Individual vs communal land ownership
Recent Federal Government rhetoric has pinned the economic and social development of remote Indigenous communities on a plan to encourage private ownership of communal land. With connection to land at the very heart of Aboriginal culture, it’s a proposal not to be taken lightly. But a new report, released by Oxfam Australia, asks whether converting communal ownership of Aboriginal land to individual ownership will actually be of benefit. The study actually finds that private title to land is neither necessary nor sufficient to achieve development goals. Oxfam’s policy director James Ensaw says the move is just not commercially viable. Professor Jon Altman is from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University, which was commissioned by Oxfam to produce the report. He says the private ownership model may even be dangerous for remote communities, and the government’s approach to land tenure ignores the reality of Indigenous life in impoverished areas.