The Victorian Government and the Gunaikurnai people have entered into an agreement which formally recognises the Gunaikurnai people as the traditional owners of much of Gippsland. The State has also agreed in the Federal Court that the Gunaikurnai hold native title over land in that area.

The agreement has been made under the new Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010, the first such agreement under that Act. Separate orders by the Federal Court recognise that the Gunaikurnai people hold native title under the Native Title Act 1993. These outcomes settle a native title claim dating back to 1997.

Included in the agreement are:

• transfer of ownership of some national parks and reserves to the Gunaikurnai to be jointly managed with the State
• rights for Gunaikurnai people to access and use Crown land for traditional purposes, including hunting, fishing, camping and gathering in accordance with existing laws
• funding for the Gunaikurnai to manage their affairs, including responding to their obligations under the settlement.
• an undertaking to develop protocols for recognition of the Gunaikurnai people and strengthening Gunaikurnai culture.

The agreement area extends from west Gippsland near Warragul east to the Snowy River, and north to the Great Dividing Range. It also includes 200m of sea country offshore. The determination of native title covers the same area.

Both the agreement and the native title determination only affect Crown land within this area.

See Map of Gunaikurnainative title agreement in Related Publications on the right hand side.

Yes. This is the first agreement under the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 (TOS Act). The TOS Act allows the State to make settlements out-of-court that recognise the rights that traditional owners hold in land. Under this Act, there is no need for traditional owners or the State to go to court to resolve native title issues. 

In this case, the settlement will also include orders by the Federal Court recognising that the Guanikurnai people hold native title in the agreed area under the Native Title Act 1993. This formal determination by the Court is appropriate in this case because of the years of work that have already gone into recognising the rights of the Gunaikurnai since their native title claim was first lodged in 1997.

The agreement does not affect existing rights and interests on Crown land within the agreement area, such as leases and licences. These rights and interests are protected for their full term. 

The agreement does not impact any rights or interests in relation to private freehold land.

As part of the agreement, the Gunaikurnai people will be able to undertake traditional activities such as hunting, fishing and gathering for traditional, non-commercial, domestic or communal purposes. This will involve recreational fishing and game hunting without a licence, as long as the Gunaikurnai comply with relevant laws and regulations (including any catch limits).

These rights do not impact the access of existing users, such as recreational fishers and hunters.

The agreement does not provide the Gunaikurnai with any commercial hunting, fishing or forestry rights.  

The TOS Act creates a new, simplified system using ‘land use activity agreements’ to guide consultation and negotiation with traditional owners for activities that have a substantial impact on traditional owners’ rights in Crown land. See Traditional Owner Settlement Act FAQs – Impacts on business in related pages.

As this is a transitional settlement, a land use activity agreement will not be finalised for 12-24 months. This will give the government, traditional owners and other stakeholders the opportunity to fine tune aspects of how a land use activity agreement would work in Gippsland ahead of it being implemented.

In the meantime the ‘future act’ regime under the Native Title Act 1993 will continue to apply to activities that impact on native title rights.

Some national parks and reserves in the agreement area will be transferred to ‘Aboriginal Title’, and then jointly managed with the State. 

Aboriginal Title is the grant of Crown land to traditional owners for the sole purpose of joint management with the State. The traditional owners cannot sell or transfer the land, change its use or claim exclusive possession.

In all cases, the parks and reserves will continue to be managed under the same Act of Parliament by which they are reserved and subject to a joint management plan developed by the Gunaikurnai and the State, and signed off by the Secretary of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

Transfer of parks or reserves to Aboriginal Title does not affect existing use and access which will continue to be managed under the relevant land act.

The following areas will be granted as Aboriginal Title and subject to joint management:

• The Knob Reserve, Stratford
• Tarra Bulga National Park
• Mitchell River National Parks
• Lakes National Park
• Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park
• New Guinea Cave (within the Snowy River National Park)
• Lake Tyers Catchment Area
• Buchan Caves Reserve
• Gippsland Lakes Reserve at Raymond Island
• Corringle Foreshore Reserve.

Joint management means the State and Gunaikurnai share responsibility for managing the agreed national parks and reserves. 

A Traditional Owner Land Management Board will be established including Gunaikurnai and other representatives.The Board will manage all the jointly managed parks and reserves within the agreement area. The Board will develop a management plan with the Department of Sustainability and Environment that will set the strategic direction for the land. A Management Plan will be subject to public consultation and final approval from the Minister for Environment and Climate Change. It must also be consistent with legislation and policies applicable to that public land reservation.

Joint management will benefit both Gunaikurnai and the wider community through recognising Indigenous culture and knowledge, providing quality tourism experiences, improved public education and by conserving, protecting and enhancing natural and cultural values.

The State will generally continue to carry out day-to-day management and will permanently keep some core management functions. This includes fire management, catchment management including designated water supply catchment areas under the National Parks Act 1975, coastal planning and prosecution.

Jointly managed areas will continue to be managed under the relevant public land Act under which they are reserved. Protections around existing use and access contained in these Acts and regulations will continue to apply.

Once the land is formally handed back and jointly managed, the State and the Traditional Owner Land Management Board will draft a joint management plan. Access and use will be dealt with through the joint management plan, which includes a public consultation process and will be consistent with statewide policy to maintain public access.  

Specifically:

• existing licences or leases within the joint management area will be protected. Joint management will not impact on rights of existing lease and licence holders
• friends groups can continue to operate. They would be subject to the direction of the State, as the day-to-day manager – as currently occurs – as well as the Traditional Owner Land Management Board
• recreational fishing and hunting will be able to continue to the extent that they currently do. Any changes regarding access to hunting and recreational fishing would be subject to a consultation process and approval by the Minister as part of the development of a joint management plan, as is currently the case.

In addition to Aboriginal Title land, the settlement includes transfer a limited number of land parcels to the Gunaikurnai people as freehold title in future. In exercising this option, the Gunaikurnai would be required to use their own funds to pay for the land parcels, as occurs in any other freehold transfer of Crown land.

Crown land parcels appropriate for freehold transfer have been identified from following a thorough review process. Any land transferred will be fully owned by Gunaikurnai for their future use, just like any other private land owner. Where appropriate the Government can attach conditions on the transfer, for example to protect native vegetation.