NSW Aboriginal Land Council

The NSW Aboriginal Land Council NSWALC is a peak exercise body of Aboriginal Australians in New South Wales. It has a mandate, under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 NSW, to establish land rights among Aboriginal people in New South Wales through its network of 120 Local Aboriginal Land Councils LALCs. Its functions include the determining of an economic base for Aboriginal communities, as living as the continued passing together with updating of Aboriginal culture, identity and heritage through the management of traditional sites & other cultural materials within NSW. It acts as an advisor to governments and others to ensure the preservation of Aboriginal land rights.

History

NSWALC was founded in 1977 to support in the protests by Aboriginal people for their land rights. It reported ten land claims to the government from 1977 to 1981, the number one being the Terry Hie Hie claim in northwestern NSW. The claims also called for compensation for the destruction to their livelihood and destruction of land. ACommittee of the Legislative Assembly upon Aborigines was formed in November 1978, chaired by Maurice Keane. Thecommittee featured the profile of an Aboriginal Heritage Commission charged with the protection of sacred sites. It also proposed the format of a land rights system centered on local Community Councils, backed by Aboriginal Regional Land Councils, and finally an Aboriginal Land development Commission.