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Program sets foundation for diverse Native Title discussions by John Paul Janke he program for next month’s National Native Title Conference in Alice Springs has set the foundations for comprehensive discussions covering a diverse range of issues across the native title sector. The Conference - Australia’s largest Indigenous policy gathering - will be held at the Alice Springs Convention Centre from 3-5 June 2013 and has already attracted some 500 registrations from across the country. Delegates representing Indigenous organisations, native title holders and claimants, traditional owners, community groups and native title representative bodies will join a host of representatives from the Federal Court, National Native Title Tribunal, Commonwealth and State government agencies and the academic sector. Through keynotes and plenary speeches, dialogue forums, technical workshops, topical workshops and Indigenous talking circles - delegates and presenters will explore and reflect on two decades of Native Title. This includes sessions and presentations on environmental values; Indigenous land development options; social research for native title; township leasing and communal title; selfdetermination and sovereignty in practice; latest developments and future reforms for water rights; supporting native title into the future: The FaHCSIA Review of Native Title Organisations; and mediation and dispute. One of this year’s conference highlights is a plenary session focusing on 20 years of the role of the Aboriginal & Torres
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The 2012 National Native Title Conference was a huge success with keynote speakers June Oscar and Brian Wyatt in attendance. They are pictured with Chair of the Northern Land Council, Errol Neal. Image supplied
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner featuring former Social Justice Commissioners Mick Gooda, Tom Calma and Mick Dodson. Justice Michael Barker of the Federal Court will also deliver a keynote address on Innovation and Management of Native Title Claims: What have the Last 20 Years Taught Us? The 2013 Mabo Lecture - which is the principal keynote address as part of the annual conference - will be presented by land rights activist and award-winning Aboriginal writer Alexis Wright . The Conference has also attracted noted author and legal scholar Professor Robert A. Williams Jr. from the University of Arizona as the International Keynote Speaker. Professor Williams is an American lawyer and expert in the field of the Federal Indian Law, International Law and Indigenous Peoples Rights.
The Conference’s cultural program includes performance by the Warumungu Men’s Pujjalie Dancers (Tennant Creek), Warren H. Williams, Alice Springs School Children and members of the Black Arm Band. The 14th National Native Title Conference 2013 is convened by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and the Central Land Council (CLC) on the traditional lands of the Central Arrernte people, the native title holders of the Alice Springs area. The Conference is an opportunity for a diverse range of native title stakeholders from across the country to come together to discuss and highlight the future of native title practice, policy and law. To view the full conference program or for more information – or to register - visit: www.aiatsis. gov.au
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