Introducing our new First Nations Program Director – Jonathon Captain-Webb

We are pleased to welcome the First Nations Program’s new Director - Jonathon Captain-Webb, a Gomeroi and Dunghutti man and recognised practitioner in Indigenous land justice. 

Jon is leading EDO’s work across the nation to support First Nations peoples to protect their Country and Cultural Heritage through legal education and advice, strategic advocacy, law reform and other legal interventions. Jon has senior executive experience across Aboriginal land rights, Cultural Heritage, Native Title and securing Aboriginal rights and interests in land, waters and natural resources. He is also currently undertaking a PhD in Law at the University of Technology Sydney, researching First Nations conceptualisations of sovereignty, self-government and governance in western New South Wales. He holds qualifications in law, business and social change leadership, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity with the Atlantic Institute at the University of Oxford. 

Jon brings deep cultural grounding and lived experience in Aboriginal knowledge systems, cultural governance and community-led decision-making. His guidance and contributions are already supporting stronger outcomes for First Nations Clients, Communities and Country. 

“I am excited to working alongside a passionate group of people who are committed to supporting the aspirations of First Nations to protect their country, water, and Cultural Heritage. Across the Nation, I have seen amazing examples of First Nations peoples and communities leading law reform, innovating climate mitigation and adaption strategies through the application of traditional knowledge systems, and using legal avenues to protect country. EDO has a long history working with First Nations peoples and communities and through the First Nations Program, I am committed to decolonising environmental law and supporting the ongoing recognition of First Nations rights and interests.” 
 

Introducing our new Senior Solicitor – Lauren Ash

We are also delighted to welcome Lauren Ash as our new Senior Solicitor in the Country and Cultural Heritage Practice. Lauren joined the team in December 2025 to work with First Nations stakeholders on EDO’s First Nations climate justice work. Lauren is based in Meanjin (Brisbane). 

Lauren was admitted to legal practice in 2017 and holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from the University of Queensland. Before joining EDO, she worked with Traditional Owners in Victoria at First Nations Legal and Research Services, where she supported communities on native title and settlement matters. She also spent several years working as an environmental and administrative lawyer for the Victorian Government and in human rights law with the Judicial System Monitoring Program in Timor-Leste. 

Lauren's skills, expertise and commitment to helping First Nations protect Country and Cultural Heritage are already adding value to EDO. We are lucky and more than thrilled to have her join the team!

Review of the Murray Darling Basin Plan -  have your say before 1 May 2026 

The Murray Darling Basin (Basin) stretches across more than a million square kilometers, from alpine headwaters in the Snowy Mountains and the upper reaches of the Barwon and Darling Baaka river systems, to the Murray mouth on Ngarrindjeri Country in South Australia. Its rivers, wetlands and floodplains sustain 2.4 million people and provide habitat for species found nowhere else on earth. 

The Water Act 2007 (Cth) regulates ground and surface water resources across the Murray Darling Basin. The Basin Plan 2012 (Cth) contains the detailed water management rules. This includes rules about the maximum amount of water that can be taken from the rivers each year. The Basin Plan is intended to ensure that water in the Basin is managed sustainably for future generations. 

The Murray Darling Basin Authority is reviewing the Basin Plan and has published a discussion paper. The discussion paper sets out the issues the Authority is thinking about in the review.  

This is the first time the Basin Plan has been reviewed since 2012, when the Basin Plan was first made. The next review won’t happen for at least another 10 years. 

Why is this consultation important for First Nations in the Basin? 

First Nations rights and interests are poorly recognised in the Basin Plan. For example, the Basin Plan has only limited requirements to involve First Nations peoples in water and environmental decision-making.   

The law says that this Basin Plan review must consider and report on “matters relevant to Indigenous people”. This includes how could water be managed in future to support spiritual, environmental, cultural, social and economic outcomes for First Nations communities. 

This is a chance to influence and improve how First Nations are involved in water management in the Basin. 

How can you get involved? 

Anyone can make a submission to the Authority about the Basin Plan review. Submissions are due by 5pm (AEST) on 1 May 2026. EDO has prepared a submission guide to help the community understand what’s at stake, the legal framework for water management in the Murray Darling Basin, and how to make a strong effective submission. You can access EDO’s submission guide below:   

• Read our submission guide here.
• Read a summary of our submission guide and recommendations here. 
• You can make a submission directly through the Authority’s website here. 

Consultation starts on a new Aboriginal Heritage Act in Tasmania  - have your say before 6 July 2026 

The Tasmanian Government is consulting publicly on a new Aboriginal Heritage Act. They have released a draft bill which, if enacted, would replace the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975 (Tas) (Act).   

EDO has long called for the current, flawed Act to be replaced. The Tasmanian Government’s own review in 2021 found that, despite some changes in 2017, the Act remains one of the most outdated Cultural Heritage laws in the country. EDO has highlighted that the importance of any new laws incorporating the rights and principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). This includes the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent as part of the right of self-determination, under which Tasmanian Aboriginal people should be the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to managing the Cultural Heritage impacts of any development proposal.

You can read more about the Bill and how to make a submission here. Submissions are open until 5:00 PM on 6 July 2026.​ 

EDO will be publishing guidance for the community about the Bill: keep an eye out on the EDO website for more details.  

In the meantime, you can read our previous submissions on the Tasmanian Cultural Heritage reforms here:  

• Submission on a new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Protection Act (Tasmania)
• and Submission responding to the update on the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Protection Act (Tasmania)

EDO’s Submission to the United Nations United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Special Rapporteur) will visit Australia in November this year. This is a valuable opportunity for First Nations communities in Australia to be heard by the United Nations and for issues facing First Nations people in Australia to be highlighted on the world stage.   

The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations to promote the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), examine violations, and recommend solutions. The Special Rapporteur promotes the protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Dr. Albert K. Barume, a human rights lawyer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the Special Rapporteur. 

In the visit, the Special Rapporteur will: 

• speak directly to First Nations Peoples and their representative organisations  
• assess the implementation of UNDRIP in Australia, and 
• make recommendations to protect First Nations rights in Australia.  

Recently, the Special Rapporteur called for input about what he should consider during his visit (see more information here). With the input of some of our valued stakeholders, EDO made a submission to inform this visit.  

EDO’s submission highlights the lack of a comprehensive human rights legislation in Australia and the failure to recognise, implement and incorporate UNDRIP and the principle of  Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in Australian laws related to Country, Cultural Heritage and Water. We also urged the Special Rapporteur to consider these critical human rights issues facing First Nations in Australia: water access and rights; the protection of Cultural Heritage and climate justice.  

Image: First Nations Program Country & Cultural Heritage Senior Solicitor Ashley Truscott (left), with WA Managing Lawyer Jess Border (middle) and Solicitor Kate Evans (right) at the YMAC Native Title Forum in Boorloo.  

EDO presents on water laws at recent WA Native Title Forums  

EDO was pleased to present on ‘Legal Landscape of Water Governance in WA’ at the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation’s recent Native Title forums in Boorloo/Perth and Jambinu/Geraldton. EDO’s WA Managing Lawyer Jess Border and Senior Solicitor (Outreach) Ashley Truscott presented with YMAC Senior Lawyer Radhika Kayarat on water laws and processes: how Traditional Owners can use their voice to protect water. The presentation included information on how to get involved in environmental assessment and water licensing processes under state and Commonwealth environmental and water laws, the role of science in engaging effectively in these processes, how to report breaches of water licences/laws and how to requesting information from government about water licences under Freedom of Information processes. 

Listing of two Murray Darling Basin ecosystems as critically endangered and endangered

IIn January 2026, Federal Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt, added two new ecological communities to the list of threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act): 

• The River Murray, downstream of the Darling [Baaka] River and associated aquatic and floodplain systems was listed as critically endangered (listing decision, and the area covered, is available here). 
• The wetlands and inner flood plains of the Macquarie Marshes was listed as endangered. The listing decision, which describes the community, and the area covered, is available here.  

An ecological community can only be listed under the EPBC Act as critically endangered if it is facing an extremely high risk of extension in the wild in the immediate future. 

An ecological community can only be listed under the EPBC Act as endangered if it is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.  

Once listed under the EPBC Act, an action that has, will have, or is likely to have a “significant impact” on the ecological community needs formal approval under the EPBC Act.  

For both ecological communities, an official “conservation advice” is available online (links below). Among other things, these identify the key threats facing each ecological community including hydrological changes that impact inflows (e.g. irrigated agriculture), hydrological changes that impact natural river flows such as weirs and off-river storages, and climate change. Both conservation advices identify floodplain harvesting as a threat. The advices also identify “principles and standards for conservation” of the communities, and priority conservation and recovery actions. 

You can read the conservation advices here: 

• Conservation Advice for the River Murray downstream of the Darling [Baaka] River and associated aquatic and floodplain systems 
• Conservation Advice for the wetlands an inner flood plains of the Macquarie Marshes

Queensland Court of Appeal decision about the impact of the Adani mine on Doongmabulla Springs

Note: EDO is not acting in this case
 
The Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan and Jagalingou Cultural Custodians have won an important stage of their ongoing battle to protect the culturally significant Doongmabulla Springs from Adani Mining Pty Ltd’s Carmichael Coal Mine. The Custodians have gone to court to challenge the Queensland Government’s decision to refuse to use its enforcement powers under the Environment Protection Act 1994 (Qld) to protect the springs, including on the basis that the refusal decision was inconsistent with the Custodians’ cultural rights under the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld). Section 28 of the Human Rights Act recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold distinct cultural rights, both as individuals and collectively. 

While the main part of the case has yet to be heard, the Queensland Court of Appeal has affirmed that First Nations cultural rights are pre-existing from First Laws and are recognised by the Human Rights Act. They are not limited to or by native title rights, and are enforceable under Queensland law in certain circumstances. The decision also highlights that the Human Rights Act must be considered by government agencies when interpretating other laws.  

Read more:

• Chief Executive, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation v Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan and Jagalingou Cultural Custodians Ltd [2026] QCA 7
• EDO Factsheet: Cultural Rights under the Queensland Human Rights Act

NSW Land and Environment Court endorses restorative justice for harm to Country 

In a significant and rare decision, the Land and Environment Court of NSW has ordered the Forestry Corporation of NSW to pay $450,000 to the Yurruungga Aboriginal Corporation following illegal logging on Gumbaynggirr Country in the Mid‑North Coast of NSW. 

Rather than imposing a conventional fine, the court approved a restorative justice outcome, only the third time this approach has been used in the court’s history. The funds will support Aboriginal‑led remediation and healing of Country in an area now within the Great Koala National Park, a landscape of high ecological and deep cultural significance. 

The decision recognises that unlawful environmental harm also causes cultural harm, and that effective repair must be led by Traditional Owners. By directing funds to an Aboriginal organisation and requiring public accountability, the court has created an important precedent for justice outcomes that prioritise self‑determination, care for Country, and meaningful restoration, rather than punishment alone. 

It is also critical to acknowledge the enormous contribution of the Bellingen Environmental Centre and the grass-route advocacy across the Mid-North Coast Region.

Funding under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) Act  

Section 30 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (ATSIHP Act) provides for the Federal Attorney-General to grant legal or financial assistance to individuals or groups involved in heritage protection processes.   

Funding can be granted to someone who wants to (or has already applied for) a declaration to protect an area/object under sections 9, 10, or 12 of the ATSIHP Act and to those involved in legal proceedings related to the Act. The Attorney-General (or an authorized officer) may give funding if they are satisfied that refusing the application would cause hardship to the person and that it is reasonable in the circumstances to grant it.  In EDO’s experience funding can include both the costs of legal representation and for relevant expert reports. 

You can apply for ATSIHP funding here: Application form for legal financial assistance. If you have any questions about seeking funding, please contact the First Nations Program on first.nations.program@edo.org.au 

If you are aware of upcoming events related to Country, culture, water, environment, or law that you would like to share, please let us know at: first.nations.program@edo.org.au