EDO’s Guiding Principles for work for First Nations clients and communities

Following comprehensive consultation with First Nations stakeholders across the continent, the EDO has finalised a set of ten principles to guide our work (Guiding Principles) for First Nations clients and communities. These Guiding Principles provide a framework for how we engage with communities, advocate for legal reform, and support the protection of Country and Cultural Heritage. They are grounded in respect for the self-determination of First Nations, recognition of Indigenous knowledge systems, and the importance of genuine partnership and collaboration. 

A key focus of the Guiding Principles is ensuring that First Nations voices are heard early and meaningfully in decisions that affect Country. This includes advocating for strong consultation processes and supporting the right of communities to participate in decision-making in ways that are culturally appropriate and community-led. EDO has consistently highlighted the importance of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, and the need for development and environmental decisions to respect First Nations Cultural Heritage, values and connection to Country.

The principles also recognise that caring for Country delivers benefits for people, culture and the environment. By supporting First Nations leadership in environmental governance, EDO seeks to ensure that legal frameworks better reflect the knowledge, priorities, and aspirations of Traditional Owners.

As we continue to navigate significant environmental and social change, including the renewable energy transition and broader reforms to environmental laws, EDO remains committed to working alongside First Nations peoples to advance justice, strengthen cultural heritage protections, and promote outcomes that support healthy Country for future generations, as they see fit.  

These Guiding Principles reinforce the EDO’s commitment to respectful engagement, partnership and accountability, ensuring that First Nations rights, knowledge, and leadership remain at the heart of environmental decision-making. 

EDO's First Nations Strategic Advisory Committee

EDO is committed to ensuring that First Nations voices, knowledge, and leadership are embedded across our work. A key mechanism for achieving this is the First Nations Strategic Advisory Committee, which provides strategic advice and guidance to support delivery of meaningful outcomes for First Nations peoples and communities. 

The Committee plays an important role in helping EDO remain accountable to the clients and communities we serve. Drawing on cultural knowledge, lived experience, and governance expertise, Committee members provide advice on strategic priorities, organisational initiatives and approaches that strengthen EDO's engagement with First Nations. The Committee also helps ensure that EDO's work continues to reflect the principles of self-determination, respect for culture and connection to Country. 

Following a review of its purpose and operation, EDO has recently re-established the Committee under new Terms of Reference. The refreshed Committee is designed to provide robust strategic guidance, while ensuring representation from diverse First Nations perspectives, experiences and expertise. The new framework reflects EDO's ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and to building stronger partnerships with First Nations clients and communities across Australia. 

An important step in this process was the recent Expression of Interest (EOI) process, which attracted interest from First Nations leaders, practitioners, and community representatives who are passionate about supporting positive outcomes for Country, culture, and community. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to express their interest and share their experience and aspirations for the Committee. 

EDO will progress recruitment and appointments to establish the Committee under its new Terms of Reference. The goal is to bring together individuals who can provide a strong First Nations voice within the organisation, grounded in cultural authority, lived experience, and strategic governance capability. As EDO continues to grow its First Nations Program, the Committee will play a vital role in helping the organisation deliver the highest quality services to First Nations clients. 

The re-establishment of the Committee marks an important milestone for EDO. It reflects our commitment to listening to, learning from, and servicing First Nations; it positions the EDO to go from strength to strength in supporting communities to protect the places and Cultural Heritage that matter most. 

AIATSIS Summit 2026  

National NAIDOC Week 2026

During National NAIDOC Week, EDO proudly took part in events across the country to celebrate the voices, histories, cultures, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, while embracing this year's theme, “50 Years of Deadly!". 

Our Gadi (Sydney), and Meeanjin/Magandjin (Brisbane) offices hosted stalls at local NAIDOC community events, providing opportunities to connect with community, share our legal factsheets and resources, and get creative through craft activities. Our Northern Territory staff joined other community legal centres at a community NAIDOC breakfast in Katherine, while our Gimuy (Cairns) team attended the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair. Our Nipaluna (Hobart) team participated in a flag-raising ceremony, and our Naarm (Melbourne) office proudly joined the annual NAIDOC march. 

EDO also celebrated NAIDOC Week with an all-staff luncheon and bake-off, bringing colleagues together both in person and online to share delicious food, stories, and reflections from the week. Staff embraced the bake-off challenge by creating dishes inspired by this year's theme. Entries featured bush foods, native animals, and the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags—some even influenced by this year's NAIDOC poster by Zaachariaha Fielding, and some creative dishes inspired by our beautiful native plants and animals. The creativity and thoughtfulness behind each contribution made the event a wonderful celebration of culture and connection and provided staff with the chance to come together to share our reflections on supporting and celebrating community. 

NAIDOC Week provides an important opportunity to come together to celebrate and recognise the enduring strength, resilience, and contributions of First Nations people across Australia. EDO is thankful to have been able to participate in all the events we were able to attend and to support communities throughout the weeklong celebrations. We cannot wait for next year where we can celebrate even more in NAIDOC events across the continent! 

Review of the Federal Water Act  

The Water Act 2007 (Cth) (the Act) is currently being reviewed. The Act is the main federal law which manages the water resources across the Murray Darling Basin (the Basin). It also deals with the sharing of water data and information nationally to support water management decisions. 

The Australian Government has engaged an independent reviewer to review the Act and to make recommendations to the Minister.  This role is supported by Dr Teagan Shields as the First Nations Adviser to the review. The recommendations from the review will influence how water is regulated and shared in Australia, in the national interest. 

This is the second time the Act has been reviewed. The first time was in 2014. 

The review will consider and make recommendations about a range of things, including: 

• the operation of the Act and the extent to which the objects of the Act have been achieved; and  

• opportunities under the Act to promote the principles set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).  

Between May 2026 and July 2026, Dr Teagan Shields held targeted consultation sessions and sought submissions about the Act from First Nations people across the Basin and across Australia.  

EDO’s Submission to the Review 
In August 2026, the reviewer published a Discussion Paper that outlined the key issues for consideration and invited public input. The EDO made a submission about the Discussion Paper and preliminary recommendations directed at the following key issues:  

• The critical importance of advancing First Nations water justice through legislative amendments to the Act.  
• Opportunities to strengthen the Act to achieve its core objectives including to address:  
  • the need for water management to account for and respond to climate change impacts;  
  • the importance of ensuring water extraction is sustainable;  
  • weaknesses in the way water resource plans (WRPs) are made ; 
  • failure to account for groundwater-surface water connectivity in water management; and  
  • the failure to adequately safeguard critical human water needs. 

We also advocated for expansion of the Act beyond the Basin to support improved water management across all jurisdictions, in line with the National Water Agreement. Highlighting examples of inadequate water regulation in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, EDO recommended the objects of the Act be expanded to reflect a broader focus of sustainable water management across Australia. We also recommend that the Productivity Commission support this through regular, independent and public monitoring of each state and territory’s performance against these objectives.

What’s next  
In early November 2026, the reviewer expects to publish a draft report of recommendations to the Minister. In November and December 2026, the reviewer will ask the public to make submissions about the draft report before finalising it.  

The reviewer will give the final report and recommendations about amendments to the Act to the Minister in February 2027.  

You can find out more about the review on the Department's website.

Swan Hill River Peoples’ forum

Submission on the draft Fitzroy-Derby Water Resources Management Plan 

The WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) is currently developing the Fitzroy-Derby Water Resources Management Plan, which aims to establish DWER’s approach to regulating, allocating, and managing water resources in the Kimberley region of WA. For more information on the plan, see Fitzroy-Derby water planning | Western Australian Government. 

In April 2026, DWER released a draft of the plan for public comment. EDO’s submission on the draft plan highlights challenges with WA’s water management framework and makes suggestions for how the plan can be improved to better protect water resources. Our recommendations include requirements for best practice engagement with Traditional Owners, and consideration of Traditional Owners’ cultural values and interests when making licensing decisions.  

Lutruwita Aboriginal Heritage Act reforms 

1. The new law must reflect international law and best practice standards. 
2. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Community must be recognised as the owners of Tasmanian Aboriginal heritage with appropriate powers to decide how it is protected and managed. 
3. Aboriginal heritage must be considered early in all planning and development processes and given the fullest protection. 
4. Exemptions and regulation-making powers that allow protection of Aboriginal heritage to be weakened must be removed. 
5. The compliance framework must provide effective mechanisms to deter and respond to breaches of the law. 
6. The Tasmanian Government must co-design the new law with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community to ensure it respects their rights and authority. 

Inquiry into the Queensland State Development Bill

In June 2026, Queensland’s Deputy Premier, the Hon. Jarrod Bleijie, introduced into the Queensland Parliament the State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 (the State Development Bill). The State Development Bill proposed to fast-track development and sidestep critical checks and balances in how resource and infrastructure projects can be assessed and approved in Queensland. 

EDO made a submission to the Inquiry of the Parliament’s Primary Industries and Resources Committee, which you can read on our website here. A summary of our concerns are also here on our blog.  

EDO also gave evidence at a public hearing by the Committee in Mackay. Our First Nations Program Director, Jonathon Captain-Webb told the Committee what the State Development Bill could mean for First Nations peoples' right to protect Country and Cultural Heritage. While the Queensland Government says cultural heritage management plans cannot be overridden by the Act, it remains unclear whether other cultural heritage protections could be modified or excluded. First Nations communities were not consulted before the State Development Bill was drafted—contrary to the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—and the reforms undermine the cultural rights protected under Queensland's Human Rights Act. 

Despite many stakeholders’ concerns, the State Development Bill passed with minor amendment on 26 August 2026. The changes started straight away.  

What do the reforms do? 

The State Development Bill introduced “modification orders” that would allow the Queensland Government to switch off or rewrite parts of Queensland’s environmental and planning laws project by project, with no public consultation and no published reasons. 

Despite the State Development Bill’s title, the reforms are not just about speeding up approvals for lithium, cobalt, nickel, and titanium mines, but will apply to any development the Queensland Government considers a priority for economic, environmental or social reasons. However, these new powers will not apply to renewable energy and data centre projects.  

This briefing note provides an overview of the key changes in the State Development Bill and EDO’s analysis of what they are likely to mean.  We are currently preparing a briefing note based on the Act as passed. Please contact us if you would like a copy of this.   

NSW Human Rights Bill 

The NSW Parliament is conducting an Inquiry into proposed human rights legislation in NSW. The Inquiry is being undertaken by the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Community Services. The Committee is inquiring into the proposed Human Rights Bill 2025 (the Bill) that was introduced into the Legislative Assembly in October 2025 but has not yet been voted on or passed.  

The Bill proposes to establish a statutory human rights framework for NSW to formally recognise human rights and to introduce a scheme for their protection. This would include lodging a complaint with a new NSW Human Rights Commission and bringing legal proceedings before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal or the NSW Supreme Court. 

If the Bill is passed by Parliament and becomes law, it would also place legal obligations on public authorities to uphold some of the rights provided for in the UNDRIP as well as the right to a healthy environment.  

The Bill includes a section protecting First Nations rights (see proposed section 17), similar to in the Queensland’s Human Rights Act 2019. It also includes a right to a healthy environment (section 44), and a duty on public authorities to ensure the participation of First Nations peoples in decisions that directly or disproportionately affect them when they are giving “proper consideration to a human right in making a decision” (section 49(4)).  

EDO made a submission to the Inquiry that highlighted the importance of human rights law for protecting First Nations rights and Country, Culture, and water. You can read our submission here. 

Federal Inquiry into AI and Data Centres    

Data centres are rapidly expanding across the world, and Australia is increasingly viewed as a prime location for these centres. The scale and speed of the proposed development is unprecedented, requiring more space and resources to power them. The rapid rollout of data centres and eagerness to secure economic benefits must not come at the cost of First Nations communities. 

The Federal Parliament is currently conducting an Inquiry into artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres. The Inquiry is being undertaken by the Commonwealth Senate Environment and Communications References Committee. The Committee is looking at: 

1. the effectiveness of existing regulatory frameworks in managing the growth of data centres in Australia, including in relation to existing and future deals between the Government and global Artificial Intelligence companies; 

2. the potential impacts of AI and data centres on Australian communities, industries, and the environment, water and energy; and 

3. any other related matters. 

The Committee invited submissions from the community that the Inquiry will now consider. It was an important opportunity to highlight the need to protect First Nations rights and Country, Culture, and water during this intense phase of data centre development.

EDO made a submission to the Inquiry that highlighted: 

1. the likely impacts of data centres on Country, with many large data centres being proposed in remote areas; 

2. the impact of AI’s significant demand for water on First Nations water rights and access, and Cultural Heritage; 

3. the electricity required to run data centres that will slow Australia’s energy transition, likely increase gas production and have flow-on impacts to First Nations energy security and climate justice;  

4. requirements on companies and Government to uphold the UNDRIP and Free, Prior and Informed Consent in data centre developments; 

5. ensuring First Nations benefit from the technological transition; and 

6. that existing laws are sufficient to respond to the scale of data centre developments and their potential impacts on Country and Culture. 

More information 

EDO has also developed data centre principles to provide a clear pathway for planning, assessment, and approval of ecologically sustainable and community safe data centres and associated infrastructure and use of resources. You can read the Principles here: Data centres, done right - Environmental Defenders Office.  

Please contact [email protected] if you are concerned about a data centre development near you.  

Inquiry into Data Centres - Lutruwita (Tasmania)     

The Parliament of Tasmania is also conducting an Inquiry into AI data centres. The Inquiry is being undertaken by the Tasmanian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Government Administration A. The Terms of Reference for the Inquiry are here.  

The Inquiry will make recommendations for future  laws and regulations in Tasmania about this.  

EDO has made a submission to the Inquiry which will be available soon on our website.

Qld Human Rights Act review       

The Queensland Government is reviewing Queensland’s human rights and anti-discrimination framework (the Review).  

This is not the first time the Queensland Human Rights Act has been reviewed. The law requires the Attorney-General to review the Act every four years. In March last year, the Queensland Government tabled the Report of the first review undertaken by Professor Susan Harris Rimmer, and the Government’s response—which rejected all of the recommendations in the report.  

This time, the two key parts of the review will be a strategic review of the Queensland Human Rights Commission, and a further review of the Human Rights Act 2019. The Review is being led by the Honourable Peter Flanagan KC. 

On 30 September 2026, the Review released a Discussion Paper that highlights key issues about the Human Rights Act that the Review will consider, including:

• if any more human rights should be recognised by the Act (like the right to self-determination for First Nations peoples, and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment),
• remedies that should be available if a public entity breaches the Act, and
• if the ways that a public entity can breach the Act should be limited.  

If you would like to make a submission to the Review, submissions are due by 30 October 2026.

You can email your submission to [email protected].

Submissions can be as long or as short as you wish. You can respond to the questions in the Discussion Paper or you can make a more general submission.

You can find more information on the Queensland Government’s website here. EDO will also prepare a submission to the Review. We would welcome your input on the issues we should address and any lived examples we could share in our submissions.  

After the consultation period, the Review will then consider the submissions and prepare a Final Report with recommendations which will be given to the Attorney-General by 31 March 2027.

Western Australia for a Human Rights Act (WA4HRA)     

EDO has recently joined the Western Australia for a Human Rights Act (WA4HRA) Campaign. The WA4HRA Campaign is made up of organisations and individuals campaigning to ensure that the human rights of Western Australians are protected by law.  The WA4HRA Campaign is focused on increasing the involvement of interested First Nations groups, individuals and organisations, and amplifying First Nations voices within the Campaign and its activities. 

Draft NSW National Parks Establishment Plan  

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is seeking public input on the draft National Parks Establishment Plan (the Plan).  

What is the draft National Parks Establishment Plan? 
The Plan explains how and why new national parks in NSW will be established and outlines the NSW Government’s conservation priorities for expansion of land across NSW into the “national park estate” —areas of land that are formally protected under Western laws. The NSW national park estate currently covers 8.45 million hectares under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW). It includes more than 897 national parks and reserves, 4 World Heritage-listed sites, and 17 Ramsar wetlands. Indigenous Protected Areas make up around 38,000 hectares of this overall area. 

The draft Plan:  

•  updates the existing 2008 Plan to reflect contemporary international, national, state and regional contexts; 

• identifies opportunities to expand the overall land in NSW to be included in the national park estate and the associated benefits;   

• outlines the framework for how NPWS will assess land for inclusion in the estate, including assessment themes and priority actions. The assessment themes will guide NPWS decisions about land for potential inclusion in the national park estate.  One of the “assessment themes” is cultural heritage, including Aboriginal cultural heritage. You can read about this theme on page 65 of the draft Plan; and 

• explains how implementation will be resourced and how progress will be monitored, evaluated, and reported.  

How can you make a submission? 

You can make a submission on the Plan, for example, by highlighting the role of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent in decisions made by NPWS around what land should be added to the national park estate.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59pm on Monday 12 October 2026.  

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: [email protected]