Practical legal strategies to support the interests of

remote Aboriginal peoples in their bush food knowledge

Kylie Lingard

Australian Centre for Agriculture & Law

Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation

Today…

1. Bush food systems and knowledge interests

2. Australian law and policy support for these interests

3. Our approach to strategies to support these interests

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Remote Australia85% of land - 3% of population (550 000) - 25% of the Aboriginal population (140 000)

Lots of different foods...

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Kakadu Plum

Muntries

Desert lime

Riberry

Wattle seed Desert raison

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Anmatyerr women from the Ti Tree region search for Akatyerr in the southern Tanami Desert (Photo by Fiona Walsh)

Bush food systems are ancient wild harvest systems

that support a range of cultural, social, environmental

and livelihood values.

The systems depend upon Aboriginal people’s

knowledge of harvesting practices, plant uses

and properties, and conservation and resource

management techniques.

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An Aboriginal man practising firestick farming

Lots of different peoples with lots of different interests…

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maintain the connection between plants and knowledge

preserve knowledge for future generations

maintain wild harvest and land management practices

commercial support for wild harvest supply

control access to and use of plants and knowledge

fair payment for authorised uses of knowledge

recognition and compensation for contributions to bush food

conservation and development

preserve legal rights in knowledge

inclusion in law, policy and decision making processes

support for knowledge-based enterprise development

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Some of the interests shared with us to date…

These interests sit alongside other interests…

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Government interests e.g. Commercial interests e.g.

Conservation and sustainable use Returns on investments

Protection of intellectual creations Profit

Remote enterprise development Strategic market positions

Aboriginal knowledge interests Stable supply chains

In Australia…

…there is some theoretical support for some interests:

ability to control access to plants on Aboriginal land

ability to control use of confidential knowledge

right to object to other people claiming legal rights in knowledge

funding for existing enterprises, and non-commercial land

management activities and knowledge recordings

…but most of these avenues are problematic.

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A single piece of law reform is unlikely to support every

interest.

Australia is most unlikely to implement any radical law

reforms.

So we needed to look at a set of practical strategies that may

work together to improve support for the diverse interests of

remote Aboriginal peoples in their bush food knowledge.

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One set of strategies may involve…

Incorporate interests into organisational policy1

Certify and coordinate wild harvest supply2

Create a right to exploit new bush foods3

Create a one-stop shop for aspiring entrepreneurs4

Create a one-stop database service 5

Facilitate right to object to patents and trademarks6

Utilise Reconciliation Action Plans7

Where to from here?

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…a sustainable framework to support the interests of most peoples.

Undertake a collaborative reform process

Build acceptance of the need for reform

Promote incremental improvements to the status quo

Create a space for people to share interests

Government tasks an independent agency to…

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