Northern Land Council NLC | Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life

Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life

Northern Land Council

The Northern Land Council is responsible for assisting Aboriginal peoples in the Top End of the Northern Territory to acquire and manage their traditional lands and seas.

OUr Council

The NLC’s Full Council is the major decision-making body within the organisation. The Full Council consists of 78 members, as well as five additional women’s positions, elected from across the NLC’s seven regions.

OUr Work

The most important responsibility of the NLC is to consult with traditional landowners and other Aboriginal peoples with an interest in affected land. Landowners must give informed consent before any action is taken to affect their lands and seas.

OUr Rangers

The NLC’s Caring for Country branch hosts 13 Indigenous ranger groups. They operate across almost 200,000-square-kilometres of land owned by Aboriginal peoples in the NLC region.

Our History

The NLC traces its roots back to the Aboriginal struggle for justice and land rights. In 1973 the Woodward Commission of Inquiry into the appropriate way to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the NT was announced. The NLC was formed in the same year to assist with the work of the Commission.

LAND RIGHTS NEWS

We publish Australia’s oldest Aboriginal newspaper and distribute it free-of-charge.

Our Land, Our Sea, Our Life