5 A human rights-based approach to native title reform (b) The organic development of the evidence base The engagement phase of this Report was carried out at a time when COVID-19 made in‑person consultations difficult. It has been through several iterations in design, but was always intended to be based on in‑depth interviews of First Nations women who have had extensive experience in the native title system. However, it became clear that in order to present a useful picture of the native title ‘landscape’, preliminary work was needed to ensure the interviews were sufficiently representative and targeted. This was a challenge until the end – my team and I would have loved to do many more interviews. To guide our approach to the Report, we spoke with existing contacts in the native title system who have both broad and technical knowledge of what is going on in different parts of the country. I express my sincere thanks to those professionals – lawyers, anthropologists and board members and staff of various Indigenous organisations – for their generosity in sharing their expertise, professional opinions and contacts with me and my team. The information gathered was used to approach First Nations women who have had various kinds of experiences in the native title system. Some women referred us to other women whom they knew had important knowledge of the native title system. My team took up as many opportunities to interview women as was logistically possible. (c) Storytelling as the basis for person-centred policy development This Native Title Report is an holistic look at the impact of the native title system on the everyday lives of First Nations individuals and communities, from the perspective of First Nations women. Women’s stories of their experiences in the native title system paint a picture of the lived reality of that system; they lay bare the impacts on every aspect of the lives of those women, their families and their communities. They personalise the system and make it relatable on a human level. Much like other aspects of our lives, the native title stories of the women featured in this Report remind us that, despite structural marginalisation and systemic barriers to our equal participation in decision-making, women are present and influential in the native title sphere. We are coming up with creative, strengths-based approaches to address the intra-community conflicts which native title has exacerbated and, in many cases, created. We are uniting our communities. We are stepping up as individuals to use our skills from both worlds to benefit our communities – our strong cultural knowledge and our adeptness and expertise within mainstream law and business. Like we found in the Wiyi Yani U Thangani consultations, through the voices of women we also heard the concerns and needs of communities as a whole.52 Somewhat predictably, the women’s stories in this Report raise the same themes that recur in the body of case law, and the same developing areas of native title law and practice that are raised in key inquiries and reviews, and discussed in the academic papers. But the stories in this Report provide something invaluable to the discourse surrounding native title reform: the meaning of the system and its processes to, and the way it is experienced by, First Nations peoples, communities and individuals. The personal stories in this Report highlight the complexities and the interrelatedness of things such as various legislative provisions, regulations, policies, regulatory bodies, judicial bodies, professionals and representative bodies. The stories make it clear that no part of the native title system can be viewed alone, much less reformed effectively in isolation. Any analysis of reforms Australian Human Rights Commission 35