For Aboriginal people, Country is everything. From Country comes the opportunity to connect with culture and build Community.

With access to land we own and manage, we can create opportunities to build capacity within our people, share knowledge, heal, and support one another. 

Aboriginal land that has been returned is actively managed by rangers trained to protect cultural, heritage, and natural values, manage fire, and engage with visitors. 

Regular camps and community days are organised to allow people to connect, share culture, and become familiar with Country. 

Returned land and some facilities are available to Tasmanian Aboriginal people for connection and recreation.

Through Country, we connect to our ancestors and help the next generation understand what it means to be Aboriginal.

Where are the returned lands in Lutruwita?

There are 6.81 million hectares in Lutruwita/Tasmania. Only 21,233.89 hectares are held by ALCT. 

Only 0.31% of land in Lutruwita/Tasmania has been returned to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community

22 land areas have been returned to ALCT:

• 18 land areas have been fully returned
• 1 has been returned under a 40-year lease
• 3 land areas have been granted via the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC)
• 1 has been obtained by ALCT through an ILC grant
• 5 other land areas have been granted through ILC/or leased to five community organisations

The small red dots on the map below represent the returned land areas.

The largest returns are in the Tayaritja/Bass Strait region, including Truwana/Cape Barren, Lungtalanana/Clark, Babel, Chappell, Badger, and Big Dog islands.  In the western Bass Strait, Titima/Trefoil and Steep Head Islands are now in Aboriginal ownership.

On mainland Tasmania, we have Preminghana/Mt Cameron West, Piyura Kitina/Risdon Cove, and Putalia/Oyster Cove. We also have some special cave sites in the remote southwest that were returned in recognition of their incredible ancestral and contemporary cultural significance for Aboriginal people.

The tragic site of exile for Aborigines in 1834, Wybalenna on Flinders Island, was returned in 1999 and remains a poignant memorial to the dispossession and death that came with colonisation.

In 2012 and 2013, attempts to return land at Rebecca Creek and Larapuna/Eddystone Point were stymied when they failed to pass Parliament’s Legislative Council.

Since then, no further Government attempts to return public land have been made.