Aboriginal Land Council

INTRODUCTION and HISTORY

The Narromine Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) was incorporated on 28 May 1984 under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983.  The original name of the NLALC was Ulunga Local Aboriginal Land Council. Then changed to it’s present name of Narromine Local Aboriginal Land Council.

A meeting was called to ask the Aboriginal community of Narromine if they wanted a Land Council. Delegates from the State Government came to the town and explained to the Aboriginal people what would happen if a Land Council was formed. The delegation was led by Maurie Keen, a member of the State Labor Party at that time. The report from that delegation became known as the ‘Keen Report.’

Narromine Aboriginals formed their Land Council in 1984 with about 20 to 30 members. Our first allocation of funds was around $40 000.

We had a lot to learn about running an organisation and many workshops have been held over the twenty five (25) years of Land Rights in this State. In the early days the members found it a hard task to do the right thing by their community. We were told to do what the community wanted and to do what had been discussed and passed at meetings.

There have been many amendments to the Land Rights Act over the years and local people were not given the opportunity to learn about the changes that were taking place. Most of us had not even finished school. We did learn, however, that providing for our members’ needs was not always the right thing to do under the Act.

In 1985-1986 we looked at and discussed Housing. The Land Council members saw housing as the biggest need in our community. Our first houses were purchased our of our NSWALC allocation because the DAA-ADC Federal Affairs Policy of that time was not to fund Land Councils. That funding did not come until ATSIC was formed in 1990.

It has been a struggle over the years to learn and come to terms with Government changes; however our members have remained strong and committed to Land Rights and are always trying to meet community expectations.

The Narromine Local Aboriginal Land Council has a housing stock of twenty seven (27) with three (3) vacant residential blocks. We also manage three (3) houses for the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office. Included in this number are six (6) elders units. In total we house sixty (60) Aboriginal people. We also manage a Centrelink Agency for the Narromine Community, which is a step in the right direction to show people we can do right by all of the community.

Our membership has grown and more people are joining each month. We currently have approximately 340 members.

The future of our Land Councils lies with the continuing commitment of our member and the involvement of our youth.