A property rights schema for cultural flows in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

Figures & data

Figure 1. Aboriginal dreaming. Source: adapted from the Southern Arrernte Family Community Group ‘Dreamtime Chart’ (undated).

Table 1. Preliminary mapping of customary rights into a common property rights schema.

Aboriginal customary rights and obligations				Mapping to property rights schema	Mapping to water policy framework
Customary rights	Source of rights	Holder of rights	Name of right or obligation	Property right	Holder of rights	Source of rights
Rights to hunt, fish, hold ceremony, camp	Kinship and totem	Individuals, families and clans	Connection to Country	Operational level rights – withdrawal and access rights to resource units	Water entitlement holders Some land owners	Water markets Water Resource Plans (WRP) Stock and domestic
Rights to decide when hunting or other activities can occur or must stop	Totem	Totem holders	Caring for Country	Collective choice right – management rights to the resource system, and right to decide who has operational level rights	State and Commonwealth governments	Murray Darling Basin Agreement 1992 COAG Water Reform 1994 National Water Initiative 2004 Water Act 2007 Basin Plan 2012
Right to be asked for permission to enter clan or nation territory	Cultural knowledge	Elders	Speaking for Country (right to be asked)	Collective choice right – exclusion rights to the resource system, and right to decide who has operational level rights
Ensuring the ‘right people’ are involved in decision making	Creation Ancestors Dreaming	Clans Language groups	Cultural Law (‘Law’)	Constitutional level rights – governance rights to decide who has collective choice rights	State and Commonwealth governments	The Australian Constitution

Source: Adapted from Schlager and Ostrom 1992, and FVTOC 2017.

Schlager, E., and E. Ostrom. 1992. “Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis.” Land Economics 68 (3): 249–262. https://doi.org/10.2307/3146375.

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