The Emerging Role of UNDRIP in Domestic First Nations Law and Policy
Understanding legal issues in relation to Indigenous Australian cultural heritage is becoming increasingly necessary for those working in the Australian heritage sector and for those employed in Indigenous affairs more generally. Uncover nuanced insights on key areas of heritage law including the emerging role of UNDRIP and cultural heritage reform in the destruction of Juukan Gorge, Native Title and agreement making and first nations tangible and intangible rights. WEB233Q16Z
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units in Legal Knowledge
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Co-Chairs: Dominic McGann, Partner, McCullough Robertson and Kristen Hodge, President of the Indigenous Lawyers Association of Queensland
9.00am to 9.30am Overview: The Emerging Role of UNDRIP in Domestic First Nations Law and Policy
Presented by Dominic McGann, Partner, McCullough Robertson and Kristen Hodge, President of the Indigenous Lawyers Association of Queensland
9.30am to 10.15am UNDRIP and Cultural Heritage Reform in the Wake of the Joint Standing Committee Report into the Destruction of Juukan Gorge
Presented by
10.15am to 11.00am UNDRIP and Native Title Inquiries and Agreement Making
Presented by Jonathan Fulcher, Partner, HopgoodGanim
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
11.15am to 12.15pm UNDRIP and First Nations Tangible and Intangible Rights
Presented by Cassie Lang and Stephanie Parkin, Founders and Principal Solicitors, Parallax Legal
12.15pm to 12.45pm UNDRIP and First Nations Economic Rights
- Biodiscovery, carbon economy and other benefit-sharing opportunities
Presented by Kristen Hodge, President of the Indigenous Lawyers Association of Queensland
12.45pm to 1.15pm Session 6: Plenary – Q & A
Presenters
Dominic McGann
Dominic McGann has over 25 years experience as a general commercial lawyer. He specialises in government advisory work, resources and infrastructure. As an element of his practice, Dominic is an acknowledged authority on native title and cultural heritage matters. Prior to joining McCullough Robertson, he had held prominent positions with various Queensland Government agencies. In terms of his current practice in the resources and infrastructure areas, it draws on his mining, infrastructure, government and commercial legal skills (including land tenure issues, native title, cultural heritage, safety, environmental compliance, infrastructure delivery and contract performance). He has experience in the following sectors: public sector, mining, water, statutory authorities, Indigenous communities, transport, energy, and agribusiness. Dominic has acted for various coal, base metals and other mining operations, petroleum and gas operators, water entities, electricity entities, ports, State Government agencies, foreign governments, as well as sugar and timber entities and various pastoral companies.
Kristen Hodge
Kristen Hodge is a Wiradjuri woman from NSW born and raised on the Kalare (Lachlan) River in Forbes. Kristen moved to Queensland to commence university at Griffith University and found work specialising in native title and cultural heritage issues over the last 15 years working in the Queensland space. Kristen has represented the State Government, Local Governments, mining and development land users and Traditional Owners from all different angles and has unique perspectives as a result. Kristen currently works at the Native Title Representative Body, Queensland South Native Title Services and her passion is focused around cultural heritage and economic independence for groups. Kristen also advocates for the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander professionals and has been a member of the Indigenous Lawyer’s Association of Queensland since 2017 and was recently appointed President.
Jonathan Fulcher
Jonathan Fulcher has a PhD in history from Cambridge University. In that thesis, he examined the meanings of key words in a political language, and how those meanings were applied in political discourses to fight over the political reform movement in England in the period 1816 to 1824. Ever since he has had a deep interest in the meanings of words, and this has extended to a great interest and expertise in statutory interpretation. The Native Title Act 1993 is the place where Jonathan's interest in the meaning and context of words used in a statute was first piqued. The rules for interpreting statutes attempt to fix the meanings of statutory words and phrases, such that the laws are made certain and capable of prediction for those wanting to apply the law as it is promulgated. What he has found, though, is that it is the lack of certainty created by contests over meanings of words in a political discourse and meanings of words in a statute that his PhD and his law studies have in common. In politics, the contest over the meanings of key words in English political discourse were determined by the meanings being fixed in statute, only to be rendered useless as social and political change made those attempts to fix the meanings moribund. In law, the fixing of the meaning of words in a statute is only resolved ultimately by the High Court. Even then, social and political change can render previous decisions fixing the meanings of statutory words moribund. So this seminar will be about the process of fixing the meanings of statutory words, by applying rules of statutory interpretation: not only to show how those rules work, but how fixing the meanings of words, even in a statute can be very difficult indeed. Words in context can have unstable and contestable meanings, and any workshop of statutory interpretation must start with that premise. The context provided by native title in Australia is merely one example of that process in action.
Cassie Lang
Proud Bundjalung woman, Cassie Lang is a force within the Native Title and Indigenous Cultural Heritage legal space. Driven by her innate need to tell a full story, Cassie’s tailored approach to law allows her to effectively navigate the layers of politics between community, government, and other stakeholders. In Cassie’s fourteen years of legal expertise, she has helped Registered Native Title Body Corporates (RNTBCs) incorporate their cultural governance framework into negotiations and the way they wish to do business.
Cassie’s expertise extends to providing detailed and complex strategic advice on cultural heritage management and its interaction with relevant native title issues. Cassie has practical experience in Indigenous engagement, resolution of intra-Indigenous dispute and community consultations. All of her roles have involved her travelling to remote Indigenous communities. As back-to-back recipient of the Rising Star, Native Title Awarded by Doyle’s Guide (2015 & 2016 and 2020), Cassie’s impact in the legal profession is not only recognised by her clients but by her colleagues as well. In 2020 she was listed in the Doyle’s Guide for leading Australian Native Title Lawyers (Traditional Owner Representation). She was once again listed back to back in the Chambers and Partners rankings as Associate to Watch in Native Title law in 2021 and 2022. Cassie is community minded and invested in supporting future First Nations lawyers. She tutors QUT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Law and Business Students, and mentors junior lawyers to help build their capabilities and resilience. Outside of her profession, she provides secretary support to the board of the Murri School in Brisbane and the board of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak Body. Cassie co-founded Parallax Legal to work with First Nations communities to ensure that they understand their legal options and are empowered in their decision-making processes
Stephanie Parkin
Stephanie Parkin belongs to the Quandamooka People of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). As an intellectual property lawyer, Stephanie co-founded Parallax Legal in early 2022 alongside Cassie Lang. Stephanie’s area of expertise also extends to the use, management, protection and promotion of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property across a variety of different forms and industries. This applies to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and those who wish to engage with or use cultural materials or knowledge. In 2020, Stephanie completed a Master of Philosophy at QUT where in her thesis she addressed the issue of fake Aboriginal art and craft explored relevant intellectual property and consumer laws and power imbalances that contribute to the lack of law reform and change. Stephanie has also previously worked for the Copyright Agency assisting artists with copyright licensing and resale royalty matters. Today, Stephanie is the Chairperson of the Indigenous Art Code, a national voluntary code of conduct aimed at promoting ethical and transparent dealings between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and those who sell and licence their works. Within her own Quandamooka community, Stephanie is a director of the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation and President of the North Stradbroke Museum on Minjerribah.