Native Title

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Native Title
Land Administration 451 - 418 451 - 607 Clare
Brazenor clare_at_sunrise.sli.unimelb.edu.au
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Lecture Overview

• Dimensions of Indigenous Land Tenure
• Dimensions of the Australian Cadastral System
• The Native Title Act 1993
• Mapping Requirements
• Guidelines
• Issues/ Difficulties of determining native title
• Technologies
• International recognition of Customary Land Tenure

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Two land tenure systems operate within Australia.
Namely Indigenous land tenure and the Australian
cadastral system. Both tenure systems need to
coexist.
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Indigenous Australians

• Spiritual and Material/ Physical connection to
  land
• Held in Communal manner
• Kinship
• Notion of Boundaries

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Topography
Sacred Sites
Dreaming Tracks
Overlapping interests
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(No Transcript)
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Australian Cadastral Systems

• Torrens System of title registration
• Land as a commodity
• Restricted rights in neighboring lands
• Boundaries
• Cadastre
• multi use
• multi access

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Native Title Act

• Native title is NOT created through the act
• Objectives of the Native Title Act
• Recognition and protection
• Mechanism for dealing with native title
• Future acts
• Past acts

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WHERE DOES NATIVE TITLE EXIST

• Tenures where native title may exist

Vacant Crown Land State Forests National
Parks Public Reserves Beaches and Foreshores Land
Held by Government Agencies Land held in trust
for Aboriginal Communities ...
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Spatial Requirements
External Boundaries of Claim area

• Mapped representation
• Written documentation
• Details of tenure searches

ASSUMPTION OF CARTOGPAHIC KNOWLEDGE
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Section 62(2) Native Title Act 1993

• (a) Information, whether by physical description
  or otherwise, that enables the boundaries of
• (i) the area covered by the application and,
• (ii) any areas within those boundaries that are
  not covered by the application
• to be identified
• (b) a map showing the boundaries of the area
  mentioned is subparagraph (a)(i)
• (c) details and results of all searches carried
  out to determine the existence of any non-native
  title rights and interests in relation to the
  land and waters in the area covered by the
  application

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National Native Title Tribunal Guidelines

• Anything on which there is writing or
• Anything on which there are marks, figures,
  symbols or perforations having
• a meaning for a person qualified to interpret
  them or
• Anything from which sounds, images or writings
  can be reproduced with or
• without the aid of anything else or
• A map, plan, drawing or photograph.
• (Case management practice Manual 1999 s4.3.2)
• An external boundary may be considered
  sufficiently identifies for the
• purposes of this condition where it is identified
  by way of coordinates
• derived from maps or surveying and mapping
  technologies such as GPS
• and land parcel descriptions together with
  geographic locations (provided
• that the actual boundaries of the parcel that the
  applicant relies upon are
• described with certainty) or by reference to land
  otherwise described in
• suitable material held by a Government, for
  example in Government
• Gazette notices.
• (Case management practice Manual 1999 s 5.4.12)

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Claim Areas

• Relationship with the land
• Relationship with other tenures
• Relationship with other applications

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External Boundaries

• Topographic features
• Administrative boundaries
• Coordinates

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Mapping for Native Title

• Is mapping the native title interests of
• Indigenous Australians that are able to be
• recognised by Australian law

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Individual parcels
Cadastral Information
Tenure Information - determine all parties
Other Datasets - Mining Crown Lands Parks
General area determination
Low level mapping
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Difficulties / Issues

• Diversity
• Freezing of native title interests in time
• Recognition of limited traditional title
• Cultural differences
• There exists no notion of boundary or mapping
  within traditional indigenous culture
• Placing of precessions on boundaries
• Overlapping interests

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Native Title Applications
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Applications - Spatial Problems

• Discrepancies between the written documentation
  and the mapped representation
• Data access, data appropriateness
• Splaying of data across jurisdictions
• Poor Clarity

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Technologies for Native Title

• GPS
• Imagery -
• Satellite Imagery
• GIS applications

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Issues

• Security
• Digital Data
• Implementation of GIS
• Dissemination of Information

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National Native Title TribunalGeospatial Unit

• National Role
• Provide assistance in mapping requirements
• Data -
• State cadastral information
• AUSLIG Raster images

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Native Title InformationIntranet solution
Claimants applications as per the registry
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Native Title InformationIntranet solution
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GIS prototype - Wotjobaluk Applications

• Case specific
• Basic Unit - Parish Boundaries
• Datasets
• Exploration Licenses
• National and State Parks
• Crown Lands (according to DNRE)
• Public Lands

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GIS Prototype (www)
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Customary Land Tenure - International Perspective

• Canada, The United States Of America, New
  Zealand, Papua New Guinea
• Many African Nations and Pacific Islands

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The Future of Native Title

• Native Title is still evolving
• Indigenous Land Use Agreements

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Future of Land Based Information

• Native Title will be a factor for consideration
• The appropriate use of technologies
• Emphasis on the recognition of ALL interests in
  land (Cadastre 2014), particularly the Interests
  of Indigenous communities
• UN declarations on Indigenous peoples, HABITAT

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Questions