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South Australian Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) Statewide Negotiations Strategic Plan 2006-2009 | | Category: | Policy/Strategy | | | Sub Category: | Policy/Strategy | | Place: | | | State/Country: | South Australia, Australia | | The South Australian Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) Statewide Negotiations Strategic Plan covers all parts of South Australia where native title claims can be registered, with the exception of the Pitjantjatjara and Maralinga lands. This includes Crown lands, national parks and pastoral leases. | | Subject Matter: | Native Title | Recognition of Native Title or Traditional Ownership | Recognition of Traditional Rights and Interests | | URL: | http://www.iluasa.com/default.asp | | | Summary Information: | | | The South Australian Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) Statewide Negotiations Strategic Plan 2006-2009 contains the policy behind the state's native title negotiation process, which was first proposed by the South Australian government in 1999. This process is underpinned by the South Australian Statewide Framework Agreement (2000), which seeks to provide a strategy for a negotiation and agreement-based approach to resolving native title claims under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). | | Detailed Information: | | | The South Australian ILUA Statewide Negotiations Strategic Plan 2006-2009 sets out a process for the resolution of native title claims through negotiation, discussion and agreement-making, rather than litigation. The Strategic Plan does not seek to provide an alternative to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). Instead, it seeks to encourage the resolution of native title claims under the same legislation, but through either the negotiation of Indigenous Land Use Agreements or consent determinations, rather than through contested hearings in court.
Objectives of the Strategic Plan
Section 1 (Strategy) of the Strategic Plan describes the long-term objective of South Australia's statewide native title negotiation process as 'certainty over access to and sustainable use of land, water and resources through negotiated recognition and just settlement leading to the resolution of native title claims across the State' (at 1). In particular, the Strategic Plan contains the specific target of resolving 75% of the state's native title claims by 2014.
Other objectives behind the development of this state-based negotiation process include the following:
Improved protection of Indigenous heritage;
Sustainability of Aboriginal culture;
Improved social and economic outcomes for Indigenous people; and
More effective management strategies for shared responsibility in the protection of land, fishing and water resources.
Overall, however, the state negotiation process outlined in the Strategic Plan has the objective of providing an alternative to litigation whenever possible (AIATSIS, 'South Australian State Wide Agreement Approach', 2).
The ILUA Statewide Negotiations process
The negotiation process outlined in the Strategic Plan was first set out in the South Australian Statewide Framework Agreement, which came into effect on 1 January 2000. The updated version contained in the Strategic Plan for 2006-2009 comprises the following elements:
The Main Table: this is the decision-making body that gives approval and ratifies strategies, providing strategic planning and management processes and seeking to maintain relationships between the negotiating parties;
The Pastoral, Minerals Exploration, Fishing and Aquaculture, Local Government (and Outback Areas) and Parks Side Tables: these smaller bodies are responsible for developing ILUA templates, monitoring progress on negotiations in relation to specific focus areas, and monitoring the implementation of ILUAs that have been signed and registered. The Strategic Plan contains sector-specific plans that relate to each of these Side Tables, setting out a target number of ILUAs to be completed in each focus area.
The following peak bodies are currently involved in negotiations at the Main Table:
the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement;
the SA Farmers Federation;
the SA Chamber of Mines and Industry;
the SA Seafood Council;
the SA Fishing Industry Council;
the Local Government Association; and
the South Australian Government.
Of these, the Local Government Association, the Seafood Council and the SA Fishing Industry Council are new to the discussion process, having joined after the implementation of the initial Framework Agreement.
The role of ILUAs in the ILUA Statewide Negotiations process
Negotiations under the South Australian native title claim resolution process take place using ILUA templates developed following the making of the South Australian Statewide Framework Agreement. These templates deal with pastoral, minerals exploration, fishing and aquaculture, local government, outback areas and parks-related issues. They provide a framework for more specific negotiations, making sure that native title parties and other participants are prepared for the negotiation process. These templates can, however, be modified to reflect cultural differences and local needs.
The object of the negotiation process is to allow parties to complete their own ILUAs and prepare them for registration with the National Native Title Tribunal on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements. The negotiation process is thus designed to achieve the resolution of native title claims via agreement-making.
For more detail on SA's Statewide Negotiations process, please refer to the ATNS database entry for the South Australian Statewide Framework Agreement.
Outcomes of agreement-making for native title claim groups
Both the ILUAs and consent determinations on which the SA Strategic Plan relies for the resolution of native title claims result in a continued right to practice traditional laws and customs on the native title land.
Compensation for claimant groups may also be determined under a consent determination or an ILUA, although consent determinations have been criticised as having potential to undervalue native title claims in terms of the amount of compensation owing. The negotiation process for ILUAs, however, may be beneficial due to its greater scope for consideration of the economic, cultural and social needs of the native title claimants themselves.
Results of the ILUA Statewide Negotiations process
Various commentators including Ross Boyd, Parry Agius and Jocelyn Davies have praised the South Australian native title claim resolution framework as an efficient process with a beneficial effect on relationships. In a comparison between the South Australian system and the litigated determination process under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), Ross Boyd states that the SA ILUA Statewide Negotiations Strategic Plan has given rise to 'far superior outcomes for the resources industry, communities and the Government' (Boyd at 28). The same verdict has been forwarded by AIATSIS in its summary of the South Australian native title claim resolution framework.
As outlined in the Strategic Plan 2006-2009, the South Australian native title claim resolution framework has so far achieved the following results, among others:
the negotiation and registration of ILUAs with the Antakirinja, Arabunna and Gawler Ranges native title claim groups;
The negotiation of ILUAs with the Adnyamathanha and Far West Coast native title claim groups;
the completion of a template Petroleum and Gas Conjunctive ILUA with the State of South Australia and South Australia Native Title Services.
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