ABSTRACT
Analysis of Australia’s legal, policy, and administrative frameworks for accessing genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge demonstrates inconsistencies for accessing biological resources and associated traditional knowledge under the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Access and benefit-sharing measures introduced by Australian governments are modelled on the different standards of the Bonn Guidelines and the Nagoya Protocol. This can be attributed to the demarcation of responsibility between Australian governments for managing biological resources pursuant to the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment. Variations in the way traditional knowledge is recognised and protected demonstrate the need for Australian governments to introduce measures consistent with the Nagoya Protocol to ensure that ‘prior informed consent or approval’ is obtained from Indigenous and local communities for utilising associated knowledge and benefit-sharing in a fair and equitable way. This process of obtaining and confirming prior informed consent or approval involves identifying relevant Indigenous communities which can involve roles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations as competent authorities. Existing and emerging measures for access and benefit-sharing should recognise institutions formed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to facilitate participation according to their customary laws and community protocols for self-determination.
