YMAC Native Title Forums
Free to attend for Traditional Owners as well as Prescribed Body Corporate (PBC) staff and directors from within YMAC’s representative regions, our annual ‘Native Title Forums’ provide a great opportunity for attendees to network and learn more about native title, its related processes, the different roles and functions of various stakeholders (like YMAC and PBCs), current reforms and opportunities, sector updates, and much more.
2026 Native Title Forums – Let’s talk about water!
Overview
In Western Australia, First Nations peoples’ interests in water are widely accepted in principle but remain poorly clarified and recognised in law and practice. While the State Government acknowledges the importance of a partnership approach with First Nations people in managing water resources, there is currently no clear or consistent framework that provides for any meaningful rights, access, or decision-making authority. As climate change, industrial demand, and population growth place increasing pressure on the state’s water resources, this gap is becoming more urgent and unsustainable. Against this backdrop, YMAC designed its 2026 Native Title Forums to focus on water, with particular attention to terrestrial water rights, access, allocation, and governance.
The 2026 Native Title Forums were scheduled to be held:
(Unfortunately, the Hedland event did not go ahead as planned. Due to restricted travel ability (because of fuel crisis concerns) and low registration numbers, it was deemed unviable.)
At each of the forums held, presentations were shared by the below organisations and State Government departments, representatives of which also participated in panel/Q&A sessions:
Summary of discussions
A strong message from attendees emerged from the forums: water is not just a commodity, but is fundamental to culture, Country, community wellbeing, and future prosperity. Despite this, Aboriginal people continue to have very limited control over how water is managed or used. Participants highlighted several major concerns including the absence of legal pathways for Aboriginal water rights, fragmented government decision-making and notification processes, consultation processes that lack transparency, meaningful action and feedback, and regulatory systems, particularly in relation to mining, that prioritise compliance over long term cultural and environmental outcomes.
Structural barriers to participation were also emphasised. Limited resourcing, complex legal and technical frameworks, and short consultation timeframes restrict the ability of Traditional Owners and PBCs to engage effectively. These challenges are being compounded by climate change, which is increasing competition for water and intensifying risks to Country.
Overall, the forums underscored a clear expectation that government move beyond consultation toward genuine partnership and shared decision-making. While longer term legislative reform is widely seen as necessary, participants identified immediate opportunities to improve outcomes through better coordination, increased transparency, strengthened engagement processes, agreement making, and targeted capacity building. Addressing Aboriginal water rights is critical not only to fairness and justice, but to the sustainable future management of Western Australia’s water resources.
Outcomes and opportunities identified
Please note, the following is not an exhaustive record of the key challenges and recommendations identified by participants at YMAC’s 2026 Native Title Forums, nor does it set out every action the State Government could undertake to improve outcomes for Traditional Owners and PBCs in this area. Instead, it aims to capture recurring themes raised and suggests some possible responses. Further, the order of the list does not indicate priority.
Water was consistently described as foundational to First Nations people. It should be seen and treated as more than a natural resource given how it underpins community wellbeing, future development, and overall cultural survival.
Participants highlighted the following interrelated dimensions of water:
There was broad agreement, including among government staff present, that the current legislative framework is outdated. A central issue raised was the tension between calls for legislative reform and the State Government’s apparent preference for incremental, policy-based changes. Many participants considered this reform gap unacceptable given the seriousness of the issues faced. Key points raised demonstrating the urgency of systemic reform and adaptive water management included:
It was the view of attendees that while broader reforms are delayed the situation will only worsen.
A core concern was the absence of a clear legal framework for Aboriginal water rights, creating a gap between recognition in principle and real control in practice. Participants highlighted the following issues:
Despite these systemic challenges, participants identified practical pathways for near-term progress. While agreements and planning processes are seen as the most workable tools currently available, they are not a complete solution. Additional suggestions included:
The lack of government transparency and coordination were consistently raised as critical concerns throughout the forums. Participants stressed that without clear information, accountability and meaningful participation are undermined. Many expressed frustrations about the limited feedback on submissions provided and poor visibility of how decisions are made, particularly in relation to cumulative and long-term impacts. Specific access gaps identified included:
Legal ambiguity and complexity further compound these issues and create significant barriers to effective engagement and the realisation of rights. Existing legal frameworks are also seen as insufficiently aligned with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), further limiting meaningful participation.
Together, these transparency gaps, legal complexities, and participation barriers contribute to systemic exclusion and weaken trust in water governance processes.
Participants also described water governance as institutionally fragmented, with multiple agencies operating across overlapping responsibilities and limited coordination. This fragmentation was seen to create policy and implementation gaps, inefficiencies, and inconsistent outcomes. To address this, participants called for:
Participants consistently raised concerns about fragmented decision-making, weak notification processes, and consultation practices that do not support meaningful engagement. Many described current processes as procedural rather than collaborative, with limited clarity about how input is considered and little visibility of resulting decisions. Key concerns included:
Participants emphasised that effective engagement must be early, ongoing, place-based and relationship-driven. More broadly, they argued that reform must move beyond consultation toward shared authority, with Traditional Owners and PBCs involved in shaping decisions rather than responding to them after the fact. Achieving this will require consultation processes that are less repetitive, less burdensome, and more effective for Traditional Owners. Participants also called for clearer feedback on submissions and better communication about how engagement has influenced outcomes. Without these changes, perceptions of tokenism are likely to persist.
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Example: State Government’s interpretation and application of section 24HA During its presentation, DMPE advised that new miscellaneous licence applications under the Mining Act 1978 (WA) that involve water take are notified under section 24HA (s24HA) of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA). However, it remained unclear whether water licence applications connected to mining leases are notified in the same way, or whether responsibility for notification sits with DMPE or DWER. YMAC noted that its clients receive relatively few s24HA notifications, despite the high level of mining activity across its representative regions, raising questions about how often water licences associated with mining projects are being notified. In one of the panel discussions, DWER and DMPE further advised that water licence applications on granted mining leases are treated as secondary approvals. In that view, if the mining lease previously complied with section 29 (s29) of the NTA through the ‘Right to Negotiate’ process, later water licence applications linked to that same lease are not separately notified under s24HA. This means Native Title Holders may receive no notice of, and no opportunity to comment on, water licence applications for granted mining leases. This raises several legal and practical concerns: · Compliance with s29 may be treated as procedural only, even where no agreement was negotiated in good faith. · There may be a significant gap between the grant of a mining lease and any later application for a water licence. · At the time agreements are negotiated, the project’s water requirements may be unknown, undisclosed, or not adequately addressed. · Traditional Owners and PBCs may not have had the capacity to engage effectively when the mining lease was originally notified. · Older agreements may not deal with water issues or reflect current industry practice. · The parties involved at the claim stage may not be the right people for Country at the determination stage, particularly for older tenements. · For tenements granted before native title was recognised, it may be assumed that s29 has already been satisfied, with no further notification to Native Title Parties. · Because mining leases may run for 21 years and be renewed for a further 21 years, Native Title Parties could go decades without being notified of related water licence applications. · Treating water licences as something other than a separate future act may also have implications for compensation liability. YMAC submits that the State Government should make it a requirement to notify Native Title Holders before a water licence is granted and that they must be given adequate opportunity to comment. |
Participants emphasised that the challenges facing Traditional Owners and PBCs are not only operational but structural. The size, capacity, and governance arrangements of PBCs across YMAC’s representative regions vary significantly, and reforms must account for this complexity rather than assume consistent levels of representation, resourcing, or technical capability. Current systems often presume capacity that many groups do not have, reinforcing inequity and limiting effective participation in water-related decision-making. Key barriers identified included:
Participants stressed that these barriers cannot be addressed through short-term measures alone; sustained investment is needed in technical expertise, governance strengthening, training, and employment pathways, particularly for PBCs, to support genuine and effective participation in water governance.
Participants raised concerns that regulatory systems, particularly in mining and water use, often prioritise procedural compliance over long-term cultural and environmental outcomes. These risks are being intensified by climate change, which is increasing competition for water and placing greater pressures on Country. The following priorities for reform were discussed:
More information
If you would like to know more about YMAC’s Native Title Forums, please contact Senior Projects Coordinator Teri O’Neill (E: toneill@ymac.org.au; P: 0418 115 908).
Country is our mother, the provider and keeper of cultural belongings. Country and Culture go together. You can’t have one without the other.
Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners and custodians throughout Western Australia, and on whose Country we work. We acknowledge and respect their deep connection to their lands and waterways.
We honour and pay respect to Elders, and to their ancestors who survived and cared for Country.
Our offices are located on Whadjuk Country, Southern Yamatji Country, Kariyarra Country, and Yawuru Country. We recognise the continuing culture, traditions, stories and living cultures on these lands and commit to building a brighter future together.
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