8 8.5 Interviewee story summaries Francine McCarthy, NT Francine McCarthy is a Warumungu woman from the Northern Territory. She was born in Tennant Creek and grew up in Alice Springs and in the Nauiyu (Daly River) community. Francine has been employed with the Central Land Council (CLC) since 1994 and at the time of interview she was the Manager Native Title Program at the CLC. She has held CLC positions in both Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. Francine is also Deputy Chair of the National Native Title Council (NNTC) and one of only two women on the nine-person board. In addition to her professional role in native title, Francine is a native title holder of Phillip Creek and Tennant Creek stations and Tennant Creek town. She has also played an active role in her PBC, Patta Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, holding various positions including director. Francine told of her introduction to native title through the Tennant Creek township claim.67 For Francine, it was both a personal and professional journey. Francine described the Tennant Creek township claim as unusual. It involved a lot of vacant Crown Land that was being used informally by other people, without license of any kind. The CLC strategised that a claim over the entire township area might deliver some benefits to the Traditional Owners in a situation where the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 (Cth) (ALRA) could not. The claim over the township area involved negotiations with the Territory Government who had limited experience with negotiations over a township claim. These negotiations ultimately led to mediation through the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT). The outcome was the settlement of the native title claim and the negotiation of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA). Francine spoke about the different types of rights in the ALRA and the Native Title Act, as well as the CLC’s role in relation to each of them. In Francine’s experience, the existence of the two different legal systems has created confusion and misunderstanding amongst communities, native title-holding groups, and Traditional Owners regarding the benefits achieved through both systems. Francine noted that native title in the Northern Territory is, generally speaking, much less beneficial than the ALRA because the latter can deliver freehold title to land. In her experience, Traditional Owners often have expectations of native title that the regime does not deliver. The Tennant Creek township claim involved educating people about what native title really means, how it works and particularly on realistic expectations. Francine has found that many Traditional Owners and PBC members are unclear on the role of PBCs, the role of the CLC in the native title context, and related decision-making processes. Francine noted that PBCs are new and more complicated structures compared with the land trust system under the ALRA; and that PBC roles are often the compliance-heavy and require a high level of English and legal literacy. Francine spoke of the priority the CLC gives to educating native title holding groups and communities, and of the challenges associated with engaging native title holders in the post‑determination environment, particularly in delivering governance training programs and activities of the PBC. Australian Human Rights Commission 75