ILC Acting Director Leon Terrill presents on land rights and land reform in Chile

Last week Leon Terrill travelled to Chile at the invitation of the Catholic University of Valparaíso and with the support of the Chilean Commission of Science and Technology. The purpose of this trip was to discuss and present on comparative approaches to the recognition of Indigenous rights to land and resources.

Leon presented two papers during his trip. The first, which was in the coastal city of Valparaíso, was on Australia’s approach to the recognition of Indigenous land rights. This formed part of a public forum organised by Professor Manuel Núñez, who was a visitor at the Indigenous Law Centre earlier this year. Professor Núñez is a board member of the National Institute of Human Rights and is currently undertaking a research project on indigenous property rights under ILO Convention 169. The public forum attracted considerable interest, with over hundred people attending in person and a further hundred viewing the event as a webcast. Further details about the event (in Spanish) can be found here.

Later in the week, Leon presented a seminar to academics and higher degree research students at the Catholic University of Chile, in Santiago. The seminar was organised by Professor Sebastián López, a professor of international law at the University. This second paper was called ‘From Land Rights to Land Reform’, and dealt with the Australian Government’s introduction of Indigenous land reform in the period since 2006.

There is currently considerable interest in Indigenous legal issues in Chile, particularly with respect to land, and during his trip Leon had the opportunity to talk with several leading academics and practitioners.