CNTA compensationWorkshop #1 – John Mansfield presentation on the High Court decision
Compensation for loss of Native Title – legal background and context
Summary: In this podcast, ex-Federal Court judge John Mansfield – the judge in the original Timber Creek decision – outlines the legal background and context to determining the compensation payable under the Native Title Act for extinguishment of native title. He gives particular attention to what he sees as critical matters on which expert anthropological evidence will be necessary.
Downloadable from this site are also, a pdf of John Mansfield’s PowerPoint presentation; a copy of Sections 53 and 54 of the Native Title Act which establish fundamental principles for just-terms compensation; the original 2016 Timber Creek decision of Justice Mansfield; and the 2019 High Court’s Timber Creek decision
CNTA compensation Workshop #2 – John Mansfield & David Martin on the roles of anthropologists and lawyers
Compensation for loss of Native Title – legal background and context
Summary: This is the second workshop on compensation research in native title. Here, John Mansfield recaps key points from his presentation in Workshop No. 1. He points to the legislative frameworks which underpin the compensation principles in the Native Title Act (NTA), before emphasising such issues as compensation under the NTA relates to events since the introduction of the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975, and (as one instance) that it will be groups – rather than individuals – who are compensated.
While in Workshop No 1 the question of what role(s) anthropologists will, and can, play in a compensation claim was canvassed by John, in Workshop No 2, he gives particular emphasis to the requirements of being an expert. David Martin takes up this theme. He acknowledges that both anthropologists and lawyers must contribute to compensation claims through their respective disciplines and roles, and identifies stages in the compensation claims process for their respective contributions. He proposes that there is a deeper and more complex engagement between lawyers and anthropologists in compensation matters than has been the case in Native Title claims.
There are two downloads from this workshop. Both are videos, the first one essentially a podcast along with the PowerPoint slides of the presenters; and the second a Zoom video of the Question and Answer session which followed, and which addresses in more detail some of the matters raised by the presenters.