The company hosted a debate on the issue at the 2007 APPEA conference in Adelaide.

Minter Ellison partner Ewan Vickery, who heads the firm’s energy and resources practice in South Australia, said now was the time to review the Native Title Act, which has been in place for 12 years, to determine what had worked and what could be done better.

“Over the past decade we have seen significant improvement in relationships between indigenous communities and the resources sector,” Vickery said.

“Quietly, and without a lot of fanfare, resources companies have been leading the way in working with indigenous communities to generate economic, employment and skills growth in remote parts of Queensland, Northern Territory, West Australia and South Australia.”

The panel discussion and presentation by Barry Goldstein, Director of Petroleum from SA’s Department of Primary Industries and Resources (PIRSA), acknowledged that while the system worked well, it could be improved.

“Transparency and trust are the key here,” Goldstein told delegates.

“The question is how we can increase pace without decreasing the effectiveness of the companies on the ground and without creating any permanent harm to the land.”

Meanwhile, Minter Ellison’s Vickery said there was a push for native title to join other national issues such as education and water reform to become more homogenous across jurisdictions.

“From an industry perspective, one way to improve the process could be to introduce an optional national ‘boiler plate’ contract, just as exists for the construction and property industries.”

Currently the Native Title Act includes a ‘right to negotiate’ and an ‘Indigenous Land Use Agreement,’ which provide ways to resolve the need of resources companies for access to land for exploration and development, while respecting the needs of the indigenous communities.

“A national contract option could provide a significant improvement to the native title process,” Vickery said.