As part of the First Principles Review of the Traditional Owner Settlement Act, the parties to the Review are examining the calculation of compensation amounts paid under Settlement Act agreements in light of the decision of Northern Territory v Mr A. Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones [2019] HCA 7 (Timber Creek decision).
The First Principles Review Committee (the Traditional Owner party to the Review) has recommended that a new compensation model be developed based on compensation for historical land use activities, plus interest payable. The proposed model will require access to, and analysis of, significant amounts of historical data.
This interim scoping commission, which forms part of a broader commission investigating the development of a new compensation model, is expected to assist with understanding the comprehensiveness and reliability of data to be utilised in any such model. The expert is asked to broadly address the feasibility of including land use activities such as major public works and public land authorisations in such a model (for which the data availability is currently unknown).
Procurement for the interim scoping commission is currently underway.
The expert is asked to:
a) Investigate what sources of information are available for each of the following State government activities from 1975 to June 2021 that occurred on public land and waters:
- public works
- public land authorisations
- earth resource authorisations
b) conduct interviews with relevant regional government offices (including but not limited to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning; the Department of Treasury and Finance and the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions) that may hold historical public land information.
c) investigate, and conduct interviews with, any other potential holders of historical land use information, such as the Public Records Office Victoria.
d) investigate, and conduct interviews with, the Valuer General’s Office regarding historical public land valuation information.
e) report on the accessibility and usability of each source of information.
f) report on the usefulness of each source of information for the purpose of identifying historic land uses, historic land values, and the impact of activities on Traditional Owner Rights (as in section 9 of the TOS Act).
Updated