8 Interviewee story summaries The following are the summarised stories of the women whom my team and I interviewed for this Report. Each woman has a very different story and, even then, despite over 20 interviews, I am conscious that we have many gaps in representation. Those gaps are from the perspective of geographical coverage and the type of native title case, as well as the type of lived experience being spoken of. Clearly, it is not possible to provide comprehensive coverage of all the types of concerns associated with native title system, and associated systems, in one relatively short report. It is also obviously not possible for any one woman to fully cover her entire experience of land justice in one interview, no matter that some interviews were hours long! The stories presented here do not purport to provide a comprehensive picture of the entirety of a person or group’s native title journey. Some of the stories focus on one or two aspects, some of the stories provide more overarching pictures. Importantly, none of the stories or the discrete experiences and opinions within those stories have been ‘verified’. The importance of the stories contained in this Report and the lived experiences being conveyed is that each one is one woman’s truth. All of the women knew that it was not possible for me, in my role as Social Justice Commissioner, to assist them in any immediate or material way with difficulties they were experiencing in relation to the native title or related systems. But all of the women hoped that the telling of their stories alone would contribute to substantive long-term change. The reader should focus on the ways that these stories reflect on the native title system and the themes that are discussed in the subsequent chapters using the combined voices of the interviewees. It is not intended that any individual, family, native title group, or organisation be maligned using the accounts of the women here. Rather, care has been taken to ensure the focus is on the structural elements of the native title system and associated systems, within which individuals are acting. I do not wish to scapegoat individuals for the systemic faults ultimately identified – faults which mean that the roles of individuals within the system are not sufficiently supported, scaffolded and held accountable. The organic nature of the way in which the interviewees were ‘chosen’ has resulted in a collection of really important stories and some clear illustrations of the way that the native title system does not centre those whom it purports to benefit. The stories and the combined voices of the women in the next chapters highlight the way that the native title system plays out to significantly impact woman and their families and communities in overwhelmingly negative ways. Many of the stories also illustrate the ways that individual women within communities are stepping up, partnering together, and supporting each other, to seize control of the governance arrangements in their native title groups, particularly in PBCs and other corporations, and unify their communities. Australian Human Rights Commission 59