Since the Martin Labor government came to power in the Northern Territory in August 2001, it has been hastening slowly with legislative and policy reform for Indigenous community governance under the NT Local Government Act. By this I mean that it has been pushing reform quite concertedly, but also quite carefully. The Minister, John Ah Kit, has outlined a crisis in Indigenous community governance and pushed for changes, such as the introduction of larger more regional governance groupings, possibly called regional authorities. However, as yet, the Martin Labor government has not amended the Local Government Act in pursuit of this policy reform agenda, nor, as I understand it, has it firmly settled on a strategy of either major or minor legislative amendment to spearhead the policy reform.

This strategy of hastening slowly is, to my mind, a sound and commendable one. There are a number of reasons why reform for Indigenous community governance in the NT is a very difficult endeavour. This paper will explore some of those reasons under sub-headings such as 'The history of NT self-government and land rights', and 'Indigenous localism'. Interestingly these sub-headings do not include one on the inadequacies of the NT Local Government Act, which I will argue, at base and in conjunction with other acts, provides quite a useful and workable framework for building more effective governance in Indigenous communities. I will however argue for some conceptual reworking of the constitutional and theoretical underpinnings of the NT Local Government Act.