Aboriginal land claim over Sutherland Shire college site determined in court

An Aboriginal land council’s claim over a section of land used by a Sydney college has been determined after claims the land was not being used for ‘an essential public purposes’.

The land claim covered land used by the St George and Sutherland Community College,

An Aboriginal land council has lost its bid to be granted control of a section of land next to a community college in Sydney’s south following a long-running land claim battle.

The NSW Environment Court has dismissed an appeal by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council over the ownership of land occupied by St George and Sutherland Community College which caters for more than 1100 students in Jannali.

The claim, lodged by the Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council, covers 1838sq m of government owned land next to the college currently used as a carpark, a community garden and a ‘mates shed’ for college programs.

The claim was lodged in 2016 but ended in court after it was rejected by the NSW Lands Minister in 2021 on the grounds the site was being “lawfully used and occupied for public schooling purposes”.

The NSW Aboriginal Land Council appealed the rejection of the claim, arguing the land was not being lawfully used by the privately operated college and was therefore “claimable Crown land” under the Aboriginal Lands Rights Act.

A map showing the area covered in the claim.

The land council argued that the post-secondary education offered at the site was “not an essential public purpose” and that many of the activities “did not constitute education, let alone activities carried out for public schooling purposes”.

St George and Sutherland Community College chief executive Bernadette Mills said the land was used by students and staff to access classrooms and as well as college vehicles designed to cater for students with disabilities.

She said the ‘mates shed’ building at the site also accommodated student programs such as creative welding, surfboard making workshops and antique restoration programs.

The NSW Environment Court has dismissed an appeal for the land claim.

Land and Environment Court justice Rachel Pepper, in her ruling this week, found the claimed land was needed for the “essential public purpose of education”.

“Merely because the education offered is vocational, post-secondary, or even fee paying, does not necessarily render it non-essential,” Ms Pepper said.

“The college provides education not offered at other institutions to a cohort of disabled and disadvantaged persons in the community. This is both ‘essential’ and ‘public’.”

The college has been operating at the since for the last three decades.

Records show the site has been under the control of the NSW Government since 1935 and was previously home to Jannali Girls High School before being turned into St George and Sutherland Community College in 1993.

The land claim is among thousands across NSW – including 38,000 claims that are still waiting to be determined by the NSW Government.

Last year, 545 claims were granted – the highest number in a single year.