The planning system and Aboriginal Australia

Over the last five years, the planning systems in NSW and other Australian states have delivered billions of dollars of value to many landowners but failed in delivering much value to Aboriginal Australia. This is despite the fact that NSW Aboriginal Land Councils are major landowners in NSW thanks to the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1983). 

Two leading scholars in this space Janice Barry from Canada and Libby Porter from RMIT in Melbourne, recent co-authors of a groundbreaking book on planning systems and indigenous rights visited the Univesity of Sydney to speak on this issue.

We also heard from Tanya Koeneman Specialist Policy Advisor Department of Planning and Environment, who is helping to lead the NSW Government initiative on improving outcomes for NSW Local Aboriginal Land Councils. 

The Henry Halloran Trust is involved in an ongoing project on improving outcomes for NSW Local Aboriginal Land Councils and last night's event was the first of a number of events in the field being held this year. 

About Janice Barry

Janice Barry is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba's Department of City Planning, in Winnipeg, Canada. She holds a PhD in Community and Regional Planning from the University of British Columbia and held previous positions at the University of Sheffield and University of Glasgow. She has published in several leading planning journals and is the author, with Libby Porter, of Planning for Coexistence? Recognizing Indigenous rights through land-use planning in Canada and Australia (Routledge, 2016).