workshop summary report reform of nsw aboriginal culture ... · reform of nsw aboriginal culture...
TRANSCRIPT
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 2
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 3
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.
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 4
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)
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 5
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 6
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.
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 7
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 8
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.
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 9
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 10
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 11
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 12
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 13
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 14
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
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 15
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.
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 16
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.
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 17
Attachment A: Completed Participant Workshop Evaluation Forms
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 18
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 19
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 20
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 21
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 22
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 23
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 24
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 25
Tamworth Workshop Report – NSW Heritage Legislative Reform Community Consultations (Markwell Consulting) Page 26