Published on Thursday, 16 April 2026 at 8:56:50 AM
A historic moment took place at Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation (GKBAC) offices last week, as the Shire of Capel became the first of 34 Local Government Authorities (LGAs) to sign a Noongar Standard Heritage Agreement with GKBAC, following a unanimous decision by Council on Wednesday 25 March 2026 authorising the Shire President and Acting CEO to enter into the agreement.
GKBAC is the regional corporation established to represent the rights and interests of the Noongar people within the Gnaala Karla Booja Indigenous Land Use Agreement Area (ILUA ).
ILUA refers to the Indigenous Land Use Agreements registered on 17 October 2019, forming part of the South West Native Title Settlement, agreed between the State Government of Western Australia and six Noongar Agreement Groups, recognising native title rights.
GKBAC are the Noongar Agreement Group recognised as holding cultural authority over the Gnaala Karla Booja ILUA, covering approximately 34,427 square kilometres of Western Australia’s South West, extending from Kwinana in the North West, to Corrigin in the North East, down to the Capel River in the South West and out to Kojonup in the South East.
The region encompasses the Noongar language or dialectical groups of the Binjareb/Pinjarup, Wilman, Wadandi and Ganeang. GKBAC have a Board of six member-elected Directors as well as a Cultural Advice Committee of six male Elders and six female Elders who consider matters relevant to culture and make decisions to promote and protect cultural interests within the ILUA. GKBAC also currently employ 43 staff, including an Aboriginal Ranger Program.
The Noongar Standard Heritage Agreement (NSHA) signed by GKBAC and the Shire of Capel on Thursday 09 April provides a standardised and streamlined process for determining when and how heritage surveys are required to be carried out on Noongar lands.
This process ensures the checking, managing, and protecting of Aboriginal heritage before land development takes place and does so through the application of an agreed framework.
The framework is essentially a simplified process that balances development and land use with the protection of Noongar cultural heritage. It ensures consultation, assessment and necessary protection happen before damage occurs, rather than after, and assists in identifying places and cultural materials of significance.
The framework further ensures a clear set of agreed guidelines, timeframes and expectations for the undertaking of cultural survey works and maps out how the consultative process will be managed.
Representatives of the Shire attended the GKBAC offices to sign the agreement, with a highly collaborative and productive conversation to follow in reference to existing projects and to discuss sites of cultural significance to GKBAC within the Shire boundary.
Shire of Capel councillors and staff are exceedingly proud to be the first of the 34 Local Government Authorities that operate within the Gnaala Karla Booja ILUA to sign on the dotted line and formalise their commitment to Reconciliation and the Noongar people.
This agreement also formally acknowledges GKBAC as the cultural authority in the ILUA and lays a strong foundation for relationship building between the Shire, GKBAC, Knowledge Holders and all Aboriginal peoples with ties to country and/or living in the Shire of Capel and greater South West.
Shire President Councillor John Fergusson said, “This is quite groundbreaking and, in my mind, something that’s long overdue. We were both shocked and proud to learn that we were the first to sign this Agreement with Gnaala Karla Booja.”
He continued, “Council resolved to enter into this agreement unanimously and I find that an enormously encouraging thing. Any small part we, as a Council, can do towards Reconciliation is a privilege and staff at the Shire whom I have spoken with are extremely keen to ensure a highly collaborative approach to projects and operations with Gnaala Karla Booja for the community that exists today and for those to come in the future.”
“I would like to call upon the other LGAs and encourage them to sign an agreement with Gnaala Karla Booja and other Aboriginal Regional Corporations like them.”
John Penny, Chair of the Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation, said, “The Noongar Standard Heritage Agreement is about respectful, early and meaningful engagement on Country. It affirms Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation’s role as the recognised cultural authority within the ILUA and provides a clear, consistent framework to protect Noongar heritage while supporting informed and considered land use.”
He continued, “We acknowledge and congratulate the Shire of Capel for its leadership and commitment to working with us in a genuine partnership that puts culture, Country and future generations at the forefront.”
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