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Aboriginal local governing bodies recognised for local government funding purposeshave also been established under NT and Federal incorporation legislation.Councils on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory are severely limited in what they cando and have to follow the rules and regulations of the NT government. The NT Government’slegislation for community Government is a white-mans system and is in direct conflict withthe rights of Traditional Land Owners ... He said that what the Northern Territory andCommonwealth governments were doing is to ‘manage’ Aboriginal people but not givingthem real control. Aboriginal Councils are more accountable to the Northern Territory andCommonwealth Governments than they are to their own communities (Kumantjay Rossquoted by NT Aboriginal Constitutional Convention Report 1993 on pages 19-20).Some decision-making power was transferred to Indigenous communities inQueensland by the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 and the CommunityServices (Torres Strait) Act 1984. Community councils are primarily responsible forlocal government services with some additional functions such as community police,community courts and management of natural resources. During the last few years themajority of councils have adopted model by-laws creating a range of offences relatingto assault, property damage and alcohol-related conduct (Queensland Government finalsubmission page 56).There are practical and legislative limitations on the power of Queenslandcommunity councils including in the administration of justice. Community policesuffer from poor training, poor facilities and high turnover rates. ‘Community courtsare only operating on a handful of communities at present. Their usefulness isrestricted by current requirements that they operate strictly along the lines of amagistrates’ Court’ (Queensland Government final submission page 56). Although theby-laws passed by community councils apply to juveniles, State police typicallycharge juveniles under other legislation. At present ‘community police have nojurisdiction to enforce offences against juveniles and community courts have nojurisdiction to hear offences against juveniles’ (Queensland Government finalsubmission page 61). There are currently no provisions to deal with child welfarematters.The limitations of the legislative framework under which the communitycouncils operate in Queensland was the focus of the Legislation Review Committee(1991). The Committee found that there was wide Indigenous support forcommunities exercising greater autonomy than was currently available and that thelegislation does not provide a ‘culturally appropriate structure for government’ (page1). The Committee recommended that legislation should permit Indigenouscommunities to develop constitutions to suit their own conditions. These constitutionscould specify the type of government structure most suitable for the community andthe powers the community would exercise. Communities could choose to undertakegovernment functions for health, education and law (including the recognition ofcustomary rights, laws and traditions and the administration of justice, police andcorrections).In 1996 the Queensland Government introduced the Alternative GoverningStructures Program (AGSP) to assist communities develop decision-making structuresand processes by providing funds for the development of community-based plans. TheOffice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs assists communities innegotiating with the relevant body for their plans to be implemented (Office of