Aboriginal objections to development and mining activities on the grounds of adverse impacts to sites of spiritual significance: Australian judicial and quasi-judicial responses

This article considers the ways in which Australia’s courts and tribunals have responded to Aboriginal objections to proposed mining and development activities on the grounds of potential adverse impacts to “sacred sites”. Over the last 15 years of the mining and housing booms, Australia’s courts and tribunals have expanded the grounds on which Aboriginal objections to such activities will be successful, with significant ramifications for the mining and development industries, legal practitioners, urban planners and heritage professionals. This expansion of the grounds for objection reflects an increased awareness on the part of the judiciary and quasi-judiciary of Aboriginal world views and of the forms that the spiritual values of a site can take, augmented by a more flexible application of general urban planning principles. Importantly, the decisions of Australia’s courts and tribunals have provided legal counsel that act for traditional owners, developers and mining concerns with clear guidance in regards to mounting a case for a successful objection or a defence to such objections