Strategic Plan

Transcription

1 NSW ABoriginal land council Strategic Plan DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION

2 The NSW Aboriginal Land Council is seeking feedback on this consultation draft of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council Strategic Plan Feedback can be provided until 6 November 2017 by: policy@alc.org.au Website: Post: PO Box 1125, Parramatta, NSW, 2124 Phone: NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft 1

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chairperson s Foreword 3 Chief Executive Officer s Foreword 4 The Context For This Plan 5 Who We Are And What We Will Achieve 8 Goal 1. Protect Our Culture And Heritage 9 Goal 2. Pursue Our Full Land Rights 10 Goal 3. Pursue Economic Independence And Prosperity For Our Peoples 11 Goal 4: Support Our Peoples 12 Goal 5: Secure Our Future 13 How This Plan Works 14 Overview Annual Supplement 2017/18 Financial Year 15 Strategic Plan Summary 17 2 NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft

4 CHAIRPERSON S FOREWORD This Strategic Plan renews NSWALC. Land and Water Rights remains central to this Council; reacquiring our lands and waters is the heart of our future. Aboriginal peoples are the traditional owners of all land and water; nothing has or will change this. NSWALC was established in 1977 with the issuing of demands for the restoration of our Land Rights. NSWALC remains inspired by those demands. With this Strategic Plan, we add a new demand: that there be a process for establishing a Treaty with Aboriginal peoples. Forty years on from our establishment, NSWALC has made remarkable gains but much more remains to be done. NSWALC must renew itself to achieve full Land and Water Rights and to establish a strong and enduring future for Aboriginal peoples. Land and Water Rights must be an inheritance not just a support for our system. Otherwise, forty years from now Aboriginal peoples will once again have little to show for what they once had. The great achievements we have made show us not just the challenges in fully achieving our Rights but the challenges that our success brings. We must significantly enhance our economic and social wellbeing but we must not surrender the land and water we have reacquired to achieve this; nor must we allow others to think that this is what we should or will do. We cannot ignore where economic circumstances or government programs are not delivering for Aboriginal peoples. At the same time, we cannot allow this to force us to surrender our land or water to overcome these failures. Our lands and waters have great economic value. When that value is realised it must be our choice to do so and full value must remain with us. When others gain from our lands and waters, it must be on our terms and those terms must enhance our future not sacrifice it. We must acknowledge our strength: 120 Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs) which connect us to our 23,000 members and, through them, to all 230,000 Aboriginal peoples in NSW. We must not let our diversity divide us or allow us to be divided. NSWALC will work with all LALCs to maximise our strength. We have a strong agreement among us about how we govern ourselves through our nine regions. We have kept our cultural diversity and can use it to build together a better future that enhances our diversity through being strong together. The Council is setting an ambitious agenda to secure a better future. It is our own agenda. It is set by us in consultation with our members and we will lead its implementation by example. It is, respectfully, for others to follow as well. Being successful will require us - NSWALC, LALCs, members and Aboriginal peoples - to walk together and to enable others in the community to join us. We are all custodians of our lands and waters. NSWALC embraces its leadership role in this journey. It will fulfil it in partnership with those it walks with. Where it exercises its leadership responsibilities, it will do so solely for the future benefit of all Aboriginal peoples. The renewed NSWALC is an integral part of the lives and futures of Aboriginal peoples. It is not separable from them. Roy Ah-See Chairperson NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft 3

5 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER S FOREWORD Our organisation has the capability and determination to meet the challenges the renewal of NSWALC places on it. The staff of NSWALC have demonstrated they have the values necessary to achieve the vision for Aboriginal peoples in NSW. The organisation has a strong track record of delivering what has been asked of it. This is the foundation we will use to implement the new Strategic Plan. For the Strategic Plan to drive successful renewal, NSWALC must: work in partnership with the network of LALCs. We must also strengthen the support from and engagement with our members and Aboriginal peoples. The network and membership are our key sources of strength. We need to work together. We must use our diversity to try new things, to learn from each other, to identify where opportunities are available for us to succeed well, to identify where acting together is essential, to identify where the needs of some require us to work together. NSWALC must provide the balance that maintains diversity but realises the benefits of our collective size and experience. demonstrate it is the preeminent body to advance Aboriginal interests. This requires us, in partnership with LALCs, to take on the full range of leadership, advocacy and influencing roles that are required of NSWALC: across all levels of government with others in the community; with non-government and private sectors. build capability to work in the new ways the Strategic Plan requires. The Strategic Plan envisages an expanded range of activities that NSWALC will undertake. We will need to develop the skills to take these on and we will need the ability to work with others in the interim to ensure that opportunities are not lost as our capabilities are built. be increasingly proactive. It needs to be able to step in to work with communities to overcome challenges, rather than wait until there are no other options. provide the policies and management necessary to grow the Land Rights as an inheritance for future Aboriginal people. We need to manage the use of our assets so that they serve our initiatives to improve outcomes for Aboriginal peoples. James Christian Chief Excutive Officer 4 NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft

6 THE CONTEXT FOR THIS PLAN This is the consultation draft of the NSWALC Strategic Plan for 2018 to It has been approved by the Council for consultation with our membership and our community. It will replace the Strategic Plan for 2013 to Like its predecessor, this Plan draws on the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) (ALRA). It will, with its annual suppliments, serve as the NSWALC Community, Land and Business Plan for the purposes of Part 7, Division 5 of the ALRA. It reflects the purposes of the Act as set out in Section 3 of the ALRA, namely to: provide land rights for Aboriginal persons in New South Wales; provide for representative Aboriginal Land Councils in New South Wales; vest land in those Councils; provide for the acquisition of land, and the management of land and other assets and investments, by or for those Councils and the allocation of funds to and by those Councils; provide for the provision of community benefits schemes by or on behalf of those Councils. It reflects the Objects of the Council as set out in Section 105 of the ALRA, namely to: improve, protect and foster the best interests of Aboriginal persons within New South Wales; and relieve poverty, sickness, suffering, distress, misfortune, destitution and helplessness of Aboriginal persons within New South Wales. It takes into consideration the functions of the Council as set out in Section 106 of the ALRA, namely: Land Acquisition, Oversight of Local Aboriginal Land Councils, Policy and Advice, Administration of Statutory Accounts, Aboriginal Culture and Heritage and Financial Stewardship.

7 The ALRA recognised the on-going effects of the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples in NSW. It was underpinned by the necessity to provide Aboriginal peoples with economic independence and with compensation for past injustice. It established a scheme embodying the principles of self-determination and compensation by providing: mechanisms to make claims to limited classes of Crown Land. a Fund to support economic development, the purchase of land on the open market and self-determination through a network of representative land councils. The Fund is administered by NSWALC and was resourced with an amount equal to 7.5 per cent of land taxes each year for a time limited period of 15 years. Successive Councils have nurtured the Fund over the last 35 years. Since Government contributions ceased 20 years ago, Councils have grown the Fund s capital while also funding the operations of NSWALC and the network of 120 Local Aboriginal Councils. This is a remarkable achievement and the current Council and its successors have an obligation to continue this stewardship. However, it is clear to the current Council that effective stewardship of the Fund alone cannot be the basis for delivering on the longterm vision we must have for Aboriginal peoples. Councils will need to make decisions in recognition that: without new sources of income, the Fund s ability to grow is precarious as the impact of the 2007 Financial Crisis shows us. the fund needs to be an exemplar of our self-determination. It is Aboriginal funds, managed by Aboriginal people for the benefit of future generations of Aboriginal peoples. the Fund can be a driver for NSWALC and LALC initiatives, but its overwhelming purpose must be as a long term beneficial resource for all Aboriginal peoples in NSW. It must be clearly built into a growing inheritance to future generations.

8 The Council used the Strategic Plan 2013 to 2017 to set out a long-term vision that is carried into this Plan. Over the next 25 years, the Council and the land rights network will be thriving by becoming highly prosperous and self-sufficient while remaining culturally strong, well governed and democratically accountable to our people. We will have fostered a deep spirit of intergenerational custodianship of our land and our people. We will have developed the economic independence and social equality of our people. We will have provided leadership for the strengthening of our culture, identity and languages. We will have achieved this through working together in unity as the Aboriginal peoples of NSW, and through reconciled, friendly, reciprocal relationships and partnerships with other peoples of NSW, Australia and the world. Over all this: NSWALC renewal is inspired by its original aims. We will maintain their spirit and intent as circumstances change. We add to those demands our demand for a Treaty that enshrines and enhances them. NSWALC will never take a step back from its original aims. This land is our land; it was never given up and it will never cease to be our land. Our land is us; it embodies our heritage, our culture and our future generations inheritance. NSWALC Aims Adopted at The Black Theatre Conference, October 1-3, 1977 We demand that all Aboriginal land at present held by the NSW Aboriginal Land Trust be transferred immediately to the NSWALC until such times as the deeds and title can be handed back to the local Aboriginal community in perpetuity. We demand that the title to all sacred sites now gazetted and those in future claims by Aborigines be deeded in perpetuity to the NSWALC. We further demand that the National Parks and Wildlife Department act immediately to transfer all titles and management of sacred sites to the NSW Aboriginal Land Council. We further demand that funds presently used by these bodies be directed immediately to the NSWALC to carry out effective administration. We demand title to all areas of traditional and sacred significance. These areas to be determined by claims by local Aboriginal communities. We demand an immediate freeze on all Crown land in NSW until all claims can be researched in advance by Aboriginal communities. We demand a land base adequate to meet Aboriginals social, cultural and economic needs be restored to the Aboriginal people from the existing Crown land. We demand that all rights to mineral and natural resources be inalienably retained in the ownership title. We demand that, for the loss of the rest of this land and for continued social deprivation that a significant compensation fund be set up. We demand that the present Budget allocation for Aboriginals be taken out of the political arena and be free from cutbacks and alterations at the whims of government, in order to develop Aboriginal aims. This NSWALC will make every effort to talk to and work with all Aboriginal communities to assert just rights and aims. We will work to ensure that every Aboriginal group and community has a fair and just representation on the NSWALC. That Kooris have the right to visit sacred and important places to camp, collect wood, to hunt and fish anywhere freely NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft 7

9 WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE WILL ACHIEVE OUR DESTINATION Beyond survival to a future for Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales in which our people are culturally rich, politically strong, economically self-reliant and live our lives to our full potential. OUR PURPOSE We are a democratically-elected voice to empower all Aboriginal peoples. We provide strong leadership, support and advocacy for Aboriginal Land Rights and the Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales. OUR VALUES We value All cultures and peoples to guide us in our decisions and actions Culturally-strong leadership Self-determination by Aboriginal peoples The power of Land Rights to unify Aboriginal peoples and to strengthen partnerships OUR GOALS The goals we will advance through this Strategic Plan are: 1. Protect our culture and heritage 2. Pursue our full Land and Water Rights 3. Pursue economic independence and prosperity for our peoples 4. Support our people 5. Secure our future 8 NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft

10 GOAL 1. PROTECT OUR CULTURE AND HERITAGE WHY THIS GOAL IS IMPORTANT We must ensure that our future generations can draw on the strength of who we are as Aboriginal peoples. This is our first goal. It is what gives strength and value to our other goals. It is why our lands and waters are central to us. It is why we have never surrendered them and why we never will. It is why our economic and social wellbeing is paramount as our peoples need this to fully engage with their culture and heritage. It is why we must create a secure future so our culture and heritage endures to give strength to our descendants. WHAT WE AIM TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS GOAL We will maximise achievement of the culture and heritage priorities of our members and peoples in ways that: protect and make our culture and heritage stronger; help future generations know who they are; enable future generations to draw on their culture and heritage to make their lives better and fulfilling.

11 GOAL 2. PURSUE OUR FULL LAND AND WATER RIGHTS WHY THIS GOAL IS IMPORTANT We have a responsibility to our forebears and our future generations to ensure that we see the return of our lands and waters. Land and water are of spiritual, social, cultural and economic importance to Aboriginal peoples. We cannot and will not ignore our responsibility to reacquire and ensure Aboriginal peoples access to their lands and waters. Equally, we must ensure that lands and waters are well managed so as to protect the vital importance they have to Aboriginal peoples. WHAT WE AIM TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS GOAL We will maximise: the amount of land and water that is in Aboriginal ownership, control and management. the social, cultural and economic outcomes from our lands and waters. In conjunction with this we will build enduring capability to protect Aboriginal interests in land and water under Aboriginal ownership, control and/or management.

12 GOAL 3. PURSUE ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE AND PROSPERITY FOR OUR PEOPLES WHY THIS GOAL IS IMPORTANT We must ensure that our peoples restore their economic independence and become prosperous. Restoring economic independence for Aboriginal peoples is essential for fully achieving Land Rights. Aboriginal peoples need economic independence and prosperity to fully protect and benefit from the land they have reacquired and their culture and heritage. Economic prosperity provides better lives now and an increased inheritance for descendants. Economic independence protects what has been won under Land Rights; Aboriginal peoples must not be in a position where their economic needs force us to contemplate sacrificing land. WHAT WE AIM TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS GOAL Our broad aim under this goal is to grow economic prosperity and independence for Aboriginal peoples and for LALCs through: increased capability to undertake or be part of business ventures maximising the number of employment opportunities these ventures generate for Aboriginal peoples. a larger and more prudentially secure Statutory Fund that has the ability to continue to grow and does so in ways that: provide an enhanced inheritance for our future generations; and Can drive NSWALC and LALCs initiatives that enable us to achieve our long term vision. Initially, we aim to address three immediate priority areas where Aboriginal peoples must be able to enhance their economic well-being and where NSWALC has serious concerns about what has been achieved for Aboriginal peoples to date. We will establish: a land development and construction capacity. a social and affordable housing capacity. an employment brokerage capacity NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft 11

13 GOAL 4: SUPPORT OUR PEOPLES WHY THIS GOAL IS IMPORTANT We must improve the lives of our peoples. Ensuring the social wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples must accompany achieving full Land Rights and economic independence. Without social wellbeing, reacquiring our land and achieving economic independence will be hollow and will undermine our achievements. We must also ensure that improving the social wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples is not seen by ourselves, the general community or governments as being solely our responsibility now that we have access to our lands waters and to compensation. Our lands and waters must not be made to be the answer to every challenge Aboriginal peoples face. WHAT WE AIM TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS GOAL Our broad aim under this goal is to enable growing social wellbeing and employment for Aboriginal peoples. There are actions that we can take ourselves to achieve this but we must also focus on ensuring equitable access to the resources and opportunities, including employment opportunities, that are available to others in the community and for that access to be in ways that recognise Aboriginal culture and values. In pursuing this goal we will continue to: advocate for the rights of our peoples. build the capacity of our members and peoples. provide support for our peoples in need. 12 NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft

14 GOAL 5: SECURE OUR FUTURE WHY THIS GOAL IS IMPORTANT We have stewardship responsibilities to ensure that a stronger system is handed to the next generation. The other goals of this Strategic Plan are essential to providing Aboriginal peoples with a pathway to a secure future but they are not sufficient. We need to underpin our Strategic Plan with actions that are prudent and future orientated. WHAT WE AIM TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS GOAL We will build the confidence that the long-term future for NSWALC and the LALC network is secure and that it will continue to deliver for future generations of Aboriginal peoples. To do this we will: work to achieve a treaty for Aboriginal peoples. continue to engage our youth and membership. continue to support and foster a culture and system of good governance and continual improvement. develop a compliance and regulatory framework which actively recognises and responds to performance.

15 HOW THIS PLAN WORKS NSWALC is using this Strategic Plan to drive its renewal. To that end, the Plan is not a list of actions to be undertaken sometime over the next five years. It will sit along side a Planning Framework the Council has adopted that will: regularly identify the best actions to achieve the plan. drive its ability to do more with what it has gained to ensure a strong and secure future. enhance its accountability and responsiveness to Aboriginal peoples. Key features of the Planning Framework are: Annual supplements to set out actions to be undertaken each year to advance the Strategic Plan. These supplements will form part of NSWALCs Community Land and Business Plan and will be directly linked to the NSWALC budget. Preparation of annual supplements will incorporate consultation with members and community on what they see as important for the coming year. Actions will be prioritised for inclusion within an annual supplement by the Council taking into account how they maximise achievement of the Strategic Plan s aims and objectives. ensure that, at a minimum, they do not deplete the long-run growth of the Statutory Fund. All actions will have indicators that show how its success is measured against the overall aims of the relevant goals and specific objectives that it pursues. The achievements against annual supplement strategies will be reported on annually. As a transition to this new strategic planning cycle for the financial year, the initial strategic plan suppliement is provided over the following pages. 14 NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft

16 Overview Annual Supplement Financial Year 1 Januuary July 2018 GOAL 1. PROTECT AND PROMOTE OUR CULTURE AND HERITAGE Our strategies NSWALC will continue to strongly advocate for culture and heritage legislation that builds on Aboriginal Land Rights and provides genuine control and decision making to Aboriginal peoples regarding culture and heritage and proper protection for Aboriginal culture and heritage. Timeframe GOAL 2. PURSUE OUR FULL LAND AND WATER RIGHTS Our strategies NSWALC will continue to pursue the return of land to Aboriginal peoples and will lodge land claims and support the return of land through Aboriginal Land Agreements in accordance with the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW). NSWALC will continue to review land claim refusals and pursue appeals where appropriate. Timeframe NSWALC will build a GIS mapping tool, to be made available to the Aboriginal Land Council network, to inform and empower strategic decision making regarding land. 1 July 2018 GOAL 3. PURSUE ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE AND PROSPERITY FOR OUR PEOPLES Our strategies NSWALC will continue to implement the NSWALC Economic Development Policy to support LALCs in pursuing economic development opportunities. NSWALC will continue to implement the NSWALC Economic Development Policy to explore opportunities in the resource development sector. Timeframe NSWALC will undertake exploratory work to establish a land development and construction capacity. 1 July 2018 NSWALC will undertake exploratory work to establish a social and affordable housing capacity 1 July 2018 NSWALC will undertake exploratory work to establish an employment brokerage capacity 1 July 2018 NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft 15

17 GOAL 4. SUPPORT OUR PEOPLES Our strategies NSWALC will continue to represent and advocate for the interests and rights of Aboriginal peoples in NSW. Freddy Fricke Scholarship NSWALC will provide financial assistance to Aboriginal students to undertake study in a discipline at university. NSWALC Community Fund NSWALC will continue to provide grants to less advantaged LALCs for land acquisition and land management purposes. NSWALC Funeral Fund NSWALC will continue to provide funeral assistance grants to support bereaved Aboriginal families. The scheme is uncapped, with NSWALC responding to the demand for funeral assistance from year to year. NSWALC Regional Grants NSWALC will make available small grants in each NSWALC region for the following purposes: a. For assisting Aboriginal persons to participate in arts, crafts and sporting activities; b. To encourage participation in and the maintenance of contemporary and traditional cultural life of the Aboriginal community; c. For promoting understanding of and respect for Aboriginal culture; and d. For supporting personal development opportunities for Aboriginal people. NSWALC State wide grants NSWALC will make available State wide grants for organisations and events that have state wide Aboriginal participation and are of state wide significance for Aboriginal peoples in NSW. The events must support and promote Aboriginal culture and sporting achievement. Timeframe GOAL 5. SECURE OUR FUTURE Our strategies NSWALC will work toward establishing a Treaty process in NSW. NSWALC will continue to provide support for the effective and efficient operation of LALCs. Timeframe 1 July 2018 NSWALC will continue to engage members and youth through Our Mob and social media. Review the NSWALC Capacity Development Plan and commence actions within the revised NSWALC Capacity Development Plan. 1 July NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draftt

18 Strategic Plan Summary Foreword With this strategic plan the Council of NSWALC is setting an ambitious agenda to secure our future. It gives effect to our obligations to our forebears and is inspired by the demands for Land Rights made at NSWALC s formation. To those demands we now add our demand for a Treaty that enshrines and enhances them. Aboriginal peoples are the traditional owners of all land and water; nothing has or will change this. The Council will consolidate our gains of the last forty years. It will use the consolidation to expand the achievement of our Land Rights and to build a better future for the generations that will succeed us. OUR DESTINATION Beyond survival to a future for Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales in which our people are culturally rich, politically strong, economically self-reliant and live our lives to our full potential. OUR PURPOSE We are the democratically-elected voice to empower all Aboriginal peoples. We provide strong leadership, support and advocacy for Aboriginal Land Rights and the Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales. WE VALUE All cultures and peoples to guide us in our decisions and actions. Culturally-strong leadership. Self-determination by Aboriginal peoples. The power of Land Rights to unify Aboriginal peoples and to strengthen partnerships. NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft 17

19 Our Goals & Strategies Why this is important: We must ensure that our future generations can draw on the strength of who we are as Aboriginal peoples. What : we will do Protect Our Culture & Heritage We will continue to support the culture and heritage priorities of our members and Peoples. Why this is important: We have a responsibility to both our forebears and future generations to ensure that we see the return of our lands. What we will do: Pursue Our Full Land Rights We will maximise the amount of land that is in Aboriginal ownership, control and management. We will maximise the social, cultural and economic outcomes from our lands. Pursue Economic Independence & Prosperity for Our People Why this is important: We must ensure that our peoples restore their economic independence and become prosperous. What we will do: We will establish a land development and construction capacity. We will establish a social housing structure and capacity. We will establish an employment brokerage capacity. Why this is important: What we will do: Secure Our future We have stewardship responsibilities to ensure that a stronger system is handed to the next generation. work to achieve a treaty for Aboriginal peoples. We will continue to engage our youth and membership. We will continue to support and foster a culture and system of good governance and continual improvement. We will develop a compliance and regulatory framework which actively recognises and responds to performance. Why this is important: What we will do: Support Our People We have a responsibility to improve the lives of our peoples. We will continue to advocate for the rights of our peoples. We will continue to build the capacity of our members and peoples. We will continue to provide support for our people in need. 18 NSWALC Strategic Plan Consultation Draft

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