2.4 The lived reality of native title All that said, this Report contains many stories of the unparalleled, and at times truly amazing, efforts of so many of our people to make the best of the native title system. Those efforts are made despite the heartache associated with having to prove ourselves and our connection to Country on the coloniser’s terms, only to find out that we were never going to truly get our land back under this system. Despite those realisations, individuals, families and communities continue to step up and work out the bespoke solutions needed to heal the harms inflicted by colonisation, including the native title system. The women who have contributed to this Report all have extensive experience in native title in a variety of different ways, including personal and professional roles. Their stories about their native title experiences, and their opinions on the native title system, provide a holistic picture of the everyday impact of native title on the individuals, families and communities whom native title was supposed to benefit. Their combined lived experiences do not represent everyone’s experience of native title, nor do they ‘cover the field’ geographically or in terms of the type of native title case. That would not be possible. There are so many more women that we would have loved to speak with. But the combined voices in this Report do highlight many common themes. Some of the common themes are well known and the value of this Report is in highlighting the way those themes play out in real life. Some of the common themes, or the way they are expressed by the women, might be less well known, and need to be elevated in the minds of all those involved in policy reform in the areas of native title, land rights and cultural heritage. The distress, anger, frustration and exhaustion expressed by so many of the women in their stories is the reality of native title on the ground for so many First Nations people. There is so much work being done, particularly by our women, to heal our families and communities from the cumulative effects of each act of colonisation. For many First Nations people, native title represents another act of colonisation. The individual harms described in each native title story are illustrative of a systemic lack of capacity in the native title system to ensure that it works to facilitate the enjoyment of First Nations peoples’ rights to culture, property, procedural fairness, self‑determination and non‑discrimination. The result can be described at a very high level as a discriminatory lack of access to justice. No other group in Australian society is expected to be able to overcome poverty and trauma, and resolve conflict, in the way that First Nations peoples are expected to – on someone else’s terms, to someone else’s timetable, and with extremely significant consequences for our future generations of any ‘failings’. That is what native title looks like in many of our First Nations – an unparalleled requirement imposed upon us to resolve conflict, negotiate both internally and externally (often at the same time), reconcile cultural norms with Western legal requirements and navigate through multiple foreign legal frameworks in an attempt to achieve the best possible outcome, for now and into the future, in broader circumstances which we cannot control. It is unsurprising that this is a big ask of many communities. It would be a big ask of any community, and it is notable that no other community in Australia is required to participate in such a system in an attempt to give effect to their rights to culture, property and self‑determination. 10 Women in Native Title: Native Title Report 2024