Rob Blowes SC has kindly made available to a wider audience the materials he compiled for a workshop of lawyers and anthropologists at First Nations Legal and Research Services Melbourne on June 10th 2025.
Disclaimer Please note: this is NOT legal advice. It does not purport to be a comprehensive set of materials on the matter.
The material was prepared for a particular purpose rather than general publication.
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CNTA held a workshop hosted by First Nations Legal and Research Services (FNLRS) in Melbourne on 15-16th May 2025.
The purpose of the workshop was principally to understand the different roles of lawyers and anthropologists when working for native title outcomes in complex operating environments. These involved speakers outlining and -in the case of genealogies demonstrating – key methodologies in legal and anthropological practice.
Video recordings of the 10 presentations are now available on the CNTA website. Tom Keely’s paper has been circulated via the CNTA Email List.
Read Full Content of the Workshop
Attached is a case study of workforce issues for anthropologists prepared for the recently held Commonwealth Inter-agency Committee on Native Title in Adelaide.
The paper builds on a survey of our sector run by CNTA in 2023, followed by a small working party of research managers from different organisations held in July 2024. Their involvement made it possible to bring an experiential dimension to the issues, and to ground-proof key issues emerging from the survey data.
CNTA has taken the view that – for various reasons outlined – we need to use our own capacities and agency to review, reform, and sponsor recruitment and retention for the native title anthropological workforce. In terms of remedial actions inside native title organisations, there is a good deal of agency they have to make a positive difference in recruitment and staff retention.
Recently, CNTA commissioned consultant anthropologist Sarah Bell, to write a foundational course on native title for use by NTRBs, NTSPs and Land Councils. The foundational course is specifically for inducting new staff. With the scarcity of available formal training courses in native title anthropology in Australian universities, and the increasing demand for anthropologists throughout the native title system, CNTA first took the initiative to support our sector through provision of podcasts and interviews on the CNTA website (see the Tab Fundamental) for key aspects of native title work.
This initiative has now developed further, by providing access to a systematic framework for understanding and learning about the demands of native title research work – from claim research through to compensation and post-determination.
In providing this material, CNTA hopes to encourage NTRB, NTSPs and Land Councils, to use the framework, tailoring it as needed, for introducing native title work and processes to new and early career staff anthropologists; those who may not have had any such introduction at university. The course, as developed by Bell covers aspect of both the Native Title Act (1993) and the Northern Territory Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1976).
The purpose of this course is to provide Anthropologists commencing work in Native Title a basic introduction to Native Title and key references and resources.
The Course is presented in 9 Topic areas related to aspects of Native Title practice. A set of summary PowerPoint slides for each topic is provided along with key introductory reference materials are listed, many of which are publicly available via the internet, including materials on the CNTA Website. A listing of additional references for further self-study are also provided.
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