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1 June, 2022

History-Making Agreement Between First Nations Peoples

FIRST Nations peoples of the Torres Strait and northern Cape York have agreed to unite in a history-making step to seek to achieve native title determinations across the eastern top of Australia.


Photo | Dreamstime
Photo | Dreamstime

It is the first time the First Nations peoples of the Torres Strait have joined with the First Nations peoples of mainland Australia to work together to achieve recognition of their native title. 

Torres Strait Islanders representing the Regional Sea Claim (TSRSC), along with representatives of Kaurareg, Ankamuthi and Gudang Yadhaykenu peoples, came together in 2020 to establish the ‘Northern Cape and Torres Strait United Working Group’ (Working Group). 

They agreed to work collectively to resolve nearly all remaining claims in the offshore areas north, east and west of Cape York by making consent determinations of native title. 

The area covered by the remaining native title claims stretches from Captain Billy Landing on the east coast of Cape York, east to the Great Barrier Reef, north to the sea surrounding Warral (Hawkesbury) Island and Ului (West) Island, and west to Skardon River, just north of Mapoon. An area of more than 30,000 square kms of land and sea. 

The move to work together will give the claimants a united voice to continue speaking to State and Commonwealth governments and will ensure their rights to land and sea are acknowledged and respected and improve the efficiency of the process to resolve the remaining claims. 

Over the next month, information meetings will be held with members of each of the Working Group communities. 

These meetings will also be part of the authorisation process for the TSRSC group to make a “catch up” claim. 

The Working Group proposes that all claims will then be legally “consolidated” so that they can be determined together. 

Meetings will be held in Badu, Brisbane, Cairns, Erub, Iama, Masig, Mer, Moa, Ngurapai, Northern Peninsula Area (Injinoo), Poruma, Townsville, Ugar, Waiben, Warraber and Weipa (for Napranum and Old Mapoon). 

For more information on upcoming dates and meetings, visit the Cape York Council website at  https://www.cylc.org.au/ and the Torres Strait Regional Authority website at  https://www.tsra.gov.au  

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