Indigenous good governance begins with communities and institutions

No wonder we were excited.

No wonder we imagined that the return of our traditional lands, and all that that righting of a great wrong represented, would turn things around for us.

And on that basis native title became somewhat of a sacred cow, an area of Indigenous affairs that took on an almost religious status for those involved at all levels and on all sides of the debate.

This was big!

This could change everything.

Yet, here we are 10 years later, having to face the fact that native title hasn't and won't change anything much at all unless we start to see it for what it is and always was - just one piece of the jigsaw of putting things right for Indigenous Australians.

Let me answer the question about what family violence has to do with native title very bluntly by expressing the harsh reality that just because an Aboriginal woman is being bashed on her traditional land will not make the ground any softer when her head hits it.

Good governance provides the link between all these other issues, all these other priorities and concerns that can make native title really mean something to people in communities.

If we are truly committed to the notion of self-determination, we cannot begin to pursue it without instruments of governance.

If we do not have these structures, we cannot engage with government other than on an ad hoc, individual basis that leaves us vulnerable. We cannot engage in partnerships with business, we cannot benefit from the essential nature of our communal identity as Indigenous people.

If we want to acquire native title and manage it for the benefit of our communities, this cannot be achieved without effective governance both during the process of acquisition and once the native title is acquired.

We can't possible hope to negotiate a treaty or any other form of meaningful national agreement if we don't have governance structures that legitimise our side of the negotiation.