Ending 'aqua nullius': calls for laws to protect Indigenous water rights

Five-year report makes a case for how Aboriginal custodianship can revitalise ailing rivers

A "ground breaking" new plan to enshrine Aboriginal water rights in law and practice has been released, which gives governments a way to overturn "aqua nullius" and demands Aboriginal people have more say in how water is allocated and managed across Australia.

The national cultural flows research project is the "unfinished business of national water reform," Nari Nari man and chair of the Murray lower Darling river Indigenous nations (MLDRIN) Rene Woods said.