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TheNorthern Land Council (NLC) is aland council representing the Aboriginal peoples of theTop End of theNorthern Territory of Australia, with its head office inDarwin.
While the NLC was established in 1974, its origins began in the struggle ofAustralian Aboriginal people for rights to fair wages and land, including thestrike and walk off by theGurindji people atWave Hill cattle station in 1966, as well as otheractivities relating to Indigenous land rights.
The Commonwealth Government ofGough Whitlam set up theAboriginal Land Rights Commission, aRoyal Commission, in February 1973 to inquire into how land rights might be achieved in theNorthern Territory.Justice Woodward's first report in July 1973 recommended that a Northern Land Council and aCentral Land Council be established in order to present to him the views of Aboriginal people.[1]
In response to the report of the Royal Commission a Land Rights Bill was drafted, but theWhitlam government was dismissed before it was passed. TheAboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was eventually passed by theFraser Government on 16 December 1976 and began operation onAustralia Day, that is 26 January 1977.[citation needed]
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 theAboriginal 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.[2]
Kathy Mills was the first woman to be elected to the Northern Land Council.[3]
The most important responsibility of the councils is to consulttraditional 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 onoutstations to settlements of up to 3,000 people.[4]
The Northern Land Council is a representative body with statutory authority under theAboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. It also has responsibilities under theNative Title Act 1993.[5]
It is one of four in the Northern Territory. and the largest; the others are:[5]
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.[6]
The NLC’s jurisdiction covers seven regions: Darwin/ Daly/ Wagait; West Arnhem; East Arnhem; Katherine; Victoria River District (VRD); Ngukurr; and Borroloola/ Barkly.[6]
The head office is located in Darwin.[7]
The NLC's Top End zone is divided into seven regions with regional offices. The head office and Royalties Office are inthe city of Darwin.[7]
Regional offices representing the seven districts are in:[7]
As of October 2022[update]:
Land Rights News is the longest-running Aboriginal newspaper.[15]
In April 1976, the Central Land Council published the first edition ofCentral Australian Land Rights News, which ran until August 1984. In July 1976, the NLC launchedLand Rights News: A Newsletter for Aboriginals and Their Friends. A major goal of these newspapers was not only to provide information to Aboriginal people onland rights issues, but also to correct misinformation, provide in-depth coverage ofnative title issues, and to challenge the stereotypes represented in mainstream newspapers in Australia, and to encourage its readers to take action.[16]
In September 1985 the two land councils pooled their resources to start producingLand Rights News: One Mob, One Voice, One Land (LRN).[16] In 1988, the newspaper won aUNAA Media Peace Award. At that time, the paper was under the editorship of NLC director John Ah Kit and CLC directorPat Dodson.[17] In 1989, it won a print media award.[16]
In 2002, Aboriginal journalist Todd Condie left theKoori Mail after ten years, to work onLand Rights News.[16]
From 2011[18][19] and as of October 2022[update],Land Rights News is published three times a year in two editions: "Central Australia"[15] and "Northern Edition",[20] and remains the longest-running Aboriginal newspaper. It is also the only printed newspaper published in Central Australia.[15]