1 February 2023
NSWALC has prepared a brief Guide for Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs) outlining key changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) (ALRA) made by the Aboriginal Land Rights Amendment Bill 2022 (Bill).…
NSWALC welcomes businesses giving workers a choice on January 26 public holiday
26 January 2023
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) welcomes and supports a growing number of employers giving their employees the choice of working on the gazetted January 26 public holiday.
Before Christmas, NSWALC CEO Yuseph Deen wrote to major ASX companies asking them to consider giving their employees the choice of working on the January 26 public holiday, and instead taking the time off later at a mutually agreeable time.…
NSWALC Annual Report Now Available Online
20 January 2023
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) is pleased to inform the Land Rights Network that the NSWALC Annual Report 2021-2022 is now available online (see below).
The NSWALC Annual Report was presented by The Hon. Ben Franklin MLC, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs to the NSW Parliament on 21 December 2022.…
Looking back on 2022
23 December 2022
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council thanks the Land Rights Network for another successful year, as we worked together to support and uplift our communities across a challenging 2022.
The NSWALC would like to reflect on some achievements across the year, where we continued our advocacy for the interests and rights of Aboriginal people in NSW; supported the Network in strengthening partnerships and connecting with economic, business and employment opportunities; and continued our work as a lead organisation in numerous reforms and implementing the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in NSW.…
Planning law reforms to provide increased options for LALCs
20 December 2022
In 2019 the State Environmental Planning Policy (Aboriginal Land) 2019 (Aboriginal Land SEPP) came into effect.
The 2019 Aboriginal Land SEPP:
- Enabled the making of Development Delivery Plans (DDPs) for land owned by LALCs and identified the process for approving and amending DDPs, including approval by the Minister;
- Required a consent authority to consider a DDP when assessing a development application made by a LALC;
- Declared certain development on land owned by a LALC ‘regionally significant’ so that planning decisions were made by the relevant regional planning panel rather than the local council.
Best Wishes to the Land Rights Network and NSWALC closedown
12 December 2022
NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) would like to wish all Local Aboriginal Land Council Members, Boards and Staff a happy, healthy and safe holiday break with your families and loved ones.
2022 has been another challenging year as we navigated the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and serious flood issues across the state.…
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Protection needed now
9 November 2022
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) has urged all MPs of the current Parliament to leave a lasting legacy and support the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage (Culture is Identity) Bill 2022.
This follows the handing down yesterday (Tuesday) of an Upper House Inquiry into the Culture is Identity Bill, which found that new, modernised and standalone legislation for the recognition, protection, conservation and preservation of Aboriginal cultural heritage in NSW was “both necessary and long overdue.”…
NSWALC welcomes Upper House support for cultural fishing
8 November 2022
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) has welcomed the report, handed down yesterday, into the commencement of the Fisheries Management Amendment Act 2009.
“It’s simple. The NSW Government must immediately end the prosecutions of Aboriginal people exercising their cultural fishing rights.…
Outcry over cultural fishing crackdown
3 November 2022
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) and NTSCORP Limited (NTSCORP) condemn the proposed changes to NSW fisheries management legislation and the continual criminalisation of Aboriginal Peoples’ fundamental human right to practise our culture and fish in accordance with our laws and customs.…
Support grows for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage March
27 October 2022
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) supports next month’s Aboriginal Cultural Heritage march.
The march will be held at Parliament House on 8 November 2022, to coincide with the handing down of the report by an Upper House Inquiry into the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage (Culture is Identity) Bill 2022.…