Aboriginal Voices and Inclusivity in Australian Land Use Country Planning

Abstract

Following the Australian High Court’s decision in the <em>Mabo </em>case in 1992, it is now instrumental for land use planners to be educated and skilled in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people’s rights, interests, needs and aspirations in conventional and contemporary land use planning processes to ensure inclusivity within Australian culture and its structures. As an applied science discipline, for land use planning these imperatives include formally recognising ATSI peoples’ long connections with <em>Country</em>, acceptance of the High Court’s rejection of the doctrine of <em>terra nullius</em>, recognition that ATSI people will always retain their special relationship with and responsibility for land and sea <em>Country</em>, but more importantly incorporating Indigenous land planning values into extant Western land use planning instruments (ALGA 1999:225). This paper reviews and critiques the position and alignment of this applied science discipline, from an Indigenous perspective, and its policy and education accreditation governance role in responding to contemporary land use determinations as it impacts upon inclusivity of Indigenous knowledge, law, and policy in practice and educating the future generation of land use planners.