White J
In this matter the Court made orders by consent recognising the native title rights and interests of the Dieri People and the Adnyamathanha People in relation to overlapping claims in respect to an area of land located to the north and north-west of the northern end of the Flinders Ranges.
The respondents were the State of South Australia, certain pastoralists, South Australian Native Title Services Ltd, Telstra Corporation Ltd, Epic Energy South Australia Pty Ltd, Cauldron Energy Ltd and Teale and Associates Pty Ltd and various other energy and petroleum companies.
The claim of the Dieri people was recognised over the western portion of the claimed area with another determination made in relation to the remaining part of the Dieri No 2 claim in favour of the Adnyamathanha people over to the eastern portion.
Each of the Dieri and the Adnyamathanha people agreed between themselves to recognise the traditional rights of the other in the area over which they will not hold native title.
Rights and interests
Non-exclusive native title rights were recognised and include the right to
access and move about the Determination Area;
live, to camp and to erect shelters on the Determination Area;
hunt and fish on the Determination Area;
gather and use the natural resources of the Determination Area such as food, plants, timber, resin, ochre and soil;
cook and to light fires for cooking and camping purposes on the Determination Area;
use the natural water resources of the Determination Area;
distribute, trade or exchange the natural resources of the Determination Area;
conduct ceremonies and hold meetings on the Determination Area;
engage and participate in cultural activities on the Determination Area including those relating to births and deaths;
carry out and maintain burials of deceased native title holders and of their ancestors within the Determination Area;
teach on the Determination Area the physical and spiritual attributes of locations and sites within the Determination Area;
visit, maintain and preserve sites and places of cultural or spiritual significance to Native Title Holders within the Determination Area;
speak for and make decisions in relation to the Determination Area about the use and enjoyment of the Determination Area by Aboriginal people who recognise themselves to be governed by the traditional laws and customs acknowledged by the Native Title Holders of the Determination Area; and
be accompanied on to the Determination Area by those people who, though not Native Title Holders, are spouses of Native Title Holders or people required by traditional law and custom for the performance of ceremonies or cultural activities or people who have rights in relation to the Determination Area according to the traditional laws and customs acknowledged by the Native Title Holders.
The native title rights and interests are for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal use.
The consent determination was made under s 87A of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) on the basis that an agreement was freely reached between the parties, within required timeframes and in the proper form.
The Court concluded that the evidence provided satisfied the elements of sections 223 and 225 of the NTA and the native title rights and interests recognised arise from the Dieri’s traditional laws and customs, and that they have evolved from the native title rights and interests as they were likely to have been at sovereignty.
This decision has the effect of determining finally the whole of the Dieri No 2 Claim. The Court had previously made a determination by consent in in relation to the Dieri No 1 claim in respect of a large area in the north-eastern region of South Australia: Lander v State of South Australia [2012] FCA 427.
Prescribed Body Corporate
The native title is not to be held in trust.
The Dieri Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC is to be the prescribed body corporate for the purposes of s 57(2) NTA and perform the functions mentioned in s 57(3) of the NTA.