Native Title, Land Claims & Cultural Heritage

YIMBA provides advice to proponents, representative bodies and prescribed bodies corporate across Australia on major projects on issues including; environment, planning, stakeholder land access, native title applications, non-claimant applications, future acts, section 31 agreements, RNTPBCs, trusts, corporate governance, ILUAs, land claims and cultural heritage.

We also have extensive experience acting for corporate clients in collaboration with Traditional Owners to obtain native title consents, cultural heritage approvals and clearances needed for major mining, energy and resources, and infrastructure projects.

Our Managing Director, Damien Barnes was the General Counsel of NTSCorp, the native title representative body responsible for managing all NSW native title claims on behalf of native title claim groups.

• Advising on the nature of, existence and extinguishment of native title rights and interests
• Preparing and conducting of native title claimant applications
• Responding to non-claimant applications by pastoralists and other parties seeking to extinguish native title
• The creation of Indigenous Businesses, RNTPBCs and trust structures to manage the benefits flowing from mining, energy and resources projects
• Advising on corporate governance, trust and other arrangements to ensure the effective and efficient management of RNTPBCs
• Advising trust companies on the management of trust funds under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)
• Conducting of mediation meetings, case management conferences, conciliation conferences, arbitrations and on-country hearings
• Coordinating the preparation of anthropological, archaeological and other expert evidence
• Advising on and acting for clients in relation to future ac
• Negotiating of Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs), access agreements, cultural heritage management plans (CHMPs) and consent determinations
• Advising on the inter-relationship between various Commonwealth and State Acts including; the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) and Crown lands, fisheries, national parks, cultural heritage and related legislation
• Advising on and acting for clients in relation to the compulsory acquisition of native title rights and interests
• Advising on the obligations that arise under State cultural heritage legislation with respect to the discovery of Aboriginal sites, Aboriginal objects and Aboriginal remains
• Preparing cultural heritage polices, processes and procedures that comply with cultural heritage legislation
• Prosecutions for breaches of cultural heritage legislation