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Central Land Council

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Alice Springs, NT
Central Land Council

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The CLC is a Commonwealth corporate entity governed by 90 elected Aboriginal members There are 15 different Aboriginal language groups in Central Australia.

The roots of the CLC lie in the history of Aboriginal struggle for justice and our rights to our traditional land. The Land Rights Act gave Aboriginal people title to most of the Aboriginal reserve lands in the Northern Territory and gave the opportunity to claim other land not already owned, leased or being used by someone else. The Central Land Council region covers 771,747 square kilometres of remote, rugged and often inaccessible areas. Due to the dispersed population and large geographical areas, CLC staff travel more than a million kilometres in their work every year. The CLC region is divided into nine regions based around these language groups. Today Aboriginal people make up 27 per cent of the Northern Territory's population with more than 24,000 Aboriginal people living in Central Australia. Aboriginal people own 49 percent of the land in the Northern Territory. The Central Land Council is a representative body promoting Aboriginal rights. It is a statutory authority under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. It also has functions under the Native Title Act 1993 and the Pastoral Land Act 1992.

29/10/2026

A new wave of scams is sweeping across Aboriginal communities. It’s called scambling: addictive online gambling or ‘ding ding’ websites that steal money from players.

Online casinos are illegal in Australia, which means that every single online casino people see is a scam.

Almost half of all scambling losses come from First Nations Australians because scambling companies are targeting them.

“If a game you’ve been playing looks like a scam, stop playing immediately,” is the advice from CLC general manager Mischa Cartwright.

“Contact your bank, tell them to stop any transactions, request a new card and change your banking password."

There is free support for people who have been scammed through IDCARE .

They can be reached on 1800 595 160 or through their website idcare.org.

Protect your community by reporting online casinos with the complaint form at acma.gov.au/interactive-gambling-complaint-form so the government can shut them down.

28/10/2026

It’s 41 years since the Uluru Handback!

On 26 October 1985 the Australian government officially gave back the title deeds of Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park to Aṉangu traditional owners.

The handback is a historic moment in land rights history. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last year, the “handback recognises that unbreakable relationship with country”.

“The Central Land Council fought for their [Aṉangu] country to become in whitefella law what it always was and always will be, Aboriginal land,” said CLC chair Warren Williams.

Today the park is jointly managed by Aṉangu and Parks Australia.

These are some photos from last year’s celebrations at Uluṟu and Mutitjulu.

21/10/2026

We are excited to announce Margaret Kngwarray Long of the Utopia Art Centre has won the Desart People’s Choice Award for her painting, Arnkerrth 2026, which depicts Arnkerrth, the Mountain Devil - her mother’s Dreaming from her country, Atnangkerr.

Ms Long’s extraordinary work has been reserved by the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

This brings the 2026 Vincent Lingiari Art Award to a close after more than 7,500 people visited the exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. This year’s theme was Our Country, Our Culture: 50 Years of Land Rights.

Read the full media release here: https://www.clc.org.au/desart-peoples-choice-award-announced-as-the-2026-vincent-lingiari-art-award-comes-to-close/

20/10/2026

The Central Land Council is deeply saddened by the loss of Dr Miller AO, and wishes to extend our condolences to her family.

Dr Miller touched the lives of Aboriginal people across Central Australia, her legacy will not be forgotten.

20/10/2026

CLC delegates Maryanne Malbunka and Roxanne Kenny, and CLC general manager Dr Josie Douglas joined the Antipoverty Centre and Single Mother Families Australia in an online event about ending poverty. They spoke about how raising the remote area allowance would help their families out bush.

19/10/2026

Most people out bush are on income support. Trying to budget on jobseeker or the pension during the cost-of-living crisis is not easy. Trying to budget in a remote community, where the cost of fuel and groceries is sky high, is even harder.

Here’s some of what Aboriginal people are up against when trying to make ends meet out bush.

18/10/2026

This week we travelled to Canberra to meet with 15 lawmakers, hold two press conferences, and one webinar about the urgent need to raise the remote area allowance.

People out bush are struggling. Increasing the allowance is a way to help the poorest families in Australia cope with the cost of living.

16/10/2026

The Central Land Council is calling for an increase in the remote area allowance.

“People in remote and very remote communities are doing it tough. Poor people are paying more for where they live,” CLC general manager Dr Josie Douglas said at the Parliament House press conference.

16/10/2026

Every politician says they are worried about Australians doing it tough. This week decision makers in Canberra are finding out from representatives of the Central Land Council just how tough things are for Aboriginal people and why the poor pay more for where they live.

Council members Roxanne Kenny and Maryanne Malbunka, joined by CLC general manager Dr Josie Douglas, are in Canberra explaining to members of parliament how their families are struggling to survive amid soaring prices for fuel and household goods. How they can no longer afford to drive hundreds of kilometres to town to find cheaper options and shop around to make ends meet.

The already high costs of basics is worsening. In remote communities, living costs are 40 per cent more than in the nearest town. Kids are going hungry. People can’t afford to keep their power on over long hot desert summers. Conditions are dangerous for children and the elderly, and make food storage and cooling almost impossible.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There is a solution.

Substantially lifting the remote area allowance for the first time in more than 25 years will make a difference to their families. They have been calling for this for a long time, but their voices go unheard.

The Hawke government brought in the allowance in 1984 to help compensate for the higher living costs out bush – $7 a week back when a litre of fuel cost 50 cents and a litre of milk 70 cents. Today it pays $9.10 a week, at a time when diesel costs up to $4 a litre in some communities.

The Australian Council of Social Services and the Economic Justice Alliance, who joined the CLC press conference at Parliament House, are two of 30 organisations from across the country backing the call to lift the allowance.

16/10/2026

We hosted a press conference at parliament house to call for an increase of the remote area allowance. “Indexation alone will not cut it. We need the allowance to be substantially increased to offset the much higher cost of living for remote and very remote people," said CLC general manager Dr Josie Douglas.

CLC delegate Maryanne Malbunka said the money doesn't stretch past pay day once people have paid for essentials like groceries and power. "My real worry is about families on income support."

Kate Allingham, Economic Justice Australia: "Economic Justice Australia fully supports the call from the Central Land Council. Currently, the remote area allowance is just less than $10 per week."

"It is simply not fit for purpose any longer. There needs to be an increase in my area allowance to level the playing field. People should not be struggling to access basic needs simply because of where they live. There needs to be equal access across Australia and increasing the remote area allowance would achieve that."

CLC delegate Roxanne Kenny: "Our people are really struggling in our communities. Our fuel is skyrocketing, diesel is almost four dollars a litre. Community shops are so expensive."

Cassandra Goldie, Australian Council of Social Service: "When you've got a payment that's less than $10 per week, which has been frozen in time over a quarter of a century, you have ignored and you have turned your back on people living in rural and remote areas around Australia.”

“Fixing poverty is not complicated. Fixing poverty is about ensuring that everybody has enough income to meet the basic essentials of life. And for people in remote areas, fixing the remote area allowance is the top priority for tackling poverty."

The Australian Council of Social Service, Economic Justice Australia and 28 other organisations from across the country are backing our call to lift the remote area allowance and provide cost-of-living relief to the country's poorest families.

Address

27 Stuart Highway
Alice Springs, NT
0870

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Website

http://www.clc.org.au/

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