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March 2003

Land Councils welcome ANAO finding

The NLC has welcomed the release of the Australian National Audit Office's long-awaited report into the operations of Northern Territory Land Councils and the Aboriginals Benefit Account.

CLC Director David Ross:
no skeletons in the closet

NLC Chief Executive Norman Fry said the 128-page document highlighted the good work done by Land Councils in a complex and difficult environment and their compliance with the Land Rights Act.

A short selection of the ANAO's positive findings include:

Ch. 4.5: "The ANAO found that the Land Councils consulted extensively with traditional owners to obtain their wishes and opinions and to make informed decisions regarding the use of their land. As well, traditional owners and other Aboriginals have a direct influence on the decision-making process within the Land Councils."

Ch. 5.6: "ANAO found that key business areas had adequate procedures in place to assist staff to comply with legislation, identify traditional owner needs and manage individual projects."

Ch. 5.13: "The ANAO considers that the Land Councils are performing their advocacy and representation functions as required by the ALRA."

Ch. 5.42: "At the individual project level, the ANAO found that staff of the Land Council had good project management skills and developed policies and procedures to guide land management projects."

The report is exactly what we expected. We were confident that the ANAO would find that the Land Councils do a lot of good work.

NLC Chief Executive, Norman Fry

The audit did recommend that Land Councils improve their reporting systems to bring them in line with the Commonwealth's preferred 'Outcomes and Outputs Framework'. The report also found that Land Councils needed to improve their risk-management practices and their communication with stakeholders.

The Land Councils have largely agreed with the intent of the recommendations and are currently working on systematically addressing the issues raised, including implementing new reporting systems. However, this process will take time and resources, and the Land Councils have stressed that new performance management systems will need to be culturally appropriate and useful in the environment in which they operate.

We are keen to explore ways to better explain how and why we do what we do. However, such processes are costly and we will also be talking to Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock about resources to implement improved reporting systems.

Norman Fry

All Land Councils expressed their disappointment at Mr Ruddock's response to the report, which focused purely on the negative findings relating to reporting systems rather than the many positives concerning the Land Councils' work on behalf of their Indigenous constituents.

However, even Mr Ruddock was forced to admit that the report "did not indicate evidence of financial mismanagement".

Central Land Council Director David Ross said:

The Minister has made public statements which, in our view, misrepresent the findings of the audit.

Anyone can play the game of 'selective quoting' - the fact is that the ANAO did not find any 'skeletons in the closet'.

Central Land Council Director David Ross

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