Girramay people

On 19 December 2009 the Federal Court of Australia recognised the Girramay people’s native title rights and interests over 16 parcels of Unallocated State Land, altogether about 475 ha, in the Cardwell to Murray Upper area in north Queensland. The determination finalises the Girramay People’s native title claim which was first lodged in September 1997.

The Girrramay people, with mediation assistance from the National Native Title Tribunal, negotiated their rights and interests in the claimed areas with the State of Queensland, Cardwell Shire Council (now Cassowary Coast Regional Council), Cardwell Shire River Improvement Trust, and Ergon Energy.

The Girramay people's rights are non-exclusive and include the rights to:

• access, traverse and camp on the area
• hunt animals and gather plants for personal, domestic and communal needs, but not for commercial use
• share or exchange plant and animal resources obtained from the area for non-commercial purposes
• conduct ceremonies and meetings
• be buried in the ground
• visit, maintain and protect significant sites
• teach the spiritual and physical attributes of places and areas of importance.

The Girramay people's rights to water in the determination area have also been recognised. These are the non-exclusive rights to:

• hunt and fish in, or gather from, the water for personal, domestic and non-commercial communal purposes
• take, use and enjoy the water to satisfy personal, domestic, communal needs but not for commercial purposes.

You can read more in the National Native Title Tribunal backgrounder.

You can see the area covered by the agreement in the location map.

Thanks to the National Native Title Tribunal for some of this information. For comprehensive information about Native Title and Indigenous Land Use Ageements, visit the National Native Title Tribunal website.