Commonwealth Government's Response To The Juukan Gorge Inquiry Released Today

Today, the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP formally tabled the much anticipated response to the interim and final report by the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia into the destruction of Indigenous heritage Sites at Juukan Gorge.

SNAPSHOT

The Commonwealth Government has wholly, or in principle, accepted seven of the eight recommendations made in 'A Way Forward: Final report into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge' (Final Report). The recommendations notably include:

• a new legislative framework for cultural heritage protection at the national level;
• a review of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NT Act), with the aim of addressing inequalities in the negotiating position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the context of the 'future act' regime;