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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website contains the names and images of people who have passed
This is a RCIADIC recommendation
338
Transfer former Aboriginal reserve or mission land under freehold
That as an interim step all land held under leasehold, being former Aboriginal reserve or mission land and being now held for or on behalf of Aboriginal people, be forthwith transferred under inalienable freehold title to the present leaseholder(s) pending further consideration by Aboriginal people as to the appropriate Aboriginal body which should thereafter hold the title to such land.
Aboriginal Justice Caucus Assessment
The intent of Recommendation 338 was to ensure that all former Aboriginal reserve or mission land held under leasehold is transferred under freehold title to Traditional Owners. In previous reviews, the Victorian Government stated that this recommendation did not apply to Victoria, as there were no former Aboriginal reserves or mission lands held under leasehold for or on behalf of Aboriginal people.
In 2023, the Department of Premier and Cabinet acknowledged that work was underway to enable the transfer of a remaining parcel of the Ebenezer Mission land from Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Cooperative to the Barengi Gadjin Land Council. In 1991, the National Trust in Victoria sold part of the site to Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative. The Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation was established in 2005. To formally transfer the former Ebenezer Mission land from Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative to Barengi Gadjin Land Council, Traditional Owners, Registered Aboriginal Party and Native Title Holders, requires an Act of Parliament.
For us [Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative] to now transfer that land title to Barengi Gadjin there needs to be an Act of Parliament made for that purpose.
(John Gorton, Chairperson, Grampians RAJAC; Chairperson, Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative and member of Barengi Gadjin Land Council).
Aboriginal Justice Caucus members described frustrating waits for governments to address legal and governance issues so that land can be handed back to Traditional Owners, and reflected on the broader opportunities such land transfers could provide:
If there were easier ways for Traditional Owner Groups to acquire privately owned parcels of Aboriginal reserve or mission land or they were transferred through the Traditional Owner Settlement Act or another process where there weren’t caveats or restrictions on the use of those lands, it could go to addressing things, to providing land for Aboriginal builds and/or social and economic development.
(Ebony Hickey, Chairperson, Barwon Southwest RAJAC and member of Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation).
Priority for Further Work:
Moderate
Relevance and potential impact | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low (0-2) | Moderate (3-4) | High (5-6) | |||
Extent of action taken and evidence of outcomes | High (5-6) | ||||
Moderate (3-4) | |||||
Low (0-2) | |||||
Potential Actions for Further Work
Legislate former mission land transfer
Legislate to enable former mission land to be transferred from Aboriginal Co-operatives to Traditional Owners.
Provide comprehensive information of former mission lands
Provide comprehensive information on lands classified as ‘former Aboriginal reserve or mission land’ in Victoria, current landholders of those lands, and any avenues to ensure they can be returned to Traditional Owners.
Background
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) recognised that while Aboriginal people sought ‘the greatest security of title to land, wherever and whatever nature of land that may be’ much of the land granted throughout Australia had been done so under titles other than freehold.
To address this, and support Aboriginal self-determination, the RCIADIC advocated for the transfer of former Aboriginal reserve or mission land to Aboriginal people under freehold title.
While this recommendation was intended for all governments, the Commission noted that there was no former reserve land under leasehold title in Victoria at that time:
The Aboriginal Land Act 1970 transferred the two remaining reserves in Victoria, at Lake Tyers and Framlingham, to Aboriginal communities. These totalled 20 square kilometres. In 1987 the Federal Government passed the Aboriginal Land (Lake Condah and Framlingham Forest) Act which transferred two further small pieces of land to Aboriginal people. As at 30 June 1989, Victorian Aboriginal people therefore held 32 square kilometres of land under freehold title and none under leasehold title to former reserves.
Actions Taken Since Last Review
Department of Premier and Cabinet
In their response to this recommendation, Land Justice noted that the State recognises the importance of granting land in freehold title for cultural and economic purposes where appropriate, under Victoria’s Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010. The Victorian Government committed to use best endeavours to return the remaining Ebenezer Mission (the parcel owned by Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative) and associated Ebenezer Mission Road Reserve to the Barengi Gadjin Land Council in fee simple.
Impact
Outputs
Establishment of the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 (Vic).
Reviews of the Aboriginal Lands Act 1970 (Vic). The most recent review, published in 2023, outlined 42 recommendations for reform, designed to improve the shareholding system, strengthen governance, facilitate economic activity, and modernise language in the Act.
Outcomes
Return of remaining interest in Ebenezer Mission to Barengi Gadjin Land Council
In 2013 the National Trust in Victoria returned its remaining interest in the Ebenezer Mission Station to Traditional Owners, the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. This marked the ‘first time in its history the National Trust in Victoria has handed back one of its places to the Traditional Owners’.
Ebenezer Mission was established by Moravian missionaries. It was gazetted as the ‘Lake Hindmarsh Aboriginal Reserve’ in 1861 and closed in 1904. The National Trust’s involvement with Ebenezer Mission began in 1961 and it managed the entire site until 1991 when the church and its land was sold as freehold land to the Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative. The National Trust in Victoria continued to manage the remaining freehold. In 2011 it began to build a relationship with the Barengi Gadjin Land Council which led to the return to traditional ownership of the remaining land held by the National Trust at Ebenzer Mission.
Community Views
The obtaining, dispossession, and control of our traditional lands, sometimes with extreme violence, were instigated through unjust government policy and, in our view, occurred unlawfully. This brought rapid and devastating changes for our ancestors, and the consequences of these acts continue to impact on our people today through intergenerational trauma. Some of our ancestors sought refuge at 'friendly' pastoral runs, where a sense of community was maintained. In 1857, in keeping with Government policies of the times, Ebenezer Mission was established. The site chosen for the mission was our ceremonial ground of Banju-Bunang. Many people of the Wotjobaluk Nations were moved there, and while cultural practices were discouraged, our sense of identity was maintained and the strength of our culture and connection to Country survived.
Following the closure of Ebenezer Mission in 1904, some of our families were moved off Country to other missions and those that stayed lived on and around Barringgi Gadyin, moving into the nearby townships of Dimboola, Warracknabeal, Stawell, Horsham, Antwerp and Goyura. Today, many of our families have moved back to Wotjobaluk Country, and the Wotjobaluk Nations continue to cherish and nurture all aspects of our land, water and heritage to preserve the strength and resilience of our community.
Barengi Gadjin Land Council