A Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) is the name for a system of community-level land trust established in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
to administer former
Aboriginal reserve
An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...
s and
missions. They came about through the enactment by the
Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
of the ''
Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984'' and ''
Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984'' in 1984, allowing community councils to be created to own and administer former
Aboriginal reserve
An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...
s or
missions under a Deed of Grant in Trust). The trusts are governed by local representatives who are elected every three years to councils called Incorporated Aboriginal Councils. These councils have the power to pass by-laws, appoint police for the community, and are responsible for maintaining housing and infrastructure, running the Community Development Employment Program and issuing hunting, fishing and camping permits. As such, they work much like a local government, but are different in character as they own the land they administer on behalf of the community.
Most of the Torres Strait Islands entered DOGIT arrangements in October 1985, with the notable exception of
Mer Island, which became the subject of the
Mabo No.1 (1988) and
No.2 (1992) cases. The first Aboriginal community to receive a DOGIT was
Hope Vale on 27 July 1986. In the years following, many DOGIT communities were established—mostly in the
Cape York Peninsula
The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...
,
Torres Strait Islands
The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...
and
Carpentaria regions. The ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004'' extended to community councils many of the provisions and benefits of the ''Local Government Act 1993'' normally enjoyed by shire councils.
From 1 January 2015, some trustees, namely those classified as "urban" or "future urban" (numbering 34) are able to convert parts of the collective title to either Aboriginal freehold or Torres Strait Islander freehold title.
Communities
The following is a list of DOGIT communities in Queensland.
See also
*
Indigenous land rights in Australia
In Australia, Indigenous land rights or Aboriginal land rights are the rights and interests in land of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people; the term may also include the struggle for those rights. Connection to the land and ...
References
External links
Aboriginal Law Bulletin (1984)Public Health Law and Indigenous Health Project (2002){cbignore, bot=medic
Native title in Australia
Government of Queensland