Thread: Photo's on aboriginal land, whats the go

Originally Posted by bblaze

Am I reading the permit system right that you are not allowed to take photograths on aboriginal land whilst travelling over them
cheers
blaze

We have never had any problems taking photos of the land. However, if you want to take photos of the Aboriginal people themselves, it is polite to ask permission first (as would be the case with others - ie non Aborigial folk as well).

In 99.9% of the cases, you will have no problems and they will LOVE to have their pics taken with you, or your vehicle, or the surrounding area. In fact they will most likely want to look at the results on your digital camera.

The smiles from the kids are wonderful

Some sacred sites may be off-limits. The most famous of these is probably Uluru. As with any photography the rights and beliefs of the people should be respected.

As Bundalene mentioned is the norm though.

I think this might be an issue of private vs commercial photography.

I am not sure about Aboriginal land in general, but places like the City of Sydney has permit (and fees) system for commercial photography, ie anything that will make you money. This applies to any Commonwealth property or structure.

At Uluru, same thing applies - private photos are OK, commercial photography requires a permit. Photography of sacred sites is a no-no.

Generally speaking there are no restrictions on photography on or from public land. But once you are on private land the restrictions are whatever the owners want to make them. So the question is, is the aboriginal land public or private? The answer is probably private if you need a permit, although if you do not, it may mean you are on a public road through private land, and there are no restrictions (provided the photo is taken from the road).

In practice, as indicated above, there are unlikely to be any problems provided you are sensible and ask people if you can photograph them or their houses - even if not legally required, it is the polite thing to do.

John

it's a belief system the aboriginal people have about having their images taken as well as showing images of people who have died being shown.

That's why ABC will for example will run a warning that the film or show may have pictures of deceased people and may offend aboriginal viewers or on other occasions say picture or image of deceased person withheld due to respect to community.

They also don't like sacred sites being photographed and a sacred site to them could be any geographical marker or tree etc doesn't have to a a spectacular looking thing either in my experience could be a clump of stones on ground.

In 1995 i was at Warbuton in WA. I was video recording the petrol station and some of the surrounds. Off in the distance is the true town of Warbuton and from there came a ute full of aboriginals who demanded i hand over the camcorder for breach of permit. I refused and a verbal arguemnet developed. Eventually a respected white town offical arrived and we talked. It was agreed that if the white guy didnt see anything that put them in a bad light then i could keep the camcorder.

I kept the camcorder and learnt my lesson. Ok video is different to stills, but the same rule applies...be careful