The ACT Government will be forced to defend in court much of its approach to Aboriginal affairs since self-government after a decision by the territory's discrimination tribunal.
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The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal says an indigenous woman seeking recognition by the Government of her clan's connection with the land should have her case heard.
Lawyers acting for Ngarigu woman Ellen Mundy say the decision shows the ACT Government has a ''case to answer'' in the way it manages Aboriginal affairs.
Ms Mundy is pursuing a discrimination complaint against the Chief Minister and the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.
The legal claim on behalf of the Ngarigu people argues that group has been left out in the cold by the ACT Government when it makes decisions about acknowledging Aboriginal culture and history and in providing services to the territory's indigenous people.
ACT Government lawyers failed last week to have the tribunal dismiss Ms Mundy's claim, saying it was ''fundamentally'' misconceived. However, tribunal member Alan Anforth ruled the case should be heard.
Ms Mundy's lawyer Sam Tierney, of Maurice Blackburn, said the claim was ''about making the Government realise it must acknowledge that there is more than one Aboriginal group of people who have a traditional connection to the ACT.''
''We have strong anthropological and other evidence to support the case of the Ngarigu people,'' Mr Tierney said.
''They, in addition to the Ngunnawal people, have legitimate rights to have their cultural heritage acknowledged and to have access to resources to enable them to do this.
''In making a decision to give preference to only one group while refusing to consider the equal or possibly stronger claims of another, the ACT Government has discriminated against the Ngarigu people.''
Mr Tierney said the case was not a native title land claim but about the Ngarigu people's rights to protect their cultural, spiritual and language heritage.
Ms Mundy, who has traced her ancestors back to the 1820s, first wrote to the ACT Government 18 years ago requesting that the Ngarigu people be recognised as part of ACT history. She said that despite her lobbying, the ACT Government had repeatedly declined to investigate or even consider the Ngarigu people's claim.
In a statement to support her case, Ms Mundy says there are 19 sub-groups of the Ngarigu people, which has its own unique language, and there are up to 100 people who would identify themselves as Ngarigu.
''There are sites in and around the ACT which have cultural and spiritual significance to the Ngarigu people,'' Ms Mundy said.
''These places include the Namadgi National Park, Red Hill, the Molonglo Valley, Pialligo, certain parts of Harrison, the Murrumbidgee River corridor and Gibraltar Rocks.''