiate standards and processes with governments and industry so that Indigenous Western Australians can enjoy and express their native title rights. It does not negotiate people's rights to particular land; this is done by the traditional owners, although the Representative Bodies assist in the process.
The specific objects of the WAANTWG are to:
- Provide a coordinated state representative forum to enhance Indigenous land interests in WA;
- Establish a formal and comprehensive negotiation process with the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments, and industry regarding native title and related issues;
- Develop priorities and cooperation between Representative Bodies and ATSIC in relation to test cases;
- Carry out research and develop policy on state-wide native title issues to establish a resource base from which to distribute relevant native title information to members and the community. |
