The Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC) is responsible for activities including land management, sacred site protection and negotiations with resource companies on behalf of 14 clans of the Groote Archipelago.
It describes itself as a “future-forward” land council, geared to enabling the Anindilyakwa people to take full advantage of the opportunities and technology available in the 21st Century, while simultaneously preserving land, language and culture.
The history of the organisation stems back to the passing of the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act in 1976. The Anindilyakwa people became one of the first Australian Aboriginal traditional owner groups, recognised by Australian law as having inalienable freehold title over the islands within the Groote Archipelago.
“ABL’s commitment to fighting Indigenous disadvantage had a direct influence on my accepting a job with the ALC."
As a result of the Act, the Northern Land Council, later the Anindilyakwa Land Council, became the statutory corporate bodies responsible for activities within the Groote Archipelago, in the interests of the 14 owner clans.
Arnold Bloch Leibler advises the ALC in relation to its functions and obligations under the NT land rights legislation. In 2018, Arnold Bloch Leibler assisted the ALC in negotiating a joint venture with a new mining proponent for the benefit of the Traditional Owners. The arrangement has resulted in the creation of a manganese exploration joint venture, held by a majority Traditional Owner owned corporation – a historic outcome.
A significant ongoing project we are undertaking together is to build new economic and social structures, designed to future proof the community on Groote Eylandt after mining ceases.
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“ABL’s commitment to fighting Indigenous disadvantage had a direct influence on my accepting a job with the ALC. More broadly, my time at ABL exposed me to practitioners who were committed to finding practical and innovative solutions to complex problems and were not afraid of risk. That approach to problem solving is fundamental to what is happening on Groote, where the issues facing the community are immense and seemingly entrenched.”
Conor O’Bryan
Former ALC Head of Legal and Operations and former Arnold Bloch Leiber lawyer and member of the AISN