From Dispossession to Possibility: Why Land Belongs to Community

What if land wasn’t for sale?

It’s a powerful question, and I was called to sit with it during this NAIDOC Week. A time to reflect on truth-telling, resistance, and the unfinished work of justice. 

This year marks the 50th National NAIDOC Week, and its legacy reminds us that land in this country has always been central, not just to wealth and power, but to culture, identity, and community.

So what happens when we imagine housing policy built not on speculation, but on sovereignty?

For too long, Australia’s housing system has treated land as a commodity to be bought, sold and profited from. This market-first model has fuelled skyrocketing prices, deepened inequality, and pushed people, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, out of the communities they belong to.

Land in Australia was never empty.

The myth of terra nullius justified colonisation, dispossession, and the violent seizure of land from First Nations peoples. That theft continues in modern forms: rental stress, homelessness, poor housing conditions, and exclusion from property ownership.

Community Land Trusts (CLTs) offer a small but significant rupture in this system.

CLTs remove land from the speculative market and place it in community stewardship – a term that is inherently Indigenous – stewardship is passed down through the generations and developed over tens of thousands of years.

CLT’s separate the cost of land from the cost of housing, meaning homes stay affordable, not just now, but forever. And importantly, CLTs can be designed to reflect and respect Indigenous knowledge systems, values, and self-determination.

In the Australian context there is some excellent research led by Louise Crabtree-Hayes including Community Land Trusts and Indigenous housing options (2012) and Community Land Trusts and Indigenous communities: from strategies to outcomes (2015) and in practical terms the Blue Mountains Community Land Trust a First Nations and Community led organisation formed in 2021 in response to the worsening housing crisis.

CLTs aren’t a silver bullet. But, they are a step towards de-commodifying a place to call home, one where residents can slow down to enjoy nature, whilst enjoying savings that can be reinvested into relocalising efforts. One that protects against displacement, keeps homes affordable across generations, and returns decision-making to the people who live on the land.

This NAIDOC Week, as we honour the strength and survival of First Nations communities and celebrate The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy, let’s also imagine a housing future that begins with Country, not capital. One where land isn’t something to own, but something to belong to.

Let’s move from dispossession to possibility.