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Submissions
management and distribution of native title benefits within communities with extensive social
and economic needs
lack of resources of PBCs
often-limited nature of native title agreements to address the needs of the community as a whole.
FNLRS identified the lack of time allowed for native title groups within the native title system as
directly contributing to intra-community conflict:
Often there is limited time to engage in deep and meaningful engagement with native
title groups and blunt winner-takes-all decision-making processes have to be adopted in
order for decisions to be made to suit timetables outside of the native title group’s control.
Not only do these types of approaches make it difficult for people who have experienced
trauma to participate effectively, they can inflict further trauma on participants. FNLRS
FNLRS submitted that greater and more flexible funding is required to allow for more
opportunities for dispute resolution and trauma informed approaches, leading to greater
participation by women and young people. The need for PBCs to receive ongoing support to
achieve positive native title outcomes was a key systemic issue identified in the NIAA’s 2021
report on the performance of NTRBs.58
ii. Male anthropologists
WiNTA noted that in some parts of Australia, where a commissioned anthropologist was male, it
has limited the potential for First Nations women to participate in native title processes because
of social mores. For example, women wouldn’t travel in a car driven by a male anthropologist;
or women were simply less comfortable sharing knowledge with male anthropologists.
iii. Family and community responsibilities
WiNTA noted that in their participants’ experiences in the anthropological side of native title
processes, ‘women who have caring responsibilities for children have limited access to native title
processes, particularly fieldwork and some claimant group meetings’. They also noted how otherwise
benign and unrelated policies can impact the participation of women with caring responsibilities:
Of course, carers include not only mothers, but a range of women kin, including
grandmothers, sisters, and aunties. This issue emerges out of the compounding of a number
of factors. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live at a distance to their
Country and do not have access to their own suitable transportation (particularly four‑wheel
drives) to attend fieldwork or meeting locations. Over the last decade and earlier, most
NTRBs/NTSPs have instituted ‘no children in cars’ policies, in response to concerns
about safety and the lack of child restraints fitted in NTRB/NTSP or hired vehicles. These
conditions impact particularly negatively on women who appear to be disproportionately
excluded from opportunities to participate when opportunities are limited. WiNTA
iv. Implications for lack of gender equity
NTSCORP submitted that it has heard concerns from PBC members wanting greater gender
equity on their boards, and noted that under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander) Act 2006 (Cth), PBCs can do that by structuring their rule book to require it.
NTSCORP went on to discuss the importance of better representation by women on PBC
boards in the context of future act negotiations, specifically to ensure women’s business and
the protection of women’s sites is better addressed.
Australian Human Rights Commission
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