The National Native Title Council welcomes the progress towards the land and sea targets seen in the Productivity Commission’s latest Annual Data Compilation Report and Data Dashboard. The report, released yesterday, tracks progress of all Australian governments against the targets they agreed to under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

Targets 15A and 15B seek 15% increases in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land and sea rights or interests by 2030. After initially slow progress, both targets are now on track with 4,213,978 km² of land and 113,461 km² of sea country subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s rights or interests. In fact, based on the reported data, the sea country target has already been met, 6 years ahead of schedule.

“The land and sea targets were a new addition to Closing the Gap in 2020, and the NNTC fought hard to see them included in the National Agreement” says Jamie Lowe, Gunditjmara and Djabwurrung Traditional Owner and CEO of the NNTC, “These rights allow us to further protect and care for Country, as well as opening up opportunities for economic development. The progress on these targets reflects the hard work of our members who have fought fiercely for the recognition of their Native Title and land and sea rights for generations. It also reflects the hard work of the NNTC in holding jurisdictions to account for their commitments, through our membership in the Closing the Gap partnership.”

“While we welcome the progress there is still a long way to go to reconcile land and sea interests in this country. We have seen a large number of successful Native Title determinations, and state agreements over recent years, and we need this pace to continue so that Traditional Owners have certainty about their rights and can get on with the business of cultural and economic governance. We don’t want to see governments dropping focus on these rights just because the land and sea targets are some of the only Closing the Gap targets that are actually on track. These targets sought modest growth and we can certainly aim a lot higher” Lowe concludes.