The Central Land Council (CLC) is a

land council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

that represents the

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of the southern half of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern Territory, and covers the

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

region. The head office is located in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

History

The council has its origins in the struggle of

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

people for rights to fair wages and land. This included the strike and walk off by the

Gurindji people The Gurindji are an Aboriginal Australian people of northern Australia, southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory's Victoria River region. Language and culture Gurindji is one of the eastern Ngumbin languages, in the Ngumbin-Yapa s ...

Wave Hill Wave Hill is a estate in the Hudson Hill section of Riverdale in the Bronx, New York City. Wave Hill currently consists of public horticultural gardens and a cultural center, all situated on the slopes overlooking the Hudson River, with exp ...

cattle station in 1966. The Commonwealth Government of

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

set up the

Aboriginal Land Rights Commission The Aboriginal Land Rights Commission, also known as the Woodward Royal Commission, was a Royal Commission that existed from 1973 to 1974 with the purpose to inquire into appropriate ways to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Terr ...

, a Royal Commission, in February 1973 to inquire into how land rights might be achieved in the

. Justice Woodward's first report in July 1973 recommended that a Central Land Council and a

Northern Land Council The Northern Land Council (NLC) is a land council representing the Aboriginal peoples of the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia, with its head office in Darwin. While the NLC was established in 1974, its origins began in the strugg ...

be established in order to present to him the views of Aboriginal people. In response to the report of the Royal Commission a Land Rights Bill was drafted, but the Whitlam government was dismissed before it was passed. The ''

Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...

'' (ALRA) was eventually passed by the Fraser government on 16 December 1976, and began operation on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

(26 January) 1977. This Act established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could, for the first time, claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. In effect it allowed title to be transferred of most of the

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...

lands and the opportunity to claim other land not owned, leased or being used by someone else. The passing of the ALRA also gave statutory powers and responsibilities to land councils.

Background and description

The Central Land Council is one of four Land Councils in the Northern Territory. The

, covering the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

, is the largest, followed by CLC, with the

Tiwi Land Council The Tiwi Land Council is a land council in the Northern Territory of Australia established in 1978 to represent Aboriginal Australians living on the Tiwi Islands. It was established following requests by the Tiwi people for recognition of thei ...

, covering Bathurst and Melville Islands north of Darwin, and

Anindilyakwa Land Council Anindilyakwa may refer to: * Anindilyakwa people, an ethnic group of Australia * Anindilyakwa language, an Australian language * Anindilyakwa Indigenous Protected Area Anindilyakwa may refer to: * Anindilyakwa people, an ethnic group of Australia ...

, covering

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba'' meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "Large Island" in ...

in the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...

, much smaller entities. Until 1998, the land councils operated as statutory authorities, and they continue to operate in accordance with the ''

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...

'' (ALRA). They are also representative bodies with responsibilities under the '' Native Title Act 1993''.PDF
/ref> The Central Land Council region covers of remote, rugged and often inaccessible areas. There are 18,000 Aboriginal people from 15 different Aboriginal language groups in

. The region is divided into nine regions based on these language groups.

Aims and functions

Its aims include: * Helping

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

lodge native title claims and helping to resolve disputes * Consulting with landowners on mining activity, employment, development and other land use proposals * Protecting

Aboriginal culture Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. Over 300 languages and other groupings ...

and

sacred sites Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...

* Assisting with economic projects on Aboriginal land * Promoting community development and improving service delivery * Running the permit system for visitors to Aboriginal land

''Land Rights News''

In April 1976, the CLC published the first edition of ''Central Australian Land Rights News'', which ran until August 1984. In July 1976, the

(NLC) launched ''Land Rights News: A Newsletter for Aboriginals and Their Friends''. A major goal of these newspapers was not only to provide information to Aboriginal people on land rights issues, but also to correct misinformation, provide in-depth coverage of native title issues, and to challenge the stereotypes represented in mainstream newspapers in Australia, and to encourage its readers to take action.PDF
/ref> In September 1985 the two land councils pooled their resources to start producing ''Land Rights News: One Mob, One Voice, One Land'' (''LRN''). In 1988, the newspaper won special citation in the

UNAA Media Peace Awards The United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) is the official non-profit, non-government, membership-based, organisation in Australia working on behalf of the United Nations core body to promote its overall aims and ideals, and equally s ...

. The judges' report said "Land Rights News serves the national Aboriginal community by keeping it informed of events and achievements and sustaining the community's spirit. It also represents a brave attempt to close the communications gap between Aboriginal and white communities. For that, it deserves special praise". At that time, the paper was under the editorship of NLC director John Ah Kit and CLC director

Pat Dodson Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian politician representing Western Australia in the Australian Senate. He is a Yawuru elder from Broome, Western Australia. He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal R ...

. In the same year, it won a Print Newspaper Award from the

Australian Human Rights Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

. In 2002, Aboriginal journalist Todd Condie left the ''

Koori Mail The ''Koori Mail'' is an Australian newspaper written and owned by Indigenous Australians since 1991. It is published fortnightly in printed form and electronic copies are available. Owned by five community-based Aboriginal organisations based ...

'' after ten years, to work on ''Land Rights News''. From 2011 and , ''Land Rights News'' is published three times a year in two editions: "Central Australia" and "Northern Edition", and remains the longest-running Aboriginal newspaper. It is also the only printed newspaper published in Central Australia.

Office locations

the office locations of the CLC are in the following locations (approx. north to south): *

Kalkaringi Kalkaringi (formerly Wave Hill Welfare Settlement, also spelt Kalkarindji ) is a town and locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, located on the Buntine Highway about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south ...

Lajamanu Lajamanu, formerly known as Hooker Creek Native Settlement or just Hooker Creek, is a small town of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located around from Katherine and approximately from Darwin. At the 2016 Australian census, Lajama ...

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...

* Alparra *

Yuendumu Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a t ...

* Ti Tree * Atitjere *

Papunya Papunya ( Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art ...

(Head Office) *

Mutitjulu Mutitjulu is an Aboriginal Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the eastern end of Uluṟu (also known as Ayers Rock). It is named after a knee-shaped water-filled rock hole at the base of Uluṟu, and is loc ...

Communities and councils

Arrernte Council Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australia ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Aboriginal land councils Native title in Australia Aboriginal land rights in Australia Organisations serving Indigenous Australians 1976 establishments in Australia Aboriginal organisations in the Northern Territory