Workshop Summary Report Reform of NSW Aboriginal Culture ... · Reform of NSW Aboriginal Culture...

Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 1

Workshop Summary Report

Reform of NSW Aboriginal Culture and Heritage Legislation Community

Consultations

Tamworth Coledale Community Centre, NSW

22 November 2011

Facilitation and Summary Report - Markwell Consulting


Contents

Warning 3

Preamble 3

Acronyms 4

Draft Running Sheet 5

Attendees 6

Welcome to Country

6

Session 1: The Reform Process 7

Session 2: Culture and Heritage – „Setting the Scene‟

8

Session 3: New Culture and Heritage Legislation – „Getting it Right‟ 8

Session 4: Who can Speak for Country?

11

Session 5: How will it Work? 12

Session 6: Key Messages and Options

14

Next Steps 15

Addendum: Participants Comments Post Workshop 16

Attachment A: Completed Participant Workshop Evaluation Forms 17


Warning

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders readers are warned this report may contain names

and/or images of people who have passed away.

Preamble

This report is a summary of discussions, outcomes and key messages from participants

at a Community Consultation workshop which focused on Aboriginal issues associated

with the reform of the NSW Aboriginal Culture and Heritage Legislation (the Reform). The

workshop was one of a series of 25 workshops held across NSW coordinated by the

Country, Culture and Heritage Division of the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage

(OEH) in the Department of Premier and Cabinet („the Department‟).The purpose of these

workshops was to seek input from Aboriginal people on the reform.

The workshop was facilitated by Chrissy Grant, an Associate of Markwell Consulting (the

Consultant), an independent Aboriginal consulting business. The Consultant was not

required to undertake an analysis of the information from the forum, rather simply

provide a summary of key discussions and outcomes to the Department. This report is

that summary.

To ensure transparency and accuracy of the information the Consultant provided a draft

summary report to workshop participants for their comment. Comments received have

been incorporated into this report.

OEH is also coordinating 5 roundtable workshops facilitated by independent consultants -

Twyfords. The purpose of these workshops is to seek views from NSW Aboriginal people,

key stakeholders and others on the reform.

The information provided from the workshops will be considered by the Reform Working

Party, Senior OEH Officials and the Minister in developing new culture and heritage

legislation in NSW.


Acronyms

New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSWPWS)

New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Act (NSWNPW Act)

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Board (ACHAB)

Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH)

Country, Culture and Heritage Division (CCHD)

Catchment Management Authority (CMA)

Environment Protection Agency (EPA)

Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA)

Indigenous Coordinating Centre (ICC)

Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC)

Natural Resource Management (NRM)

New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC)

Native Title Services Corporation (NTSCORP)

Natural Resource Management (NRM)

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)


Agenda

DRAFT RUNNING SHEET

ABORIGINAL CULTURE AND HERITAGE REFORM

REGIONAL ABORIGINAL WORKSHOPS - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

9:00 – 9:30 Morning Tea 9:30 – 9:45 Welcome to Country Local Elder 9:45 – 10:15 DVD shown OEH COB RM 10:15 – 11:00 Structure for the Day Facilitator 11:30 – 12:30 Workshop Session Facilitator 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch 13:30 – 14:45 Workshop Session Facilitator 14:45 – 15:00 Summary and Wrap up Facilitator 15:00 Afternoon Tea


Attendees Name Organisation

Corie Taylor CMA

Shannon Taylor ICC

Simon Taylor CMA

Maurice Stewart NSWALC

Charles Lynch Tamworth community member

Fiona Snape Tamworth LALC

Cyril Sampson Tamworth community member

Brian Allen Tamworth community member

Jason Allan Walhallow LALC

Sharon Gibbs Wee Waa community member

Teresa Wenner Wee Waa community member

Robert Horne Gunnedah community member

Shane Allan Quirindi community member

Michael Allan Quirindi community member

Emmanuel Fewquandie OEH

Ernie French Tamworth community member

Brian Tighe Tamworth community member

Trevor French Tamworth community member

Colin Bergan Tamworth community member

Marcos French Tamworth community member

Charles McCarron Tamworth community member (Coledale)

Barry Cain OEH

Cliff Daylight OEH

Welcome to Country

Uncle Cyril Sampson, a Traditional Owner Elder provided participants with a Welcome to

Country. This was followed by introductions with participants providing a statement about

what they hoped to get out of the workshop.


Session 1: The Reform Process

Overview of the Reform Process

Chrissy Grant, Markwell Consulting Associate facilitated the workshop by focussing the

participants on the following topics which was raised by the participants.

The DVD was shown to the participants to provide some background to the reform

process.

The Reform Process – Participant‟s Comments

The participants had the following comments, issues and suggested improvements in

relation to the reform process. As with previous workshops, this group of participants did

not raise issues specifically around the proposed Working Party.

The Reform Process

The Government has not given enough time for community consultation

The Reform Process needs a consensus of all LALCs

The new legislation should encourage farmers to allow Aboriginal people to register sites and

objects on their lands

Participants recommend that the Minister should take nominations of Aboriginal people to sit on

his statutory Advisory Board

New legislation is seen as control and regulation for Government benefit

Aboriginal people are to be acknowledged by LORE and inherent rights

The new legislation needs to recognise and go forward with contemporary culture such as

hunting, gathering, etc

Aboriginal peoples to country must be recognised as an inherent right

The reform process must result in Rigorous Legislation that will benefit ALL Aboriginal people of

NSW

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Body (ACHAB) must be an all Aboriginal membership and

also need other stakeholders from local communities


Session 2: Culture and Heritage – „Setting the Scene‟

Participants were asked what culture and heritage means to them. They identified that

there was tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Their responses are outlined below.

This was an important session to outline what culture and heritage values are important

to Aboriginal people. This also set the scene to focus their thoughts the different types of

heritage and on what they believe should be included in the reformed legislation.

Culture Heritage

Stones and bones Knowledge and language

Lifestyle – hunt, fish and gather as well as

bush tucker and medicines

Stories and Dreaming stories

Our culture is our people and who we are – it‟s

connection to people as well

Dance

Art – both rock and contemporary Song and music

Natural environment Spirituality

Water – underground, rivers, surface Nation boundaries

Our way of life over many generations Natural environment – eg. Water and air

Cultural landscapes that include Aboriginal

places, sacred sites, gender sites, ceremonial

sites, spirituality, and Nation boundaries

Session 3: New Culture and Heritage Legislation – „Getting it Right‟

Participants provided ideas and thoughts on key elements required under new NSW

culture and heritage legislation. This included key components of the existing legislation

that needs to be retained and/or improved and new concepts and elements that the

existing legislation currently does not include.

Participants were asked what is currently protected (or what should be currently

protected) under the existing NSWNPWS legislation versus what should be protected

under new or revised legislation. Protected in this context includes recognised, valued,

protected and managed.

Aboriginal people also strongly believe that Protocols should be embedded in the

legislation. However they are presented, the following items must be part of the

Protocols by which both the Government and Aboriginal people will work together.


Currently Protected Should be Protected

Aboriginal places and sites Mining is all about economies and the impacts

on Aboriginal cultural heritage and the use of

water is damaging. Meaningful partnerships

should be strengthened and made mandatory

for National Parks

Stone and bones Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Body

(ACHAB) must be an all Aboriginal membership

and also need other stakeholders from local

communities

Natural places Options for Aboriginal people to be able to

register sites on private lands and continue to

maintain and hold the intellectual property

rights on the information about those sites

Story places Database – the need to skill Aboriginal

communities to manage their own data

Significant space (ceremony, remains, camping

grounds)

There is inadequate management of Aboriginal

sites and a Regional Assessment process for

Aboriginal significant values should be one

mechanism to address what is „out‟ there to be

protected

Data (AHIMS) Build capacity of communities to take

ownership of National Parks

ALL aspects that are within the areas of

Aboriginal culture and heritage should have full

protection of the law. Also those that work

outside the laws should be punished severely.

No more slap on the wrists laws. GET REAL

LAWS THAT PUNISH OFFENDERS

There is currently no access to private lands

and some National Parks. Aboriginal people

need access to private lands to manage

Aboriginal sites and to collect and gather bush

tucker etc – land tenure issues may need to be

looked at to allow this to happen

Partnerships opportunities across all tiers of

Government

There is no active enforcement of the

legislation and sites are being destroyed –

there MUST be compliance and appropriate

enforcement of legislation for meaningful

protection

Adequate funds to do predictive modelling on

site types

Provision for mitigation of destruction of

Aboriginal sites and negating accumulative

affects

Education and awareness – there‟s a lack of

understanding about Aboriginal cultural


Currently Protected Should be Protected

heritage materials and there should be NO

penalties for the return of these materials

Need to be actively able to manage – not just

weeds – Aboriginal people need to be

resourced with skills and training

Aboriginal people need to be empowered –

particularly local communities

Needs to be recognition of Aboriginal people for

their skills and the knowledge holders

Self determination for Aboriginal communities

to have sign-off on the management/protection

of their heritage – thus empowering local

Aboriginal communities

Aboriginal people and organisations who have

vested interest in that particular site or area

(eg Land Council) should be responsible for

make decision on protecting Aboriginal cultural

and heritage

New NSW culture and heritage legislation

Preamble to the legislation – acknowledge and

recognise Aboriginal Nations – recognise our

inherent cultural heritage rights and obligations

– recognise our specific access to Country

Cultural Heritage is not weed spraying or

removal on private or Govt managed land etc". I

say that based on the perceived notion that

"Aboriginal Green Teams" are the answer to

Aboriginal people being involved in NRM or

working on country addresses social issues in

communities. While there are positives to this

approach, we already know that this type of

activity is another "work for grant funding"

scheme that ceases once the funding dries up.

It is not sustainable and keeps Aboriginal

people in low skilled, low income jobs. I do not

support programs that keep Aboriginal people

disadvantaged while others benefit

State ACHAB members need more Aboriginal

local community input for nomination to

Minister and the process needs to be inclusive

Protection of sites and Aboriginal values should

have blanket protection and blanket

acknowledgement

Protection should have database managed by

communities

Flexibility to be applied on regional level and

local level

Provisions for managing conflict resolution –

Aboriginal people need to be resourced in this

process to be on a level playing field as well as

provisions for mediation process

Protocols acknowledging Aboriginal ownership

and how everyone can work together –

culturally appropriate, clear processes and

Guidelines

Benchmark for Aboriginal sites – ie. Sites

registered vs sites destroyed

Mitigate accumulative affects through Regional

Strategic Assessments for Aboriginal values


New NSW culture and heritage legislation

Duty of Care for land owners for them to do

surveys with local Aboriginal input

Regulations stating the intent of the legislation

and the background of why Aboriginal people

want their heritage protected and managed

Permits addressing consultation timeframes,

notification of interests, interests qualified,

protect interest of small local communities,

establish local Aboriginal Advisory body to have

a say in permits and approvals

Repatriation – including provision for

communities to have cultural materials

returned, and adequate resources for

communities to have capacity to accept and

look after cultural materials

Provisions for meaningful partnerships and

MOU Agreements

Provision for Access and Benefit Sharing on a

wider scale with economic opportunities

Provisions for the Right to Negotiate Self determination for Aboriginal people to be

empowered to make decisions

Consultation timeframes need to be flexible

and needs revision – community priority may

mean that consultation may not be done in the

timeframe

Strong links to other existing and future Acts

which might mean amendments to the Land

Rights Act and NRM Acts (Wildlife species,

Vegetation etc) and some functions will need

resourcing for effective implementation

Penalties for falsifying information need strong

prosecution

Significance criteria is set by local communities

with threshold on site types for access and

management

There has to be harsher penalties for people or

companies that don‟t do the right thing on site

and artefacts

All Aboriginal objects should be “property of

Aboriginal people” not the Crown. More power

should be given to incorporated Aboriginal run

and owned organisations so that have more

say on the process before our sites and

artefacts are completely destroyed


Session 4: Who Speaks for Culture and Heritage?

Participants were asked to identify who speaks for country and who should not speak for

country. In some circumstances there were different views on who should speak for

country. In these cases those people/organisations were placed on both categories.

Importantly, Aboriginal people are indicating local circumstances must be recognised and

prevail. For example some areas Aboriginal have established their own organisations to

speak for their people and country, whereas in other areas people prefer the LALCs to

have a role in speaking for them. Participants believe that it is Aboriginal business and

the right questions need to be asked to work out who are the right people to speak. This

reflects different community capacity levels across the State.

Who should not speak for Country Who should speak for Country

Don‟t allow Government to tell us who can

speak for Country

Terminology must capture all aspects below

and look at previous work done a few years ago

Government such as DAA, Parks, NSWALC and

the LALCs

There is usually more than one voice for who

will come and speak

Native Title bodies should advise who can

speak for country and not do it themselves

Local Aboriginal persons

NPWS Historical evidence to be used particularly

using boundaries for Nations

Elders (by age), knowledge, and community

acceptance

Traditional Owners who are registered

Custodians who represents everyone

Aboriginal Owners

Recognition of people who hold knowledge but

may not be a TO

Partnership priority communities through a

Representative Body – eg. Walgett/Wilcannia

as former COAG projects

Those who have the knowledge and

understanding of the specific industries should

be those that speak on the issues. We should

not welcome companies to our area that wish

to destroy the country our ancestors died on

and for. We need the power to stop invading

companies from destroying our land. Those

who are endorsed by the Aboriginal community

should be the person who speaks for Country


Session 5: How will it work?

Participants were particularly interested in identifying some key elements and principles

for the proposed new independent body. Participants were informed that their views on

how it will work may fall into either inclusion in the legislation and policy design. There are

more than one idea/option of how this might work. These are outlined below.

How will it work?

Cultural Heritage is community ownership and

this has to be strengthened

Specific Aboriginal Organisation (eg. Aboriginal

Heritage Commission) to administer and MUST

have an Aboriginal Director-General but that

this structure should NOT diminish numbers of

Aboriginal staff already in National parks

Limited and constrained for resources –

realigning resources – need to address what it

means for people (volunteers) on the ground

New legislation could strengthen to utilize to full

capacity already existing bodies – such as

LALCs, NSWALC, voting structure,

Regional Partnership model with Technical

Resource Unit with a position to deal with

Aboriginal cultural heritage

Regional ACHAB with members to be

nominated to the State body for that level to be

more representative of Aboriginal people across

NSW

State ACHAB to advise Minister and

Government on ALL cultural heritage matters

Give control back to Aboriginal people

Protocols

Aboriginal people are the primary source of

information on their heritage

Weight needs to be given to Lore is a major

principle that govern who we are

Consultation in good faith with appropriate

timeframes and processes in place

Negotiations terms of consultation process

Local Aboriginal community to be consulted

before any living Aboriginal object is destroyed

by Permit – eg. Destruction of scarred trees

Use Ask First Guidelines (Commonwealth

Guidelines)

Provision for Repatriation with returns from

museums and private collections

Use Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)

process as well as Access and Benefit Sharing

principles as included in international

documents/declarations etc

Continued and revival use of sites as a

celebration of our heritage – eg. Gender sites

as part of school education and learning

Timeframes – commitments, responsibilities

and obligations, reasonable timeframes for

community response, capacity for community

involvement/response, need to avoid confusion

for Aboriginal communities

Address IP rights and copyright issues


Planning

WHAT HAPPENS NOW? WHAT AND HOW DO WE WANT IT TO HAPPEN?

Developer‟s application by accessing to AHIMS

– there is not obligation to do anything further

Incorporate Aboriginal cultural heritage into ALL

Planning processes

Developers determine boundaries around their

development as a minimal area and comes

back again to do the same thing which has an

accumulative affect on Aboriginal significance

across the cultural landscape

Research body incorporated in Government to

research: tourism; NRM values; Aboriginal

cultural heritage significant values across

region; employment opportunities; education

and training at TAFE; economic benefits;

funding opportunities; input into social

programs eg. Juvenile and cultural heritage

projects, and education

Developer pays for next level of data for

records of site types

No compromise on Aboriginal burial places

Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit Build in notification that other sites are in area;

who the develo9per should talk to; should

obtain clarification if surveys have been

conducted in area; It‟s WHEN not IF developers

find significant sites

Minister makes the approval Local Governments and Industries should have

Regional Development Plans up to 10 years

ahead for urban and industrial planning to

inform impact on Aboriginal cultural

significance well in advance

Aboriginal communities to have access to

Regional Development Plans to assist in

determining areas of significance where

development CANNOT go ahead well in

advance

Any activity that will impact on cultural heritage

should have a system in place where „user

pays‟

Funds from the „User Pays‟ systems is used for

community programs – eg. Keeping places,

equipment etc

NPWS – DECCH – Aboriginal LALCs should

have better powers of all aspects of Aboriginal

cultural heritage

Control needs to be given back to the local

Aboriginal people


Session 6: Key Messages and Options

The following session provide participants with the opportunity to provide key

messages to NSW Parliament, Ministers, Reform Working Party, OEH and other key

stakeholders on the culture and heritage reform.

These include comments specific to the reform process, stage 2 consultations, legislation

and policy.

Key Messages

Government needs to be able to encourage

farmers to come on board and allow Aboriginal

people to register cultural heritage sites and

objects on their lands

Government has to ensure that NRM is

intertwined with Aboriginal cultural heritage

practices – plants and animals for bush tucker

and medicinal purposes; water allocation for

management for cultural flows and commercial

purposes; and monitoring mining impacts

Government MUST be mindful that Aboriginal

people have NOT disappeared – we have

adapted and evolved into contemporary times

Government wants to give control of Hospitals

back to local people because they are more in

tune with local problems. The same should be

applied to Aboriginal Culture and Heritage –

GIVE CONTROL BACK TO THE ABORIGINAL

PEOPLE OF NSW

Next Steps

1. Consultant is required to deliver workshop summary report to OEH as soon as

possible

2. Consultant to provide draft summary report to participants for their comments prior to

submitting final report to OEH.

3. Participants did not want their comments to be on behalf of other people.

4. Participants agreed for the summary report to be a public document, including being

placed on the OEH reform website.


Addendum: Participants Comments Post Workshop

Markwell Consulting sent all participants a draft of the Workshop Summary report for

their comments. The following comments were received by participants after the

workshop. They reflect the participant‟s perspectives on the reform. Because they were

provided as „post workshop‟ comments, the Consultant has included them as an

addendum to the Report so not to change the integrity of the workshop discussions and

outcomes. The comments reflected below are verbatim extracts from workshop

participants.

Simon Taylor, Catchment Officer - Aboriginal Communities, Namoi Catchment

Management Authority – Additional Comments

While there is obvious overlap and similarities between NRM and CH, I believe there is a

difference. I‟ve made statements such as "Cultural Heritage is not weed spraying or

removal on private or Govt managed land etc". I say that based on the perceived notion

that "Aboriginal Green Teams" are the answer to Aboriginal people being involved in NRM

or working on country addresses social issues in communities. While there are positives

to this approach, we already know that this type of activity is another "work for grant

funding" scheme that ceases once the funding dries up. It is not sustainable and keeps

Aboriginal people in low skilled, low income jobs. I do not support programs that keep

Aboriginal people disadvantaged while others benefit.

With that said, there is the definite need to have Aboriginal input and involvement in NRM

at the decision making level, not just on the bottom rung doing the jobs that others won't.


Attachment A: Completed Participant Workshop Evaluation Forms











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