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Speeches and papers
First Nations peoples’ involvement in audits of Indigenous land councils
Presented
Wednesday 6 March 2024
Contact
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Christine Chalmers, Executive Director – Performance Audit Services Group, Australian National Audit Office, recently attended INTOSAI’s Performance Audit Subcommittee Annual meeting from 5-6 March 2024 in Tbilisi, Georgia. At the meeting, Christine gave a presentation on Civil society engagement in performance audit – Indigenous/First Nations persons involvement in audits of indigenous land councils. The presentation was titled First Nations peoples’ involvement in audits of Indigenous land councils.
Slides
The slidedeck for the presentation can be downloaded at Related documents on this page. The text of the slides is available below.
Northern Territory land councils
Northern, Anindilyakwa, Central and Tiwi Land Councils
Auditing challenges
- Credibility and cultural competency of a Canberra-based team
- Historical lack of trust towards government entities
- Balancing quality fieldwork with budget and time constraints
- Balancing engagement and independence
- Combining Western and Indigenous laws and customs
- Format of English-language ANAO reports to Parliament
NT Land Councils: Audit rationale
The audit was conducted to provide independent assurance to the Australian Parliament that the Land Councils’ governance arrangements are effective in meeting legislative obligations under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, the Native Title Act and the Performance, Governance and Public Accountability Act.
Land Councils play an important role in securing rights and realising benefits for Aboriginal constituents. Many external stakeholders, including government entities, non-government organisations, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses, rely on the efficient and effective operation of the Land Councils.
Citizen involvement
Pre-fieldwork engagement
Site visits
Audit fieldwork in Wujal Wujal
Audit fieldwork in Santa Teresa (Ltyentye Apurte)
Reporting back
Reporting back to the Groote Strong Women’s Group
Figure 4.1: Relationships between ALC, AAAC, GHAC and Winchelsea Mining, 2021-22
Source: Auditor-General Report No. 29 of 2022-23
Recommendation no. 10
Paragraph 3.87
The Anindilyakwa Land Council strengthen the royalty equivalents distribution process by:
- developing an assessment method that includes funding priorities;
- communicating the assessment method to potential applicants and informing all applicants of outcomes;
- applying the assessment method to all decisions; and
- keeping adequate records of the basis for funding decisions.
Anindilyakwa Land Council response: Disagreed.
Managing the risks of citizen engagement
- Managing expectations
- Setting the parameters of performance audit work
- Preserving independence, neutrality and objectivity
Questions
Source: Auditor-General Report No. 29 of 2022-23