The Indigenous Land Corporation: a new approach to land acquisition and land management?

Abstract

The Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) is a relatively new Commonwealth statutory authority. Although it commenced operations on 5 June 1995, it has only recently started its functional operations of land acquisition and management. However, it is new not only in the sense of its short operational existence, but also in the unique policy mechanisms enshrined in its enabling legislation that aim to provide better outcomes in Indigenous land acquisition and land management. This Discussion Paper explores those unique policy mechanisms and contrasts them with past Commonwealth policies and practices of Indigenous land acquisition and management. It is argued that notwithstanding these mechanisms, the potential for success for the ILC lies in its ability to substantially address long-standing issues in Indigenous land acquisition and land management. Since the early 1970s a number of Commonwealth agencies have been charged with policy and program responsibility for Indigenous land acquisition and each institution has displayed a comparatively different approach. We suggest that the role of land acquisition as a measure designed to promote policies of self-determination and self-management for Indigenous Australians has rarely been clearly defined. There has been continual shifting between cultural, social and economic objectives; some approaches have focused purely on rural and remote acquisitions, while others have allowed urban land purchase.

The paper demonstrates the combined outcome of market acquisition programs and land rights legislation, noting that it is the latter which has been most successful in addressing Indigenous aspirations to land. More than 15 per cent of the Australian continent is currently under the control of Indigenous interests. Notably, most of this land is located in the rangelands and a large proportion is marginal, overgrazed and degraded, and requires significant financial commitment to restore. The extent and type of land that makes up the Indigenous estate raises significant policy implications for the ILC as one of its major functions is to assist Indigenous people to manage their land regardless of whether that land was acquired by the ILC or another agency or granted through land rights or other laws.