History

On 3 June 1992 the Mabo judgment by the High Court of Australia recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional title to land had survived British settlement. However, the judgment said some extinguishment of traditional title had occurred.

The ILC begins operations on 1 June 1995

The first NILS covering the years 1996-2001 is tabled in Parliament by the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Senator the Hon. John Herron, on 6 May 1996. A companion series of seven Regional Indigenous Land Strategies based on the NILS is approved by the Board in June 1996.

Sharon Firebrace appointed as ILC Chair along with four new Directors.

Shirley McPherson appointed Chair of the ILC Board in August 2001. The Board focuses on building landholder capacity and on delivering economic benefits from land. Applications for urban property increase and in 2005-06 almost half the land purchased in the previous three years was urban.

The ILC initiates the IPP with the Northern Land Council, Central Land Council, Northern Territory Government, the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and Commonwealth Department of Employment. The IPP increases production on Indigenous-owned NT cattle properties to provide employment and training in the pastoral industry.

The ILC enters into a three-year partnership with the Commonwealth Department of the Environment to develop at least 10 new IPAs. By 2009, 19 IPAs are declared.

Work starts on the site of the former Black Theatre in Redfern, Sydney, a groundbreaking urban Indigenous cultural site in the 1970s and 1980s. The ILC constructs a three-storey, multi-purpose office building to house Indigenous organisations including a purpose-built radio station and training facility for Gadigal Information Service which broadcasts Koori Radio.

Gunbalanya Station and Meats is established and trains and employs pastoral and meat workers from the Gunbalanya community.

Land near the Mossman Gorge Aboriginal Community is purchased to build a cultural and environmental tourism hub to be staffed by local Indigenous people, and to offer training in hospitality for young Indigenous people.

The ILC acquires the Fish River wilderness property in partnership with the Commonwealth Environment Department and a number of charitable environmental groups. The property becomes a model of managing the environment and for Indigenous economic benefit from carbon credits.

Dr Dawn Casey is appointed as ILC Chair along with three new Directors. A further two new Directors are appointed in 2013.

Mossman Gorge Centre opens in June 2012, with 90% Indigenous staffing. More than 240,000 people go through the doors in the first year of operation.

The 2013-2017 NILS is released with a stronger focus on collaboration across regions with Indigenous organisations, government agencies and industry bodies, and includes a new ILC Native Title Policy.

In an Australian first, the ILC sells 25,884 Australian Carbon Credit Units from the Fish River Fire Project to Caltex Australia. Sales of ACCUs have continued each year, providing revenue for land management, training and jobs on the property.

The Stronger Land Account Bill is released on 24 March 2014, and endorsed on the same day at Old Parliament House by a group of senior Indigenous leaders, including three who had helped negotiate the Mabo settlement and served on the first ILC board: Lowitja O’Donoghue, David Ross and Noel Pearson. This leaders group also includes Patrick Dodson, Aden Ridgway, Tom Calma and Kirstie Parker, co-chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. The Bill developed by the ILC was largely adopted by the Australian Greens and introduced to the Senate in June 2014.

National Indigenous Pastoral Enterprises (NIPE) becomes a fully-functioning subsidiary with its own Board of Directors chaired by ILC director Neil Westbury.