Agreement making, especially through Indigenous Land Use Agreements, is an increasingly important aspect of native title practice. Major mining agreements in particular are typically highly complex legally-driven documents which focus on meeting or reconciling the various parties' perceived aspirations and interests within a risk management framework. However, comparatively little attention is given to agreements' necessarily intercultural character, and their roles in social and cultural as well as economic transformation. This seminar will focus on three key arenas which, it is argued, are crucial in both the design and implementation of sustainable agreements. Firstly, it argues that inadequate attention is paid to the governance of agreements as systems. Secondly, it outlines key implications of agreements being 'intercultural' institutions. Lastly, it proposes that the objective reality of ongoing Aboriginal socio-cultural transformation must be factored into both the design and implementation phases of agreements.

The newspaper article referred to by David in this seminar is 'Argyle closing the Aboriginal gap' by Ruth Williams, The Age, 17 May 2008.

Please note: This seminar is available in both Streaming Audio and MP3 formats.