First Nations

Everyone who calls Australia home needs to understand how this country was established and the impacts that this has had and continues to have on the First Peoples of this country. Any Treaty or Treaties must be based on the truth of our past. 

The referendum campaign clearly showed that there is a compelling case for truth-telling and treaty-making to deliver hope, justice and pathways towards healing for the nation.

The Greens' plan:

• Establish a National Truth and Justice Commission to acknowledge and document historic and ongoing injustices experienced by First Nations peoples.
• Allocate $250 million in funding to the Commission to hold hearings, compile reports, and develop processes for embedding localised truth-telling across the country.
• Engage communities in grassroots consultation on models for a national treaty or treaties, ensuring collaboration with First Nations peoples, governments, and key stakeholders throughout the process.

Native Title was created to empower Traditional Owners and protect their connection to country, but the system is failing. Instead of supporting First Nations peoples, it often enables mining and other land uses that undermine their rights. 

The process is costly, slow, and poorly aligned with how First Nations peoples experience their relationship with land, leaving Traditional Owners at a disadvantage.

Issues such as inadequate governance, competing claims, and the misuse of compensation to coerce consent further weaken the system. 

It is vital to enshrine the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent into Native Title processes to ensure justice and fairness for Traditional Owners.

The Greens' plan:

• Review and reform the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) to address its fundamental issues, including decoupling the right to compensation from providing consent and embedding the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, as recommended in the A Way Forward Report.

Language is vital to cultural identity, yet many First Nations languages have been lost since colonisation. 

Revitalising and preserving these languages is essential for maintaining cultural connection and supporting flourishing First Nations communities.

The Greens' plan:

• Support First Nations language revival by providing $14 million over four years to organisations working with schools and First Nations teachers to deliver sessions in a mix of First Nations languages and English.
• Ensure programs are community-led and self-determined, empowering local communities to guide the preservation and teaching of their languages.

Current laws fail to protect First Nations cultural heritage and knowledge, as demonstrated by the destruction of Juukan Gorge and the ongoing threats to sacred sites like Murujuga and the Pilliga. 

To meet community expectations and ensure genuine cultural preservation, we need stronger laws co-designed with First Nations people

The Greens' plan:

• Introduce a federal Act to protect First Nations cultural heritage, knowledge, and intellectual property, co-designed with First Nations people to ensure it reflects their rights and priorities.
• Ensure the Act protects both tangible and intangible heritage, across land and underwater, and aligns with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the Dhawura Ngilan best practice standards. 

Disengagement from school leaves First Nations kids vulnerable to the justice system.

Programs that connect kids to their culture, language, and country through time with Elders can strengthen identity, support education, and provide pathways to better futures, helping to close the gap in youth detention and employment outcomes.

The Greens' plan:

• Fund school-based programs with $113 million in grants to get First Nations kids out on country, guided by Elders, to learn about culture, language, and country as a means of holistic healing and growth.
• Ensure these programs are community-led and self-determined, designed with trauma-informed practices and implemented in alignment with data on First Nations children in institutional care.

Although Australia endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2009, it remains unimplemented in federal law. UNDRIP enshrines essential rights for First Nations people, including self-determination, cultural revitalisation, protection against forced assimilation, and the right to free, prior, and informed consent. 

Implementing these principles is critical to addressing historical injustices and ensuring First Nations people can fully exercise their rights.

The Greens' plan:

• Establish a legislated framework to implement UNDRIP into federal law, co-designed with First Nations communities and stakeholders, in line with the findings of the Inquiry into the implementation of UNDRIP.
• Link the framework to the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap, ensuring the guiding principles of UNDRIP drive measurable outcomes.
• Develop tools to benchmark progress against UNDRIP’s international standards, empowering institutions like the Productivity Commission or the Human Rights Commission to evaluate advancements.
• Provide the Australian Human Rights Commission with independent oversight powers and adequate funding to monitor and enforce the implementation of UNDRIP principles.

First Nations Ranger Programs and Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are vital for protecting, restoring, and caring for country, particularly in the face of the climate crisis. These programs currently need more operational support, with budgets that primarily cover wages but leave little for essential resources and administration. 

Returning the administration of these initiatives to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and providing targeted funding will ensure they are better resourced to achieve positive outcomes for country.

The Greens' plan:

• Ensure effective environmental and cultural stewardship by transferring the administration of Ranger Programs and IPAs from the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) to DCCEEW, aligning these programs with environmental and climate priorities.
• Improve the resources available to ranger programs by increasing their operational budgets by 10%, enabling them to secure essential supplies and administrative support for enhanced land and sea management. 
• Expand land and sea management capabilities by establishing a $20 million annual fund within DCCEEW, allowing ranger programs and IPAs to undertake additional activities that are not covered by their regular budgets.
• Strengthen the capacity of IPA administrators by investing $100 million over four years, ensuring both existing and new IPAs have the resources to deliver meaningful outcomes for country and community.