'We are not "others"': Ngambri description 'hurtful' as ACT govt ordered to finish review

Résumé détaillé

Court finds govt breached deed, orders completion within year.

The ACT government has breached a court settlement and been ordered to complete a review of Indigenous policies called offensive, hurtful and divisive by a Ngambri custodian.

Paul Girrawah House said: "We are not 'others', we are a distinct group of people, with deep connections to this place."

Last week, Justice David Mossop ordered the ACT government to perform a review of the Indigenous protocol and of ACT legislation within a year.

The ACT Supreme Court declared that the territory government breached the settlement agreement made with Ngambri custodians in 2023 after not having completed the promised reviews "within a reasonable time".

Mr House and Leah House had taken the territory government back to the ACT Supreme Court earlier this year over the breaches.

While they were successful in arguing the territory had not upheld the agreement made three years prior, claims the government had violated their human rights by failing to recognise the Ngambri people as traditional owners of the Canberra area were dismissed.

In April 2023, the ACT government agreed to undertake a "comprehensive review" of its Indigenous recognition policies "as part of a wide-reaching consultation process with First Nations peoples".

It also agreed to perform a review of ACT legislation "to facilitate a modern and contemporary use of language" in relation to First Nations peoples.

The settlement deed included the government adopting an acknowledgment of country that, in addition to the Ngunnawal people, recognised "other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region".

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