Parks Australia Ordered to Pay $200,000 Fine to Kakadu Traditional Owners

Parks Australia has been ordered to pay a $200,000 fine to Traditional Owners after it pleaded guilty to damaging a sacred men’s site during the construction of an unauthorised walking track in Kakadu National Park.

As a result of the damage, Gunlom Falls, the site of the track and one of Kakadu’s most loved swimming holes, has been closed to visitors since 2019 but is now expected to reopen in 2025.

‘Visitors will be back here next year’, said Wurrkbarbar man and Traditional Owner Joshua Hunter.

Parks Australia to Pay Traditional Owners for Damage

The decision was handed down on Country at Gunlom Falls itself and marks a historic sentencing by Judge Elizabeth Morris, as it’s the first time an agency of the Commonwealth has been punished under the NT Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act.

‘I have weighed the high need that a government agency should be held to, it is important that the penalty reflects the significance of the offending’, Judge Morris said.

Judge Morris found that although Parks Australia didn’t ‘wilfully disregard’ the knowledge of Traditional Owners who requested the walkway veer away from rock art, the project manager who changed the route of the track should have understood the consequences of her actions. Morris said a ‘reliance of trust’ between Traditional Owners and Parks Australia had been breached.

The historic fine comes on top of $500,000 Parks Australia has already paid in compensation to the Traditional Owners for lost earnings due to the five-year closure of Gunlom Falls.

Gunlom Falls Holds Beauty and Cultural Significance

Gunlom Falls has long been one of Kakadu National Park’s most visited and loved swimming holes. With a natural infinity pool that overlooks the park cascading down to a pristine plunge pool below, the natural attraction has been dearly missed by locals and interstate and international visitors alike.

The area is also full of cultural sites important to the Jawoyn people, both ceremonial and sacred, and boasts one of the largest concentrations of rock art in the world.

Read more: Road Trip Through Kakadu National Park

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Time to Heal and Work Together

Now that the five-year-long battle has ended, Traditional Owners are looking forward to helping heal the site and surrounding Country, reopen Gunlom Falls to visitors, and work collaboratively with Parks Australia again.

‘It’s a good day for family to come back and make plans to work together with Parks, said Ryan Barrawei, Jawoyn Traditional Owner of the Wurrkbarbar clan.

Parks Australia Kakadu director since 2023 and Djungan man, Ricky Archer, said the agency ‘completely accepts’ the decision that’s been made.

‘As an Indigenous person, I take the protection of sacred sites to heart and it’s something I culturally and personally and professionally will be doing as much as I can to ensure we learn lessons and improve’, he said.

The judgment goes part of the way to healing the site, but Traditional Owners say there’s more to be done.

‘Healing takes place within our spirit, our ancestors and country’, said Bolmo Traditional Owner Rachael Willika. ‘When we come back and do the things and speak to our ancestors, call out to them, and do all those things, then that’s healing.’

Feature photo by Alex Pantazis