1. ABA funds come from mining on Aboriginal land, they are Aboriginal moneys and Aboriginal people in the NT should make decisions about the management and allocation of ABA grant funds.
2. Consistent with Australia’s international and national human rights obligations, traditional owners must provide their informed consent regarding any changes to the ABA.
3. All members of ABAAC, or a replacement new structure, should be Aboriginal members living in the Northern Territory who have been elected by Land Councils.
4. Decisions about all grant (or loan) payments should be made by the elected representatives of the Land Councils who are able to seek the advice of their own Land Councils.
5. A comprehensive framework for making ABA grants (and loans) should be enacted in the Land Rights Act after negotiations with the Land Councils, rather than continuing to rely on external legislation.
6. The ABA is not an Indigenous funding programme like other government programs. It should remain under the Land Rights Act and its funding arrangements should not be included in any Commonwealth funding strategy such as the Indigenous Advancement Strategy.
7. A reformed ABA should include a senior position of Director of the ABA that must be responsible for all ABA functions, based in the Northern Territory.
8. The staff of a reformed ABA should be accountable to the new Board or structure to facilitate greater Aboriginal involvement. This may mean that the staff costs should come from the ABA rather than the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
9. ABA grant processes must be accessible and accountable to Aboriginal people living out bush.
10. Land Council ABA representatives should have the option to be appropriately supported/guided by their senior management attendance at ABAAC meetings.
11. The ABA should not be treated as an ‘accumulation’ fund (only spending interest). Instead, the utilisation of the fund under s64(4) should be justified on the basis of the benefits that the expenditure would provide to Northern Territory Aboriginal people and should not be subject to arbitrary limits.
12. The ABA should remain as a separate ‘special account’ and any investments of the fund should be transparent to all stakeholders.
Source: Anindilyakwa, Central, Northern and Tiwi Land Councils, Submission 48, p. 8.