Aboriginal Community Councils in the Territory have always been small. The Territory has provided a unique method of incorporation for them – community government. While they have always had a wider range of responsibilities than other municipal Councils they have always struggled for recognition as ‘proper’ Local Government.
Proposals for change in a number of areas will create Councils that are no longer ‘little’. They may still have to fight for recognition as ‘proper’ Local Government.
A new Council being considered in the Tiwi Islands will provide a regional Local Government that provides an umbrella over three current Councils and a large outstation.
It may also include under its umbrella a Health Board, a Training and Education Board and a range of enterprises and will have a very close association with a Land Council that manages all of the land of the Islands.
The regional body will be made up of representatives of all current communities along with senior land managers.
The new Tiwi Council, should it proceed as planned, will no longer be a small Council. It will control a total budget that will probably be larger than every other Council in the Territory. It will bring together policy decision making on all major social and physical services on the Tiwi Islands.
The new Tiwi Council will provide a framework for the delivery of services that should be effective. Importantly, it should also provide a framework for the exercise of greater power by Indigenous Territorians over the matters that affect their lives than any other similar group in the country.
The question is ‘proper’ Local Government or not?
