Byron Shire Council would undertake a suite of measures to ensure that local Aboriginal people owned housing on Country, under a motion to be put to this week’s Council meeting.
The motion, from Labor councillor Asren Pugh, proposes embedding the delivery of Aboriginal-owned housing for Aboriginal people within the objectives and actions of all of Council’s residential strategies.
As part of this process the Shire’s Residential Lands Strategy, which is currently being reviewed, would be amended to include specific areas for housing that would be owned and occupied by Aboriginal people.
‘In meetings with Arakwal representatives… it has been expressed that the two most important issues facing Arakwal members are housing and jobs,’ Cr Pugh said in his written comments in support of the motion.
‘Without housing on Country, Arakwal members cannot effectively engage with the community or Council consultation processes, they cannot enjoy the public art they have created’.
‘Native title holders have an intrinsic right to live on Country, and we as a Council have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that happens.’
Cr Pugh said that while there were already some Aboriginal housing initiatives and processes being undertaken by Council staff, this needed to be made a priority, with tangible goals and outcomes being set and achieved.
‘Our Residential Strategy spends a lot of time talking about the importance of living on Country, but includes no targets or mechanisms to make it happen,’ Cr Pugh said.
‘Rather, it focuses on consultation with Aboriginal people when people want to develop on their land. It also needs to be made clear that this is about the rights of native title holders to live on Country, not just through programs designed for low-socioeconomic members of the community.’
Process in place: staff
But Council staff said a process is already in place to achieve the goal of housing Aboriginal people on Country, and that it was being undertaken in direct consultation with the different local Aboriginal stakeholder groups.
Council’s Director of Sustainable Environment and Economy, Shannon Burt, said it was these Aboriginal organisations that were best placed to advise on needs, priorities and goals, and to guide the design and delivery of programs to meet these goals.
‘However, they cannot do all the work, particularly in the housing space, and neither can Council,’ Ms Burt said.
Ms Burt also noted that the Residential Lands Strategy already contained principles and actions relevant to Aboriginal housing on Country, which would be able to be updated during the current review.
This was consistent with other state and regional plans that also contained measures to address Aboriginal housing, Ms Burt said.
Ms Burt also noted that local government had little ability to influence either Aboriginal housing on Country, or the broader overall housing crisis, compared to other levels of government.
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