Introduction

First of all, let me acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this place, the Whadjuk Noongars. This isn't something that I say f lippantly; my family are Traditional Owners in the lower south west of the state. I am a Wardandi Noongar, so I make that acknowledgement as an outsider, to state that I recognize the primacy of the Whadjuk Noongars in this country and to pay my respect to these people.

Let me also acknowledge the organizers of this conference and thank them for asking me to present this keynote address. I must say that the history of archives and records is an area that is a little out of my expertise; however, in developing this address, I have been able to reflect on a number of things that are important to my business and it has given me some fresh insight into a number of areas that are central to my role in a native title representative body and the creation of evidence to support native title claims.

By way of introduction, my name is Glen Kelly. I am a Wardandi Noongar, obviously with European heritage as well, and am the Chief Executive Officer of the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC).

SWALSC is a community organization with a membership of some 2500 Noongar people, and we are very much an organ of the Noongar community. SWALSC is also the Native Title Representative Body (NTRB) for the south west of Western Australia, that is, we have been certified by the Commonwealth Government to deliver services as defined in the Native Title Act (1993). As a result, SWALSC has statutory functions which are, broadly speaking, the representation of native title claims.

This of course shapes the types of things that I am going to speak on today, and the general context will be from the direction of a native title representative body and native title claims.