Latest News

Submission to the Treasury, Exposure Draft, Charities Bill 2013

Saturday, 11 May 2013

The submission is made by Miranda Stewart on behalf of ATNS.

The submission comments on the Exposure Draft Charities Bill and Charities (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013 and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum.

The submission focuses on two specific aspects of the Bill:

1. The rule intended to address concerns about charities to benefit certain native title groups (section 8); and
2. The definition of charitable purposes, and in particular whether community economic development, which is a key goal of Indigenous communities and of the government, will qualify as a charitable purpose.
   

The link to the submission can be found here

ATNS Submission - Native Title Amendment Bill 2012

Saturday, 11 May 2013

The submission was made by Associate Professor Maureen Tehan in collaboration with Professor
Marcia Langton, on behalf of the Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements (ATNS)
Project in response to the Native Title Amendment Bill 2012 (the Bill).

The submission generally supports the proposed amendments which have the potential to expand the quantum of
land that might be the subject of native title determinations and improve the operation and
function of the future act regime.
Furthermore, the submission supports the addition of s31(1)(c) which requires negotiations to include ‘consideration of the
effect of the doing of the act on the registered native title rights and interests of the native title
parties’. The submission further supports the addition of s31A(2) and in particular, s31A(2)(b), which addresses
the concerns raised in submissions on the Native Title Amendment Bill 2012 Exposure Draft
(the Exposure Draft) regarding the possible codification of the ‘good faith’ requirements for the
purposes of s31 negotiations.

The submission strongly supports the proposed amendment to s36(2) and the proposed extension of time in
s35(1)(a) from 6 to 8 months.

In principle the submission supports the proposed s47C but maintain the view that it should operate in the
same manner as ss47, 47A and 47B ie, not subject to agreement insofar as future native title
determinations are concerned. Notice should only be required in transitional arrangements or
revised determination applications. The submission suggests that it should be possible to agree to disregard
extinguishment by Public works on s47, 47A and 47B land and that it should be possible to agree
to disregard extinguishment on any Crown land.

The submission generally supports the proposed amendments in relation to ILUAs but still have reservations
about the new s251A(2) and its application.

A link to the submission can be found <a href="http://www.atns.net.au/reference.asp?RefID=4866">here</a>

Native Title Tax Reform

Friday, 29 March 2013

The Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 6) Bill 2012 was passed on the 18th March 2013. The Bill makes some small, but important clarifications to the tax law with respect to native title payments. It confirms that payments that are essentially compensatory, under agreements concerning acts affecting native title, will be non-assessable to either Indigenous entities or individuals who receive them. It also confirms that a transfer of native title from the claim group to a corporate entity that holds it (as agent or trustee for native title holders) does not generate any tax consequences.

The primary benefit of the amendment is certainty for the native title claim groups and other stakeholders engaged in negotiating native title agreements. The uncertainty has existed since native title agreements started to be made on a widespread basis more than a decade ago under the Native Title Act.The amendments rightly address all forms of native title agreement including State settlements.

The Bill only exempts payments under native title agreements that are essentially compensatory in respect of acts affecting native title. If these payments are invested and generate income, then that income is subject to tax in the normal way, under general tax rules for all Australians.

While the Bill does produce non-assessability of these payments in the hands of eligible indigenous individuals, it is expected that these payments will not happen frequently, and this is the right result because native title, and the loss or acts affecting it, is unique. It is analogous to compensatory payments for other kinds of loss or damage. Under current tax law, Australians in general do not pay tax on compensation for personal loss or injury or damage.

This amending Bill is only one piece of the puzzle. As has been proposed by the Minerals Council of Australia, the ATNS Project also strongly supports establishing a working group to debate and develop the concept of an ICDC that would support long term Indigenous economic development arising out of native title agreements in Australia. The purpose of such a proposal is to put indigenous Australians on the same footing as all other Australians on a sustainable basis for the future.

The explanatory memorandum and the Bill can be accessed here. 

ATNS Symposium 25th - 26th June 2013

Friday, 8 March 2013

Click here for information about the program and registration

Professor Marcia Langton's 5th Boyer Lecture

Thursday, 31 January 2013

The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom Lecture 5: Counting Our Victories - the end of Garvey-ism and the soft bigotry of low expectation

In her final lecture, Professor Langton reflects on the economic transformation underway in the lives of Aboriginal people -- from increasing Indigenous enrolments in higher education, through rising employment in mining and other rural industries, to the explosion of cultural production by Aboriginal people into the Australian mainstream not only on canvas and on the stage, but also in music, literature, cinema  and television.

Transcript and audio available here:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/2012-boyer-lectures-245/4427682

Marcia Langton says 3000 Aborigines are employed as a direct result of the mining industry

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Marcia Langton says 3000 Aborigines are employed as a direct result of the mining industry

Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Marcia Langton, says wealth can be distributed positively. IT is incorrect to claim that Aboriginal people's lives have not improved as a result of mining agreements in the West Australian Pilbara, indigenous scholar Marcia Langton said yesterday. In an address to the annual Indigenous Business Enterprise and Corporations Conference in Perth yesterday, Professor Langton said the most vocal public opinion in wealthy developed countries was that indigenous people were, without exception, disadvantaged by major resource projects. But Professor Langton said this need not be the case and later referred to benefits for indigenous people in the Pilbara where she said some 3000 Aborigines were employed as a direct result of the mining industry. "Mining companies and indigenous parties have found cause to develop trust arrangements to serve the purpose of local wealth funds," she said. "A company's reputation and potential to gain access to other resource bodies could be diminished if it were complicit in the social disasters that result from cash distribution or failure to save and invest the very large sums of money that have been paid to local groups as recompense for impacts. "The expansion of indigenous legal rights to negotiate with resource companies has also led to institution building to ensure that benefits, especially financial benefits, are distributed for the benefit of the majority. "To do otherwise, as so many indigenous and local people have discovered, is to invite social disaster, corruption and distortion of customary or traditional social organisation and authority." Businessman Geoffrey Cousins has been among the opponents of Woodside's controversial proposed gas hub in the Kimberley who have pointed to poor standards of living among indigenous people in the Pilbara as a sign that mining agreements have been ineffective in improving the lives of indigenous people there. But Professor Langton rejected this conclusion. "It is just not true," she said. "Benefits in the Pilbara are very plain to see." However, Professor Langton said she did not have a view about whether a gas precinct should be built on Aboriginal land north of Broome because that decision was for the Aboriginal people of the area. In May last year, the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr authorisation meeting approved the taking of land for the gas precinct. The vote - which has since been heavily criticised - was 164 in favour to 108 against. The agreement was then formally signed on June 30, 2011. "I think people should respect the decision of traditional owners," Professor Langton said.

Article available at:
http://m.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/marcia-langton-says-3000-aborigines-are-employed-as-a-direct-result-of-the-mining-industry/story-fn9hm1pm-1226529265338

Marcia Langton's 'quiet revolution' and what you don't hear about James Price Point - Article by Lily O'Neill

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Marcia Langton's 'quiet revolution' and what you don't hear about James Price Point

APAI PhD Scholar Lily O'Neill has written an article in The Conversation examining James Price Point and the participation of indigenous people in the modern economy.

The article can be accessed here :
http://theconversation.edu.au/marcia-langtons-quiet-revolution-and-what-you-dont-hear-about-james-price-point-11256

Professor Marcia Langton's 4th Boyer Lecture

Thursday, 13 December 2012

The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom Lecture 4: The conceit of wilderness ideology

In her fourth lecture, Professor Langton examines how some beliefs within the nature conservation movement in Australia have perpetuated the idea that Aboriginal people are the enemies of nature, and describes recent examples of Indigenous traditional land practices which combine western ecological knowledge to create sustainable and economically viable custodianship of country.

Transcript and audio available here:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/2012-boyer-lectures/4409022

Professor Marcia Langton's 3rd Boyer Lecture

Thursday, 13 December 2012

The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom Lecture 3: Old barriers and new models. The private sector, government and the economic empowerment of Aboriginal Australians

In her third lecture, Professor Langton illuminates the experiences of two Aboriginal communities who are levering economic advancement through agreements with mining companies, and examines why it is that the private sector is leading the way in forging new working models with Indigenous Australia while government policies lag far behind.

Transcript and audio available here:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/2012-boyer-lectures/4393916

Professor Marcia Langton's 2nd ABC Boyer lecture

Thursday, 29 November 2012

The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom Lecture 2: From Protectionism to Economic Advancement

In her second lecture, Professor Langton examines the confluence of historical, political and social factors which have created entrenched barriers against the economic advancement of Aboriginal people in Australia.

Transcript and audio available here:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/new-document/4381992

Professor Marcia Langton gave the first of the 2012 series of Boyer lectures yesterday

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Professor Marcia Langton gave the first of the 2012 series of Boyer lectures yesterday, November 18^th 2012 which was broadcast live from Brisbane.

The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom Lecture 1: Changing the paradigm - Mining Companies, Native Title and Aboriginal Australians

In this first lecture Professor Langton explores the changing relationship between Aboriginal communities and mining companies since the 1993 Mabo agreement and native title legislation, and asks whether this could offer a model for the economic empowerment of all Indigenous people in Australia.

The remaining lectures in the series will be broadcast on Sundays at 5pm from November 25^th to December 9^th 2012 and repeated Mondays at 12am and Fridays at 3am.

See here for details

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/2012-boyer-lectures/4305696

 Listen to podcast here

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/boyers-ep1/4305610

 See transcript here

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/boyers-ep1/4305610#transcript

Professor Marcia Langton to present the 2012 Boyer Lectures

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Chairman of the ABC Board, James Spigelman, has announced that the 53rd Boyer Lectures will be presented by Professor Marcia Langton AM, Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at The University of Melbourne and Chief Investigator of the ATNS Project.

The lectures subject will be The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom. Professor Langton will look at the dependency of Aboriginal businesses and not-for-profit corporations on the resources industry and their resultant vulnerability to economic downturns.

The 2012 Boyer Lectures begin on November 18 at 5pm.

For more information see here:

Protection for traditional owners' special places: the untold story - Article by Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Chief Investigator for the ATNS project Professor Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh of Griffith University, wrote an  important corrective to the media coverage on the James Price Point Gas Hub in The Australian published on the 1st of October 2012.

Recent publication: Community Futures, Legal Architecture: Foundations for Indigenous Peoples in the Global Mining Boom Edited By Marcia Langton and Judy Longbottom, published by Routledge.

Thursday, 16 August 2012

Community Futures, Legal Architecture: Foundations for Indigenous Peoples in the Global Mining Boom
Edited by Marcia Langton and Judy Longbottom
Published 18 April 2012 by Routledge

How are indigenous and local people faring in their dealings with mining and related industries in the first part of the 21st century? The unifying experience in all the resource-rich states covered in the book is the social and economic disadvantage experienced by indigenous peoples and local communities, paradoxically surrounded by wealth-producing projects. Another critical commonality is the role of law. Where the imposition of statutory regulation is likely to result in conflict with local people, some large modern corporations have shown a preference for alternatives to repressive measures and expensive litigation. Ensuring that local people benefit economically is now a core goal for those companies that seek a social licence to operate to secure these resources. There is almost universal agreement that the best use of the financial and other benefits that flow to indigenous and local people from these projects is investment in the economic participation, education and health of present generations and accumulation of wealth for future generations. There is much hanging on the success of these strategies: it is often asserted that they will result in dramatic improvements in the status of indigenous and local communities. What happens in practice is fascinating, as the contributors to this book explain in case studies and analysis of legal and economic problems and solutions.

Professor Langton is the Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at The University of Melbourne, and a Chief Investigator of the Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements (ATNS) Project. She was the founding Director of the Centre for Indigenous, Natural and Cultural Resource Management and the Ranger Chair of Aboriginal Studies at the Northern Territory University. Professor Langton is a specialist in Aboriginal land tenure and resource issues with a research and publication track record in native title, land rights and Aboriginal resource rights. The book can be purchased online through Routledge by clicking here.

ATNS Chief Investigators Marcia Langton & Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh speak with Phillip Adams about the Mabo decision 20 years on

Saturday, 2 June 2012

This year marks 20 years since the High Court's historic decision in Mabo v Queensland [No. 2] which overturned 200 years of the doctrine of terra nullius and, for the first time, recognised aboriginal title to land. In this special edition of Late Night Live, Phillip Adams interviews ATNS Project Chief Investigators Professor Marcia Langton,Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, and Professor Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh,Professor of politics and public policy at Griffith University about the development of the law and practice of native title since that historic decision.

You can listen to the full broadcast here.

ATNS Chief Investigator Marcia Langton appears on Four Corners discussing the legacy of the Mabo decision

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

To watch the full episode visit the Four Corners website here.

A Note on Future Act Agreements and the ATNS Database

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

The Right to Negotiate, Future Act Agreements and the ATNS Database

The ATNS Database strives to present a comprehensive, objective and valuable record of agreements, treaties and negotiated settlements with indigenous communities across Australia. However, the complexity of the future act system and limited public access to certain types of agreements renders this task extremely difficult. This note aims to provide a brief overview of the future act agreement-making system and draw attention to some of the challenges in providing a comprehensive record of future act agreements.

Under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA), a future act is an act taking place after 1 January 1994 that either extinguishes native title or is wholly or partly inconsistent with the continued existence, enjoyment or exercise of native title rights and interests (s 223, s 227). Future acts may include the making of legislation (s 226(2)(a)), the grant or extension of a licence (s 226(2)(b)) or any other act with the capacity to extinguish native title rights or interests.

Section 31 of the NTA outlines the procedures for the negotiation of agreements validating the doing of a future act. The negotiation procedures provide that:

• The relevant government must give notice under section 29 of their intention to do a future act. This notice must be given to any registered native title claimant or to any representative body where there is no registered claimant, to the grantee and the public.
• Any native title claim lodged within a three months period following the giving of notice, that is also registered within a four month period, attracts the right to negotiate.
• Native title claimants must have the opportunity to make submissions regarding the proposed act(s 31(1)(a)); and
• Parties must conduct negotiations in good faith with a view to reaching agreement  within a 6 month time period from the date of the section 29 notice. The NNTT has the power to mediate these negotiations at the parties’ request.

Agreements reached under these provisions are often referred to as Section 31 Agreements.

Once agreement is reached, the negotiating parties are required to lodge a copy of the agreement with the NNTT. However, in a majority of cases, parties will provide an agreement that will satisfy the specifications of the NTA but, for reasons of confidentiality, gives very few details of the contents of that agreement or its subject matter. For example, payment details will rarely be included. The NNTT does not have access to the particulars of these agreements. Basic facts (such as name and date) of the agreements are therefore published on the NNTT website, however, no further detail is available.

The complexity of the future act agreements system, limited public access and confidentiality issues make presenting a comprehensive record of agreements for the validation of future acts extremely difficult. The ATNS project database therefore outlines future act agreements in varying degrees of detail. For example, while ILUAs and consent determination decisions are included in detail (see here), agreements negotiated under the right to negotiate procedures are only included if detailed information has been released to the public by the parties. Those Section 31 agreements that are on the database can be viewed here. 

On information currently available, as at April 2012 some 2,663 Section 31 Agreements had been lodged with the NNTT. Only a handful of those - those made public by the negotiating parties - are available on the ATNS Database. Database users should be aware that the future act agreements included on the database are only a small number of the numerous and varying agreements that exist in this vast area.

Rio spends $300m on Wickham, Pilbara

Thursday, 19 April 2012

'Rio spends $300m on Wickham town to boost Pilbara ore production\

Robb M. Stewart, The Australian, 17 April 2012.

The full article can be viewed here.

Fortescue Metals Group Tackles Pilbara Labour Woes - Article in the Australian

Thursday, 19 April 2012

'Fortescue Metals Group Tackles Pilbara Labour Woes'

'The changing face of remote workers' - Article in The Australian

Friday, 13 April 2012

'The changing face of remote workers' Natasha Robinson, The Australian, April 12, 2012

The full article can be viewed here.

ATNS Chief Investigator Marcia Langton and Matthew Gray talk Indigenous employment within mining companies in the Australian Financial Review

Thursday, 12 April 2012

‘Mining Finding Jobs for Indigenous Workers’ Matthew Gray and Marcia Langton, Australian Financial Review, 28 January 2012.

The full article can be viewed here.

Rio Tinto Agreement Making Profiled in the Canberra Times

Thursday, 12 April 2012

'Good intentions can often lead to indigenous hell on earth' by Russell Skelton, Canberra Times, 11 April 2012.

The full article can be viewed here.

ATNS Working Paper No. 2/2011 Now Available!

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Taylor, J, 'Indigenous Population Projections in Mining Regions: Dividend or Dependency? (ATNS Working Paper No. 2, 2011) available here.

'Social licence to operate is good business' - achieve magazine interview with Rio Tinto's Global Practice Leader - Communities and Social Performance, Bruce Harvey

Friday, 20 January 2012

achieve magazine recently spoke to Bruce Harvey, Global Practice Leader - Communities and Social Performance, Rio Tinto about the concept of a social licence to operate, defined as the basic permission that society gives to any corporate organisation to conduct its activities.

The full interview can be viewed online by clicking here.

Submit an agreement or information

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

The ATNS Project welcomes suggested additions to the database. Please see the Submit Agreement link. Alternatively, contact the ATNS Team.

ATNS Working Paper Series

Thursday, 7 July 2011

The Working Papers series allows the ATNS to target emerging research issues relevant to the ATNS Project while maintaining a high academic quality in a size and format that is useful to a range of audiences.

The ATNS Project is pleased to announce the first paper in its Working Paper Series:

Use and Management of Revenues from Indigenous - Mining Company Agreements: Theoretical Perspectives by Professor Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh. Click here to download

Access ATNS Presentations

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Download documents from ATNS Presentations, including submissions on the Treasury Consultation on Native Title, Indigenous Economic Development and Tax and the 2010 Mabo Lecture delivered by Professor Marcia Langton.

• ATNS Submission to Treasury Consultation on Native Title, Indigenous Economic Development and Tax

• Poverty in the Midst of Plenty: Progress Report 2010

• Marica Langton, Mabo Lecture 2010

Native Title and Tax: understanding the issues by Miranda Stewart

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

Chief Investigator Miranda Stewart has recently published an article in the Indigenous Law Bulletin: 'Native Title and Tax: understanding the issues'.
In this paper, Associate Professor Stewart discusses the tax treatment of payments under native title and discusses in particular various options for reform which were raised in the Treasury's recent Consultation Paper on Native Title, Indigenous Economic Development and Tax.
'Native Title and Tax: understanding the issues' is available from the Indigenous Law Bulletin website: click here.

New ATNS email address

Thursday, 9 April 2009

Please forward any questions or comments to the ATNS Project team at admin@atns.net.au. Click here for other Project contact information.

Full text of Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law now available

Monday, 25 August 2008

Australia and other parts of the globe are experiencing an unprecedented boom in the resource extraction sector. This special edition of JERL, 'Indigenous and Local Peoples and Resource Development: International Comparisons of Law, Policy and Practice' contains ongoing interdisciplinary research examining the management, participation in and impact of resource extraction on indigenous and local peoples. Click here for further information and access to the full text.