Buying Back and Caring for Country: Institutional Arrangements and Possibilities for Indigenous Lands Management in Australia

Abstract

This article reports on research conducted for an Australian government agency concerned with the acquisition and management of lands for indigenous peoples. Using the theoretical and empirical literature on planning, this article considers institutional arrangements and processes to support the management of indigenous lands by their indigenous owners. The article examines recent calls for policy decentralization and community-based planning as a response to contemporary environmental management issues. The utility of three institutional models--(1) centralized institutional regulatory, (2) community-based planning, and (3) reticulist (facilitated process) approaches--are interrogated. The article develops a hybrid approach that integrates the positive features of different approaches. The hybridized model provides institutional arrangements that enable collaborative planning between indigenous peoples and state institutions. It overcomes the deficiencies of community-based approaches by retaining an active, albeit limited, role for state agencies.