CONTROLLED BURNOFFS HELP PREVENT DANGEROUS BUSHFIRES AND MAINTAIN BIODIVERSITY 

With approximately 50 per cent of the Northern Territory’s land mass under Aboriginal ownership, land use agreements are generating big business. 

Across vast tracts of resource-rich land abundant in mining, agriculture, tourism and renewable energy opportunities, leases and licences are the green light for governments, businesses, organisations and individuals to conduct activities on Aboriginal land. 

These agreements, which are negotiated in consultation with Traditional Owners by land councils through Section 19 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA), create a stable source of revenue for land owners and contribute to broader economic development across the Territory. 

But this seemingly small element of law is often misunderstood. 

Section 19 is seen by some – through ignorance or political mischief-making – as a way for the land councils to tell Traditional Owners what to do. 

While the NLC undertakes assessments of all land use proposals, and negotiates to make sure they are fair and equitable, final decisions are made by Traditional Owner groups. 

The NLC must make sure the right people are fully informed before making any decisions about activities on their land. This means overcoming significant challenges, such receiving additional information from proponents, in a timely way and the tyranny of distance. 

Northern Land Council Chair Matthew Ryan says despite the criticisms, consultation with Aboriginal owners is the most critical part of the Section 19 process. 

“It is our obligation to Traditional Owners across our regions to ensure they know exactly what is proposed, so they can give their free, prior and informed consent to projects,” he says. 

“If Traditional Owners feel good about a project, they’ll say yes. If they are concerned, they’ll say no. The land council’s obligation under ALRA is to make sure each group has all the information available to make that decision. 

“Traditional Owners need to abide by their cultural obligations as well as protect their country and hard-won land rights. They have also made it clear that they want opportunities for economic and social development on their land so they can grow their communities and create a better future for generations to come.

“To those who don’t understand our culture or traditional decision-making the Section 19 process can seem lengthy, but it’s important to do it properly without taking shortcuts.

“At the end of the day, once an agreement has been signed, proponents can have certainty that the processes have been followed correctly and they can get on with the job.”

Mr Ryan says there are many Section 19 success stories – and many more to come.

A good example of how the Northern Land Council works is Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (ALFA), an Aboriginal-owned “carbon farming” business.

The not-for-profit organisation was set up by Aboriginal ranger groups and Traditional Owners in 2015 to support tropical savanna burning and use the payments for the carbon credits created by the burn-offs to fund proper fire management by Aboriginal rangers and community projects.

ALFA supports Aboriginal ranger groups to run six massive burning programs across 86,000 square kilometres of Arnhem Land – an area larger than Tasmania.

The organisation’s 14-year land use agreement, which allowed it to operate on Indigenous land, expired at the end of 2024. It has now been renewed for a further 11 years. 

For the renewal to go ahead hundreds of clans and families across Arnhem Land had to be consulted – not by public meetings and emails, as an urban authority would do, but face to face, so that everyone knows exactly what is being proposed.

Indigenous people have been managing the environment through annual dry season burn-offs for tens of thousands of years, particularly to maintain easy access and to support open grazing country suitable for prized food, such as wallabies.

Studies have shown that combining traditional Aboriginal knowledge and modern science is the most effective way to carry out burn-offs and preserve biodiversity.

The Northern Land Council spent two years consulting Indigenous people about renewing the ALFA fire abatement land use agreement.

“The Northern Land Council completed a large-scale consultation process to ensure that people had all the information they needed,” says ALFA chief executive Jennifer Ansell.

“They did a very comprehensive job.”

Traditional Owners are strongly in favour of the fire abatement program.

“One of the beautiful things about fire is that local people are fully engaged in it,” says Dr Ansell. “They are very passionate about the whole program and want to know all the details.”

Aboriginal rangers and Traditional Owners carry out the burn-offs as part of their land management strategy.

ALFA is managed by an 18-strong board of Aboriginal directors.

The key elements of customary fire management are:

• Engage the right people for planning and delivery
• Burn early in the dry season and at times of heavy dew and little wind so fires go out overnight
• Burn strategically, adding to natural breaks, such as moist ground along creeks, cliff lines and tracks, to leave patches of unburnt country surrounded by burnt breaks
• Protect cultural sites, rock art, jungles, heaths and fire sensitive ecological communities by early-burned breaks.

Employing traditional fire management techniques preserves the knowledge of elderly people for younger generations and helps maintain Aboriginal languages.

The Northern Land Council is responsible for helping Indigenous people acquire and manage their traditional lands in the Top End. 

Its statutory obligations under Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 (ALRA) include: 

• To ascertain and express the wishes of Aboriginal peoples about the management of their land and legislation about their land. 
• To protect the interests of traditional owners of, and other Aboriginal people interested in, Aboriginal land. 
• To assist Aboriginal peoples to protect sacred sites, whether or not they are on Aboriginal land. 
• To consult Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal peoples interested in Aboriginal land and land under claim. 
• To negotiate on behalf of Traditional Owners with peoples interested in using Aboriginal land or land under claim. 
• To assist Aboriginal peoples to carry out commercial activities. 
• To assist Aboriginal peoples claiming land and, in particular, arrange and pay for assistance for them. 
• To keep a register of Land Council members and members of Aboriginal Land Trusts and descriptions of Aboriginal land. 
• To supervise and assist Aboriginal Land Trusts. 
• Attempt to conciliate disputes between Aboriginal peoples regarding land matters. 
• Hold in trust and distribute to Aboriginal associations statutory payments from the Aboriginals Benefits Account to communities affected by mining operations and income received on behalf of landowners under negotiated agreements. 
• Process applications for permits to enter Aboriginal land. 
• Any other functions as prescribed.