First Nations’ rights over Sea Country are being left behind as Australia rapidly expands offshore gas and wind development, new research has found, with experts warning that Traditional Owners remain sidelined from decisions affecting cultural, spiritual and economic ties to the ocean.
A study published in Heritage and led by the Sea Country Alliance with Charles Darwin University (CDU) highlights that cultural rights at sea are far less recognised than those applying on land, creating what it calls a “legislative gap” that leaves Traditional Owners without a voice in offshore projects.
Co-Chair of the Sea Country Alliance and the paper’s co-lead author, Rhetti Hoskins, said that without reform, the drive for offshore energy could deepen dispossession.
“For over 65,000 years Traditional Owners have cared for Sea Country, ensuring that the ecosystems thrived, and cultural connections remained strong,” he said.
“Our connection to Sea Country is as important as it is to land, and yet, the protections that recognise our rights aren’t the same.”
The research points to the Federal Court case Munkara v Santos (No 3) as an example of the challenges faced by Traditional Owners in protecting songlines, totems and heritage under existing laws, noting the absence of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
The paper calls for urgent reforms, including embedding the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into offshore legislation, and establishing a national Economic Empowerment Fund to ensure communities — including those impacted by spill zones — share in development benefits.
Fellow Co-Chair of the Sea Country Alliance and co-lead author, Gareth Ogilvie, said Australia should now aim to set a global standard.
“Australia must not just meet but lead international best practice in approaching Sea Country as a holistic environment that includes cultural significance, plants and animals and minerals,” he said.
“Our Songlines connect the heart of Australia to the Australian coastline as it once was, now far out at sea – we understand Sea Country and terrestrial Country as one.”
CDU’s Asia Pacific School of Business and Law academic and co-author, Matthew Storey, said the issue goes to the heart of how Australia’s energy transition will be judged globally.
“Offshore energy development could either repeat the mistakes of past extraction regimes or set a global benchmark for Indigenous-led, culturally safe, and economically just energy development.”