What You Should Know About ILUAs
For Queensland property owners, it is important to have an awareness of Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) and areas surrounding native title claim.
Today, it’s essential that property developers consider aspects of cultural and indigenous heritage when proposing land development, and act within a strong ethical code while adhering to Queensland law. Transparency and accountability in business, in the areas of environmental impact, sustainability, and awareness of cultural heritage and indigenous rights, are valued very highly by contemporary consumers and service users.
To increase your understanding of ILUAs, let’s look first at exactly what ILUAs are, and what you need to know to respect these agreements when carrying out property development.
What Exactly are ILUAs?
To provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date information on this topic, we’ll allow the National Native Title Tribunal to provide us with a definition.
An Indigenous Land Use Agreement is a voluntary agreement between a native title group and others (typically local councils) about the use of land and water.
These agreements generally allow different parties to negotiate an agreement to suit their specific circumstances.
An ILUA can be:
- over areas where native title has, or has not yet, been determined
- entered into regardless of whether there is a native title claim over the area or not
- part of a native title determination or settled separately from a native title claim
ILUAs can cover topics such as:
- native title holders agreeing to a future development
- how native title rights coexist with the rights of other people
- access to an area
- extinguishment of native title
- compensation
- employment and economic opportunities for native title groups
- cultural heritage
- mining
(Source: National Native Title Tribunal).
How is this Important for Queensland Property Owners?
From this information, you can see that property developers must both aware of, and respectful towards, indigenous groups and persons when considering development of Queensland land.
It’s also important to note that once registered, an ILUA binds all parties and all native title holders to the terms of the agreement – so do your research and talk to the relevant parties involved.
How Can a Surveyor Help with ILUAs?
You may be surprised to learn that surveyors can help you with this research step.
A professional and qualified land surveyor, sometimes also called a cadastral surveyor, will be experienced in the laws of land ownership, including the laws surrounding ILUAS.
By accurately establishing your property’s boundaries and area dimensions, a land surveyor allows you to know exactly what land you’re dealing with. He or she will be able to identify all residential and rural boundaries, see what boundaries have previously been surveyed, and create new boundaries if land is being subdivided or realigned.
Very importantly, they can also determine whether an area of land has any cultural or heritage significance, including significance to indigenous groups or persons.
Contact a Professional Surveyor to Help Advise You on ILUAs
So if you need a land surveyor who can provide you with expert guidance and advice on the importance of Indigenous Land Use Agreements, you may like to contact Arnold Development Consultants (ADC). ADC is a team of qualified property development professionals with over 50 years of experience in the areas of land surveying, town planning and land use.
