Central Land Council

The Central Land Council is an Indigenous Land Council that represents the indigenous people of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia, predominantly in land issues. The head office is located in Alice Springs.

Its aims include:

Helping Aboriginal people recover land.
Consulting with landowners on mining activity, employment, development and other land use proposals.
Protecting Aboriginal culture and sacred sites.
Assisting with economic projects on Aboriginal land.
Promoting community development and improving service delivery.
Helping resolve land disputes, native title claims and compensation cases.
Running the permit system for visitors to Aboriginal land.

The Central Land Council region covers 771,747 square kilometres of remote, rugged and often inaccessible areas. There are 18,000 Aboriginal people from 15 different Aboriginal language groups in Central Australia. The region is divided into nine regions based on these language groups.

The Council is a representative body with statutory authority under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. It also has responsibilities under the Native Title Act 1993 and the Pastoral Land Act 1992.

Today Aboriginal people make up 27 per cent of the Northern Territory's population and own some 49% of the land in the Northern Territory.

History

The council has its origins in the struggle of Australian Aboriginal people for rights to fair wages and land. This included the strike and walk off by the Gurindji people at Wave Hill, cattle station in 1966.

The Commonwealth Government of Gough Whitlam set up the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission, a Royal Commission, in February 1973 to inquire into how land rights might be achieved in the Northern Territory. Justice Woodward's first report in July 1973 recommended that a Central Land Council and a Northern Land Council be established in order to present to him the views of Aboriginal people.

In response to the report of the Royal Commission a Land Rights Bill was drafted, but the Whitlam Government was dismissed before it was passed.

The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was eventually passed by the Fraser Government on 16 December 1976 and began operation on Australia Day, that is 26 January 1977.

This Act established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could, for the first time, claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. In effect it allowed title to be transferred of most of the Aboriginal reserve lands and the opportunity to claim other land not owned, leased or being used by someone else.

Office locations

Alice Springs (Head Office)
Tennant Creek
Kalkaringi
Papunya
Mutitjulu
Alparra
Yuendumu
Atitjere

Communities and councils

Arrernte Council

Other NT Land Councils

The Central Land Council is one of four Land Councils in the Northern Territory, the others being:

the Northern Land Council covering the Top End
the Tiwi Land Council covering Bathurst and Melville Islands north of Darwin
the Anindilyakawa Land Council covering Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

External links

Home page
The Land Is Always Alive Central Land Council history
For more information on Native Title, see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Native Title Reports 1994-2009 http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/nt_report/index.html

Australian National Audit Office

Performance Audit of Northern Territory Land Councils and the Aboriginals Benefit Account No. 28, Tabled: 7 February 2003
Audit Report 28 (Adobe PDF 1,162Kb)

Indigenous Australians
Peoples	Aboriginal Australians Australoids Blackfellas Communities Groups Half-castes Tasmanians Torres Strait Islanders Victorians Western Australians
Individuals	Activists Musicians People from politics and public service Performing artists Sportspeople Visual artists Writers
Culture	Astronomy Avoidance Bora Corroboree Deadly Awards Deities Dreaming Dreamtime Enumeration Flag Kinship Kurdaitcha Marn Grook Message stick Mythology NAIDOC National Indigenous Human Rights Awards Outstation movement Riji Seasons Sacred sites Smoking ceremony Songlines Tjurunga Torres Strait Islands Woggabaliri
Languages	Avoidance speech Australian Aboriginal English Macro-Gunwinyguan languages Australian Creole Language groups Loanwords into English Palawa Pama–Nyungan languages Placenames Sign languages Torres Strait Island languages
Organisations	ATSIC Aboriginal Medical Service Aborigines Advancement League Aborigines Progressive Association AIATSIS Australian Aboriginal Progress Association Australian Aborigines' League Central Land Council Media National Congress of Australia's First Peoples National Indigenous Council Northern Land Council Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations Politics TSRA Reconciliation Australia Sorry Day
Bushcraft	Boomerang Buka Bush bread Bushfood Bush medicine Coolamon Dugout canoe Fibrecraft Fire-stick farming Food groups Humpy Possum-skin cloak Scarred tree Soaks Spinifex resin Sweet foods Waddy Woomera
Arts	Artifacts Bark painting Contemporary visual art Dance Didgeridoo Music Music groups Rock NATSIA Award Papunya Tula Sandpainting Vibe Visual art Yininmadyemi
History	Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 Caledon Bay crisis Cummeragunja walk-off Day of Mourning Gurindji Strike Historical figures History Prehistory History wars King plates Massacres Black War Missions Native police Pilbara strike Pintupi Nine Tent embassy Western Australia
Issues	Crime Health Land rights Native title Protected Area Media portrayal Northern Territory National Emergency Response Self-determination Stolen Generations Half-Caste Act Voting rights 1967 Referendum

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