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.
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 lands and the opportunity to claim other land not owned, leased or being used by someone else.[citation needed]
The Northern Land Council was established in 1974.[1]
Kathy Mills was the first woman to be elected to the Northern Land Council.[2]
The most important responsibility of the councils is to consult traditional owners and other Aboriginal people who have an interest in Aboriginal land about land use, land management and access by external tourism, mining and other businesses. This sometimes involves facilitating group negotiation and consensus-building among scores of traditional Aboriginal landowner groups, and many other affected Aboriginal people.[citation needed]
Many Aboriginal people in the Northern Land Council's area live in the major towns. As of 2012[update] there were about 200 communities scattered over Aboriginal land in the NLC's area, ranging in size from small family groups on outstations to settlements of up to 3,000 people.[3]
The Northern Land Council is a representative body with statutory authority under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. It also has responsibilities under the Native Title Act 1993.[4]
It is one of four in the Northern Territory. and the largest; the others are:[4]
The Full Council is the major decision-making body, as of 2021[update] consisting of 78 elected members and five co-opted women, making 83 members in total. There is also an Executive Council and Regional Councils.[5]
The NLC’s jurisdiction covers seven regions: Darwin/ Daly/ Wagait; West Arnhem; East Arnhem; Katherine; Victoria River District (VRD); Ngukurr; and Borroloola/ Barkly.[5]
NLC Chair is Samuel Bush-Blanasi, who has served seven terms on the council, three of those as chairman. He graduated from Kormilda College in Darwin, and is a talented artist. He was a co-founder of the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists and of Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association.[7]
Joe Martin-Jard was appointed acting CEO on 16 July 2021, and has been CEO since 22 December 2021. He was formerly CEO of the Central Land Council, and before that had worked for the federal government as well as in the private sector.[8]
John Bugy Bugy Christophersen (c.1951–2021), who represented the Kakadu area within the West Arnhem region[5] and was previously a longtime activist for Indigenous rights, died in April 2021, aged 69. He had been an organiser of the convoy that went to Sydney to join the 40,000-strong protest at the 1988 Bicentenary of Australia, and became the vice-president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples in 1990. Offices closed as a mark of respect at his passing.[11] He was also the biological father of athlete and politician Nova Peris, although she had no contact with him between the ages of 2 and 16.[12]
Kathy MillsOAM (c.1935 – 24 April 2022) was the first woman to be elected to the Northern Land Council.[2]
Land Rights News is the longest-running Aboriginal newspaper.[13]
In April 1976, the Central Land Council 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.[14]
In September 1985 the two land councils pooled their resources to start producing Land Rights News: One Mob, One Voice, One Land (LRN).[14] In 1988, the newspaper won a UNAA Media Peace Award. At that time, the paper was under the editorship of NLC director John Ah Kit and CLC director Pat Dodson.[15] In 1989, it won a print media award.[14]
From 2011[16][17] and as of October 2022[update], Land Rights News is published three times a year in two editions: "Central Australia"[13] and "Northern Edition",[18] and remains the longest-running Aboriginal newspaper. It is also the only printed newspaper published in Central Australia.[13]
^"NLC Chief Executive Officer". Northern Land Council. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Central Land Council (Australia); Northern Territory Land Councils (Australia), "Land Rights News"(catalogue entry), Trove, Central Land Council for the three Northern Territory Land Councils, ISSN1325-0140
^"All documents". Northern Land Council. 1 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.