About Us
The Department of the Chief Minister & Cabinet is the Northern Territory Government’s lead agency on Aboriginal affairs.
The Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA) is responsible for providing support, engagement and advice to Aboriginal people and government on significant Aboriginal Affairs priorities through strategic Aboriginal policy matters, key projects and meaningful engagement and partnerships.
OAA champions the changes, and accelerates the work already underway by government in the areas of Aboriginal leadership, capability and capacity building, and building a culturally responsive public sector, that contributes to the commitments in the ‘Everyone Together’ Aboriginal Affairs Strategy and National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
OAA works in partnership with Aboriginal people and communities to support social, economic and cultural aspirations of Aboriginal Territorians.
The Office:
- Leads strategic advice and innovative policy development aligned to the ‘Everyone Together’ Aboriginal Affairs Strategy and National Agreement on Closing the Gap at a local and national level
- Champions and influences how government changes the way it engages and partners with Aboriginal people, communities and the Aboriginal community controlled sector
- Recognises, builds and empowers Aboriginal people to have a stronger voice in government decision making
- Works across agencies to build a culturally responsive Northern Territory Public Sector.
The Office sits within the Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet, with the Aboriginal Affairs agenda a key focus for Government. The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, the Hon Chanston (Chansey) Paech oversees the portfolio.
The work of the Office is guided by the APO NT (Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory) partnership principles.