DECISION OF THE VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL HERITAGE COUNCIL IN RELATION TO AN APPLICATION BY Wurundjeri tribe land and compensation cultural heritage council inc.

DATE OF DECISION: 3 September 2015

Decision

The Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council (Council) made a decision relating to the Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council (Wurundjeri) Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) application in accordance with the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Act).

Decision Area

Wurundjeri’s entire application area was considered by Council as described here (Decision Area): a large area south of Wurundjeri’s registered RAP area, from Werribee River in the west, including the coastline around Port Phillip Bay, extending south to almost Frankston and beyond the Bunyip River, including most of the Bunyip State Park, in the east.

Reasons for Decision

Traditional and familial links

Council has previously made decisions that recognised Wurundjeri as an organisation representing Traditional Owners that was able to demonstrate traditional links to the area for which it is appointed as a RAP.

Wurundjeri’s application area of the Decision Area overlapped with the previous RAP applications of groups representing the Boon Wurrung/Bunurong peoples including the Boon Wurrung Foundation (BWF), the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BLCAC) and the Bunurong Land and Sea Association Incorporated (BLSAI). Council sought the views of Traditional Owner groups with claims to the area, including overseeing two separate research projects on Traditional Ownership in the region involving consultation with the groups. Council considered all responses and reports received before making its decision.

Overlapping claims between Wurundjeri and other TO organisations

Council is aware of overlapping claims made on behalf of the Boon Wurrung/Bunurong people by BWF, BLCAC and BLSAI. In its previous decisions, Council has observed that Boon Wurrung/Bunurong people “are a Kulin group from the east of Port Phillip Bay, Western Port, Cape Liptrap and surrounding areas.”

Council has undertaken two research projects in consultation with Traditional Owner groups with interests in the area to assist with resolving the extent of Country question. The second report was prepared by Dr Fiona Skyring and was commissioned by Council working together with the Department of Justice and Regulation (then known as the Department of Justice) and Native Title Services Victoria. Dr Skyring noted that all ethno-historical records and reconstructions may be traced back to what a few white men wrote down before 1900. There are problems with these records, based on who wrote them, that the author sometimes did not know where they were, messy handwriting and contradictory information. Nevertheless, looking at all the records together, Dr Skyring made the following statements about the records. They:

·  Describe Boonwurrung Country as the coastal strip from the Werribee River to the Tarwin River, and includes all of the Mornington Peninsula and all the area around Western Port, and the southern suburbs of Melbourne including South Melbourne and St Kilda.

·  Identify the Dandenong Ranges as the border country between Boonwurrung people and their northern neighbours, Woiwurrung people.

·  Describe Woiwurrung people as Yarra River people, and the Yarra River catchment as the basis for Country, stretching from Mt Baw Baw in the east and the Great Dividing Range to the north to the Werribee River in the west.

·  Record Mt Macedon and the headwaters of the Campaspe as Woiwurrung, and the headwaters of the Loddon as Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

Council accepts Dr Skyring’s comments about the inadequacy of relying on the historical record alone and believes Traditional Owners are the best people to work together to resolve questions about the extent of Country. Following consideration of Dr Skyring’s report, Council concluded that the ethno-historical records and reports reviewed in the report are not sufficiently reliable on their own to confirm the extent of Wurundjeri Country.

Having said this, Council is of the view that rich conversations are possible where Traditional Owners can share stories and review the historical records together. Council acknowledges the materials provided by Wurundjeri to support its understanding of Wurundjeri Country, including the Yarra River catchment. Council recognises there is information broadly supporting the proposition that Wurundjeri Country includes the Yarra River catchment area. However, this area has been significantly altered since white settlement and it is not possible to confidently determine the right contemporary understanding of the Yarra catchment without further conversations between Traditional Owners. As noted above, Council has provided some general guidance about Boon Wurrung/Bunurong Country but for similar reasons as apply in respect of the Yarra catchment area, Council is presently unable to precisely determine the extent of that Country. Council was therefore to some extent disappointed that Wurundjeri’s RAP application area extended further south into Western Port Bay than did Wurundjeri’s previous application RAP area declined by Council on 4 April 2014.

Council also considered the information provided by Wurundjeri in relation to negotiating with the organisations claiming to represent the interests of Boon Wurrung/Bunurong Traditional Owners regarding the Decision Area. Council recognises the leadership shown by Wurundjeri in the difficult work it has undertaken and continues to undertake with neighbouring Traditional Owner groups regarding its boundaries. Council hopes the guidance provided in recent decisions regarding BWF and BLSAI will be of assistance to Wurundjeri in this critical work. It is important for Traditional Owners, with the right support, to have these complex and difficult discussions themselves. Boundary discussions can be a foundation of successful, ongoing working relationships between groups and it is Council’s hope Wurundjeri will be able to continue to demonstrate its commitment to finding a resolution and restoring relationships with neighbours.

Council was not able to determine conclusively the extent of Country from all the information provided by Wurundjeri, other Traditional Owners and the research projects.

Other relevant matters

Council sought the views of other Traditional Owner groups who claim Country within the Decision Area to inform its decision and considered all responses received.

Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities

Council gave careful consideration to the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Charter), in particular the relevant distinct cultural rights of Aboriginal persons in s19(2)(d) of the Charter. Council formed the view that the decision not to register Wurundjeri in the Decision Areas is compatible with the Charter.

Summary

Having regard to the information presented above as well as other relevant factors, Council reached the following conclusions:

·  Council is unable to determine any positive outcomes of discussions between Wurundjeri and organisations representing Boon Wurrung/Bunurong Traditional Owners to resolve competing claims in the Decision Area.

·  On the information before it, Council is unable to determine the precise extent of Wurundjeri Country in the Decision Area.

·  Some general guidance can be obtained from ethno-historical records in relation to both Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung/Bunurong Country. Progress could be made through Traditional Owners coming together, with the right support, to share stories and review these records, alongside contemporary agreement making.

Conclusion

Taking all of these matters into account, and relying on its own cultural knowledge, Council decided that it was appropriate not to register Wurundjeri as a RAP for the Decision Area.

Jennifer Beer, Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council

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