Native title stakeholders in regional Western Australia benefited from Tribunal expertise in a series of five native title information seminars, held in May and June.
WA Registry future act and native title claims officers held the seminars in Kununurra, Broome, Karratha, Kalgoorlie and Geraldton for agencies with an interest in native title.
Tribunal WA manager Lillian Maher.
The Tribunal's Lauren Atkinson (left) and Paul Willaway (right) with Tourism WA's Nerreda Hillier. Click on this photo to see others who attended the Broome seminar.
Tribunal future act case manager Lauren Atkinson leads discussion at the Broome seminar.
Department of Mines and Petroleum liaison officer Jeff Hayles said the Kalgoorlie seminar was very informative.
More than 50 people representing WA government departments and agencies attended the one-day seminars organised by Tribunal regional manager Steve Edwards, future act case manager Lauren Atkinson and claims case manager Paul Willaway, with support from Stacey Scott, Sally Wearne, Susana Mendoza and Peter O’Dea.
The Department of Environment and Conservation, Department of Indigenous Affairs, Department of Mines and Petroleum, Department of Housing, Department of Water, Goldfields-Esperance Development Commission and local governments were among participants in the seminars.
• Lillian Maher, National Native Title Tribunal
• Jeff Hayles, Department of Mines and Petroleum
• Jacinta Mack, Department of Indigenous Affairs
• More information
WA manager Lillian Maher said the seminars gave native title stakeholders in WA’s regions the opportunity to learn more about future act, claims and indigenous land use agreement native title processes.
“We decided to run this new seminar series after stakeholder feedback indicated there were gaps in their understanding about how to go about dealing with native title,” Ms Maher said.
“Staff who led the information sessions found that there is still some confusion between native title and land rights.
“And those who are more familiar with native title are often uncertain about what their responsibilities are in the process.
“This seminar series was able to address these needs by providing local examples to demonstrate how native title processes worked.”
Ms Maher said the seminars also provided an opportunity for Tribunal officers to interact directly with regional stakeholders and learn more about local native title issues.
“Tribunal staff were pleased to have the chance to meet stakeholders and find out what sort of information and services they needed to assist their work,” Ms Maher said.
Department of Mines and Petroleum liaison officer Jeff Hayles, who is based in Kalgoorlie, attended the Kalgoorlie seminar and said it was “very informative”.
Mr Hayles has been in the mining industry for more than 35 years and has been exposed to native title issues since the introduction of the Native Title Act.
However, since he has only been in his current role for about five months he said the seminar was a helpful refresher on native title processes and was also well received by those who had little or no previous exposure to the subject.
“The information about future act was particularly useful, especially the examples which showed how it related to mining,” Mr Hayles said.
Department of Indigenous Affairs regional officer, Jacinta Mack, who is based in South Hedland, said the sessions were invaluable, even though DIA doesn’t work directly on native title issues.
“We work with and visit various Aboriginal communities within the Pilbara and as a result we are generally the first level of query for people who want information about a range of issues; including native title and Indigenous Land Use Agreements,” Ms Mack said.
“I am now confident that I can answer their questions on a basic level and point them in the right direction—which is the Tribunal.”
Seminars to explain native title processes may continue to be held in regional areas when resources are available. However, seminars can be held in city centres according to need. Contact your local Tribunal registry to discuss your information needs.
• Information about native title, future act and ILUA processes is accessible on this website, by phoning 1800 640 501, emailing enquiries@nntt.gov.au and from the links on this page. |