Victorian traditional owner groups are calling for special land rights to prevent land they own from ever being repossessed by the government, as the state prepares for nation-first treaty talks to begin this year.
Indigenous traditional owner groups and Aboriginal advocacy organisations have submitted major land reform proposals to the state’s Indigenous truth-telling commission which is this year investigating housing and land inequality facing First Nations Victorians. The inquiry’s recommendations could inform treaty negotiations which are scheduled to begin later this year.
The Taungurung Land and Waters Council called for the Yoorrook Justice Commission to recommend the state government enact legislative changes to protect freehold title land currently owned by traditional owner groups from being repossessed by the state or subjected to mining licences granted by external parties.
Matthew Burns, the chief executive of the council, which represents large parts of central Victoria, told Guardian Australia he hoped the recommendations could be on the negotiating table for its traditional-owner treaty and the state-wide treaty.
“It’s a very small step to reconcile the total dispossession of traditional-owners nations from their country,” he said.
“The recommendations are around how we can provide protections to traditional owners that have worked really hard to get back to a position to have formal recognition of ownership in the western legal system and then to be genuinely be able to have the ability to self-determine and know that that land is theirs for perpetuity.”
The council also called for the establishment of a fund to help provide financial support for traditional owner groups to buy private land with cultural significance.
“Broadly speaking traditional owners respect private land tenure so it’s not about compulsory acquisition,” Burns said.
“It’s about resources being there for traditional owners to reach out to land holders and say, ‘Do you have any interest in selling the land?’”
Rodney Carter, chief executive of the Dja Dja Wurrung Group, said he supported calls for traditional owners to receive funding to buy private land. “It’s about redress in a social justice context,” he said.
Dr Erin O’Donnell, senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne Law School, said the suggested reforms would change the relationship between the settler state and traditional owners.
“This would acknowledge the sovereignty of traditional owners. Instead of the settler state retaining all power, it would strengthen the power of traditional owners to negotiate on what terms, if any, they would allow that access,” she said.
O’Donnell said the recommendation to boost land protections could be controversial because it would grant special rights that other landholders do not have, including potentially preventing land from being compulsory acquired by the state government such as for infrastructure projects.
The state’s Traditional Owners Settlement Act, enacted in 2010, formally recognises traditional owners and allows them to enter into out-of-court settlements with the government, outside the federal native title scheme.
The legislation typically grants management rights to Indigenous groups of existing public land such as national parks.
The council in 2018 reached a land deal with the Victorian government under the state’s Traditional Owners Settlement Act, which granted it nine parks and some public land with freehold rights.
Aboriginal Housing Victoria called for the state government to return unused public land to traditional owner groups for the purpose of building housing.
Yoorrook will this year focus on injustices affecting First Nations Victorians in secondary and tertiary education and health, alongside housing. It is due to deliver a final report to government by mid-2025.
The state’s First Peoples’ Assembly will begin negotiating a state-wide treaty with the Victorian government this year.
A spokesperson for the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet said Yoorrook’s submissions process gave individuals and organisations the opportunity to submit a range of ideas to the commission.
“We are listening to and working with the Yoorrook Justice Commission in an open and genuine way to address current and historic injustices experienced by First Nations people in Victoria, and all recommendations from the commission will be carefully considered,” the spokesperson said.
