Objectives:

Social, political and legal developments in recent decades have led to greater recognition of Indigenous approaches to land and environmental management. This course will consider these developments, exploring the extent to which specific legal regimes recognise and give effect to Indigenous interests in land and resources, the manner in which they distribute power, and the different approaches taken to the sustainable management of competing interests in land and resources.

The course will build around crucial areas where Indigenous interests and land and environmental management law intersect - from hunting, fishing and mining on Indigenous land to the role which Indigenous knowledge plays in national park and natural resource management. These are key areas of contemporary interest and contention. In brief, the course aims to expose students to those parts of the law which Indigenous peoples can use to ‘speak’ for country and the intersection of these legal areas with   environmental and land management regimes.

Contents:

The course will examine key themes in native title and land rights, cultural heritage, protected areas and biodiversity conservation, and environmental planning and management. 

The course will explore the following areas of contemporary social and political interest where Indigenous interests and environmental law and land management intersect:

i)          Ownership of and the sustainable use of wildlife on land and water (eg traditional rights to hunt dugong; commercial utilisation eg ecotourism.)

ii)         Sea rights (eg Indigenous peoples’ rights to participate in and co-manage commercial fisheries; fishing rights under common law and legislation).

iii)        Mining, exploration and pastoral activities on Indigenous land (eg the ability to control access to land by mining companies where there is a native title claim; economic incentives).

iv)        Protected areas and Indigenous Interests (eg Bioregional planning in parks and protected areas; tracking the history of the wilderness concept that often involved dispossession to contemporary models of co-management).

v)         Agreement making and environmental management and their enforceability (eg the efficacy of Indigenous land use agreements).

vi)        The role of Indigenous knowledge (eg in natural resource management in national parks; fire management regimes).

vii)       Who can ‘speak’ for country (eg role of traditional knowledge, cultural heritage; how do ‘communal property regimes’ operate).

Students must rely on the Approved Assessement which will be posted to the course homepage on the ANU Law website, prior to the commencement of the course.

26 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery)

Fundamentals of Environmental Law (non-lawyers)