Land council

rdf:langString Land council

rdf:langString Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people) who occupied their particular region before the arrival of European settlers. They have historically advocated for recognition of traditional land rights, and also for the rights of Indigenous people in other areas such as equal wages and adequate housing. Land councils are self-supporting, and not funded by state or federal taxes. The first land councils were created in the Northern Territory under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, with the states later creating their own legislation and system of land councils. Aboriginal land trusts (ALTs) were also set up under the Act, which hold the freehold title to the land granted under the Act. There are 151 Aboriginal land trusts, holding nearly 50 percent of the land in the NT, which is administered by one of four land councils in the Territory, depending on location. Land councils must ensure that they act on the advice and with the consent of the traditional owners; control over Aboriginal-owned land thus lies with the traditional owners, represented by the land council. Each state has a different system relating to Aboriginal-owned land, with the representative bodies given varying names. In New South Wales, there is also a network of local Aboriginal land councils (LALCs), which form a network of organisations close to their communities and support the larger land council, but these bodies do not administer land owned freehold by Aboriginal people.