The Tiwi Land Council is a

land council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

established in 1978 to represent

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

living on the

Tiwi Islands The Tiwi Islands ( meaning "two islands") are part of the Northern Territory, Australia, to the north of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin adjoining the Timor Sea. They comprise Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island, Bathurst I ...

. It is one of four land councils in the Northern Territory. It was established following requests by the

Tiwi people The Tiwi people (or Tunuvivi) are one of the many Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal groups of Australia. Nearly 2,000 Tiwi people live on Bathurst Island (Northern Territory), Bathurst and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Islands, ...

for recognition of their distinct geographic and cultural identity. These representations were a consequence of the '' Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976''. A special gathering on Bathurst Island attended by the then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Ian Viner, instituted the Tiwi Land Council on 7 September 1978, following Gazettal of the Land Council in Special Gazette No S 162 of 18 August 1978. The land council's area of operation is "Bathurst Island, Buchanan Island, Melville Island and every island wholly within the distance of of the mean low water line of Melville Island." The Tiwi Land Council aims to manage, protect and develop the interests of the Tiwi people in order to build and maintain an independent and resilient Tiwi society.Corporate Statements
Tiwi Land Council.

Leadership

References

External links

* {{Indigenous Australians Aboriginal land councils Tiwi Islands Aboriginal organisations in the Northern Territory