National Native Title Tribunal: building strong working relationships and agreements

The National Native Title Tribunal has been assisting native title parties, mining proponents and Government to come together to build strong working relationships and negotiate lasting economic agreements, through its future act mediation process, for over 20 years. The Tribunal has a large and diverse team of experienced mediators and facilitators, and assists its clients by mediating intra Indigenous disputes, providing training and information and facilitating the negotiation of a wide range of agreements. This presentation will focus on the benefits to Indigenous parties that agreement making brings and cover the range of expertise and services the Tribunal offers.

Tribunal assistance in the form of mediation is beneficial for parties in that it provides the foundation for each party to talk about and understand each other’s interests and explore options for mutual gain; power imbalances, if present, are managed; and parties who may have a range of communication styles are supported to ensure everyone’s message is conveyed clearly. Having the Tribunal assist also ensures that the parties are kept accountable and negotiations stay focused. 

The session will provide an outline of the financial and non-financial benefits which the NNTT frequently sees being discussed in mediations and ILUA agreement negotiations.